Over the last few weeks we’ve sought out some very typical New York experiences, and we’ve discovered some that we never would have expected. The hard part is remembering them all! While the pictures help to tell the story, I’ll attempt to summarize the highlights of our last few weeks in the Big Apple.

Each day we add one more thing to the list of new experiences, with a few days off here and there to recuperate. In the last few weeks we have seen two more Broadway shows courtesy of the lottery system. We saw Kinky Boots and On Your Feet, both for less than $40 per ticket. Kinky Boots is the Tony-award winning musical featuring music from Cyndi Lauper. On Your Feet presents the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and features their latin songs. We loved both shows and are now holding out to win the lottery for Hamilton. We’ve been entering the Hamilton lottery almost every day but have yet to win the coveted $10 tickets. You can be sure we’ll let you know if that miracle happens.

One day we took the train out to Coney Island to see the beach and have a legendary Nathan’s Famous hot dog.

It was a cool day so the boardwalk and beach were not crowded, and we were able to check it out without the summertime hoards. After having a dog right where they have the annual 4th of July hot dog eating contest, we decided that the $1.50 Costco hot dogs are way better than Nathan’s! Still, it was fun to see the amusements at historic Luna Park and have a beer at Ruby’s on the beach.

One evening we participated in the New York $1 Slice Pizza Party, a benefit for the non-profit Slice Out Hunger. Crazy as it sounds, we stood in line for several hours with hundreds of other New Yorkers for the opportunity to buy $1 slice pizza from some of the city’s best pizzerias. We met new friends and walked away with 20 slices of the city’s best pizza, which kept us fed for a week. Living here for three months allows us the opportunity to participate in unique events and we’re trying to take in as many as possible.

A few years ago when we were in Geneva, Switzerland we toured the United Nations facility there. Since the UN is headquartered here in New York, we figured we should tour it and compare. You’ll see in the pictures that we were able to go into the General Assembly and Security Council chambers.

Since both of these international bodies have been active lately (Paris Agreement on climate change and peace-keeping missions in Haiti and Sudan), it was humbling to see where the important work takes place.

Steve is continuing to train for the New York Marathon, which is just three weeks away. You’ll be able to watch it on ESPN on November 6. The entire city is gearing up for the big event which will include nearly 60,000 runners from across the globe. We are seeing television advertisements that include marathon running tips, and the subways are plastered with posters hyping the event. As part of his preparation, Steve ran the Rock and Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon last weekend. I am still struggling with plantar fasciitis and sat that race out.

Early this week we took in the annual Columbus Day parade on Fifth Avenue. This enormous celebration of Italian heritage features bands, floats, and a ton of politicians. We saw Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Cuomo, and Senator Chuck Schumer. There were even groups from Italy who participated in the parade and Italian media who covered the event.

On Wednesday evenings the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem hosts Amateur Night. The American Idol-like talent show has produced some incredible acts. In fact, Ella Fitzgerald was the first winner in 1934. We were lucky to be able to snag third row tickets to this week’s competition. The singers were really incredible but the audience favorite was a dancing sumo wrestlers from Japan. We’ve got video if you really want to see it! We preceded the show with dinner at Sylvia’s which is the classic soul food restaurant in Harlem. While founder Sylvia Wood passed away in 2013, her legacy continues with live R&B music and classic southern cooking.

In the past few weeks we’ve attended the filming of a few more television shows. At Live with Kelly we saw Ben Affleck who was promoting his new film The Accountant. Fred Savage was the guest co-host. What amazed us most was how unscripted the show was. There’s only one take and what you see on TV is exactly how it goes during the filming. Kelly Ripa really knows how to carry a show. Then, while we hadn’t planned on returning to Good Morning America, we heard they were interviewing Jon Bon Jovi. We figured, “what the heck.” The bad news is that the Bon Jovi interview was pre-taped, so we didn’t get to see him. Instead we saw animal expert Jack Hanna, along with baby snow leopards, a lesser anteater, a sloth, and a penguin. The highlight, however, was that everyone in the audience was given a ticket to an “intimate album launch party” with Bon Jovi at the Barrymore Theater. It appears it was worth the effort to get down there at 6AM and stand in the cold for 90 minutes. We are hoping the email with the concert tickets shows up early this week. The show is scheduled for next Thursday.

Finally, in between these events and excursions we are finding time to just enjoy the city. Some days we just pick a park and sit. We watch the people, read our books, and enjoy the wonderful Fall weather. The leaves are just beginning to change and the temperatures are expected to be in the 70s this week. We’ve got more adventures planned and will fill you in the next time around.

We love all of your comments and questions and are honored to share this incredible experience with you!

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Our last two weeks in New York City have expanded our view of the many diverse neighborhoods of the metropolis. While we’ve been moving quickly to explore as much as possible, it’s clear that three months will not be enough to see it all! There is so much to do and so much to experience!

We’ve seen two Broadway performances after entering online lotteries. We “won” discount tickets to An American in Paris and Kinky Boots. For $40 each we had up-front tickets to these Tony Award winning productions. An American in Paris is in its final days so we were glad to be able to see it before it ends. The show is set in post WWII France and features fabulous dancing and the music of Gershwin. Dad, you would have loved it!

