March 4, 2007 - Empire State

I got up fairly early today, shortly before eleven. After showering, I took the subway up to 34^th Street, then walked from there to 38^th Street and over to 5^th Avenue. I walked around CompUSA for a little while. I was going to have brunch at a nice diner I saw at 35^th Street and 7^th Avenue, but ended-up stopping at a Chinese restaurant on 35^th (Hyo Dong Gak) and ordering Sweet & Sour Chicken.

Next stop – the Empire State Building! It’s a place every New York tourist has to see, so I decided to go today, as I was in an exploratory mood. I walked in, snapped a photo of the famous entryway, then took the escalator to the second story. There was a large queue line set-up, but there weren’t any people waiting. Next, I had to go through airport-like security, where I was required to take off my belt and put my electronics in a bucket.

At the ticket window, I purchased the standard option for $18, which was a pass to go to the 86^th floor observatory deck. There’s another deck above the 100^th floor, but that would have cost an additional $15. Besides, the 1^st deck is the one most people see anyway. It’s the one shown in Sleepless in Seattle. Before going to the elevators, tourists are required to pass through a gift shop, with a vast assortment of overpriced key chains and T-shirts. They’re got a real racket going on there.

There was almost no wait to get on the elevator, even though several dozen people were going up. The ride was smoother than I’d imagined (aside from my ears popping). It took just under a minute to go up 80 stories. People are then required to transfer to another elevator that goes to the 86^th floor – but not before going through a photo area, where tourists have to have their mug shot taken in front of a green screen.

The 86^th floor presented me with yet another gift store. This time, I actually bought something – a book with photographs taken atop the Empire State Building. It’s nice, because every other page is in black-and-white with labels on all the major buildings and neighborhoods.

The deck really does offer spectacular views. I took dozens of pictures. It was a little difficult, though, because it was bitterly cold outside and the winds were howling at 40 or 50 miles per hour. I managed to capture more than 20 shots, though. One of the more interesting things – pigeons love it up there. More so, people love to spoil the pigeons. There was even a lady letting them eat breadcrumbs right out of her hand! People also like to leave their mark on the concrete barriers. Somebody even etched their MySpace address into the fencing.

When I left the building, it felt like it was five o’clock when it was actually three; not because I wasn’t enjoying myself. I just lost all sense of time.

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