I HEART NY

Ah New York, how nice it is to be able to walk outside and be in the midst of hustle and bustle. Our second day there we remembered a very infamous day in our nation's history, 9/11. We spontaneously decided to head over towards what was Ground Zero and what will be the Freedom Tower. It was amazing being in New York at this time, one reason being that New Yorkers have not forgotten about all the heroes and victims of that day.
We arrived and the bagpipes were still playing and the memorial was coming to a close.
This was found at the site and is placed on the same street to show gratitude to all those who volunteered at 9/11 and all the fallen as well.

It's a pretty heavy experience being at the World Trade Plaza because even though I never had the chance to see the towers, it still shocked me to see a huge empty space in Manhattan where two of the tallest buildings once stood.
Even in such an emotional environment and time, it is very inspiring to see cranes still building something even bigger and better.
Soon after, we perused through the streets and decided to make our way to the subway and check out Times Square, which was one of my more anticipated sites to see. All the lights, screens and activity is just amazing to me.
It seems like everywhere you went, you saw a screen or billboard or bright lights. All the Broadway shows were out. We had the chance to go see the show Avenue Q on Saturday, more about that later.


So many people and so much to see was a little overwhelming at first but it was nice to take in the busy atmosphere.



I'm really surprised this photo turned out as well as it did because there was so much movement and flashing screens that I didn't think I could get a panorama off.
It started to rain, like I hear it often does it New York, so we took shelter first in the M&M's store then the Hershey's. Before that I had been excited to go buy Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 which came out that day, but the Virgin music store had closed down for good.

Diddy runs the city, right below Jay of course.
Delicious.
Seeing as how Rockefeller Center isn't far from Times Square we took the trek over to NBC studios and checked out the gift shop and the famous 30 Rock building. After learning that the tours were all booked for the day and getting a Conan shirt for Rico, we headed out for some more siteseeing.
I missed some sky in this one, but I thought it was worth showing you guys.
Old Gothic churches next to tall glass highrises... pretty crazy how New York has the old and the new, the future and the past, all in one.
So our main goal after seeing Rockefeller Center and stopping at the NBA store on 5th st, was to see MoMA, and lucky us, it was free admission on Fridays after 4pm.

Unlucky for us is that everyone else in the city knew that already.
I don't really understand modern art, but I guess it was cool to see it, for free at least.
Jackson Pollock.
Andy Warhol... Amazing getting to see this because it is pretty famous around the world, Golden Marilyn.
More walls and halls for Warhol.
Everyone knows about Starry Night, this isn't the big painting but hey, that's a Van Gogh right there.
Surprise, surprise everyone gathered around that one.
Matisse!
Frida Kahlo was on display also, right next to Diego Rivera. There's a painting of Jenny on the wall of the MoMA, weird.
Picasso! It was very exciting, at least for me, to see a Picasso after learning about the meaning of the painting. It's a lot different than just seeing it in a text book.
Had to sit for a little, my feet were all New Yorker'ed out.
This is just a photograph of a photograph, believe it or not. Richard Avedon had some pretty amazing photography.
After leaving all the modern art, we decided to do something I'm a little more familiar with, eating. Our friend Chris, who had gone to NY a week before us, and is currently residing in Philly, recommended a Halal cart on 53rd and 6th. Thanks for the tip because this was the bomb! The lamb over rice was amazing with a little white and hot sauce. Perfect. The Rigoberto's of the Halal world.
More on Radio City Music Hall later, for good reason.
The rest of the night was a blur and a long walk home, I think we went out to dinner at a local pizza place with Kaylee called Posto, pretty damn good. I'd rate the pizza in New York a 8.9/10. The rest of the camera action begins again tomorrow. Even though we converted our time over to the New York Minute, there was still so much more to see and probably a lot that we didn't get the chance to.

Tomorrow, the American Museum of Natural History. Even after just the second day, I understood why I Heart NY shirts are so popular, because it's a very easy thing to do. The city and all its attractions are very difficult to dislike. Simply walking around with my eyes open made me happy in New York. It's no wonder why millions flock every year to this island and many don't leave.