We finished up our New York Pass with walking tours of SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, and Wall Street. We also did a tour of the fashion windows along 5th Avenue and a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen. Walking tours have been a great way to get to know the neighborhoods of NYC and each guide has given us history and tips that will help us return to each place with a sense of confidence. For example, in Chinatown, our guide Eric suggested great dim sum and dumpling restaurants we’ll visit later.

While in Little Italy we were able to partake in the San Genarro festival. See the pictures below of the food available at this 10 day event.

 

We finished up our New York Pass with walking tours of SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, and Wall Street. We also did a tour of the fashion windows along 5th Avenue and a food tour of Hell’s Kitchen. Walking tours have been a great way to get to know the neighborhoods of NYC and each guide has given us history and tips that will help us return to each place with a sense of confidence. For example, in Chinatown, our guide Eric suggested great dim sum and dumpling restaurants we’ll visit later. While in Little Italy we were able to partake in the San Genarro festival. See the pictures below of the food available at this 10 day event.

The United Nations General Assembly was here last week, which meant increased traffic in midtown and enhanced security and police presence. During our fashion windows tour on 5th Avenue, we were interrupted several times by motorcades accompanied by helicopters escorting heads of state through the area. Secret service agents were posted near the high-end hotels along the route. While the constant sirens and commotion were a bit unnerving, we figured it was probably one of the most secure places on Earth!

One of our goals while in New York is to attend the taping of a few television shows. It’s easy to get tickets through an online service called 1iota and we’ve seen several shows. Last week we were front and center in the studio audience of Good Morning America. Thanks to Eddie Lopez and Kay Wilkinson who sent us screen shots of our national television debut! We also attended a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers and next week we’ll be in the live audience of Live with Kelly.

Steve has been training for the marathon in Central Park and has discovered something new with every six mile lap around the park. Last week he did an 18 mile training run with the New York Road Runners. This week we took in an IronStrength workout with Dr. Jordan Metzl on the deck of the aircraft carrier Intrepid.

Dr. Metzl offers free workouts at various locations throughout the City and over 1,000 people showed up to exercise on the Intrepid. Held at sunset, we did a strength workout followed by yoga accompanied by live violin music. The event finished with giveaways and great views of the night time skyline. Just one more “only in New York” evening!

A visit to New York City would not be complete without a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our visit included a trip to Lady Liberty’s Crown, which involved climbing a narrow 354 step spiral staircase. Two days later we hit a highlight for Steve with a visit to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Red Sox. Yankees won and we saw the Red Sox’s David Ortiz (aka Big Papi) play his final game in Yankee Stadium and he was honored on the occasion.

One last thing…we have taken one more step toward being New Yorkers by joining the Westside YMCA. We now have a place to workout when the weather prevents us from enjoying Central Park. The facility is incredible, housed in a 1929 building that includes two indoor pools and a running track. We’re looking forward to regular visits over the next two and half months.

Thanks for following along! We love reading your comments and well wishes!

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We’ve now been in New York City for over a week, and we’ve been moving at the pace of New Yorkers. Our New York Pass has really come in handy. For ten days we have access to over 80 attractions and, of course, we’re maximizing this thing. We began the week with two days on the Big Bus, which took us on a loop of Uptown, Downtown, and Brooklyn, as well as a night tour of the city. While we enjoyed the views, we decided that we would avoid cars and buses (and thus, New York City traffic) from now on and stick to the subway and our feet as our transportation of choice.

The Big Bus dropped us off near the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, as well as the 9/11 Tribute Center.

Both sites presented the story of this tragic day, and we took it all in. At the Tribute Center, founded by the September 11th Families Association, we heard a live, first hand account of the day from a survivor. There’s really nothing more impactful than hearing the stories of those who were present that horrific day. We were certainly moved.

Our second day on the pass we explored the history of the city at the Museum of the City of New York and then took in all that is Rockefeller Center. Our backstage, all access tour of Radio City Music Hall introduced us to the famed theater and a cute blonde Rockette named Erin. We hope to be able to pick her out of the line when we see the Christmas Spectacular in late November. We also got a great tour of Rockefeller Center itself, learning about the history of the complex and its incredible, and sometimes controversial, artwork.

In the following days we used our pass to ride bikes in Central Park, attend a gospel service in Harlem, and take walking tours of Chelsea, the HighLine, the Meatpacking District, and Greenwich Village.

We also went on a cool architecture tour of midtown that helped us understand the details of this area’s historic buildings including the Daily News (where Superman worked), the Chrysler Building, and Grand Central Terminal. We also did a harbor cruise.

We finished the first half of our pass with a tour of Madison Square Garden, the Museum of Sex, and a nighttime visit to the Top of the Rock, the viewing deck at the top of Rockefeller Center. And we still have four more days of our pass to go!

Last night as we were atop Rockefeller Center we could see a mass of emergency vehicles just a few blocks to the south. As we learned just a few hours later when we turned on the news, there was an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood, which we had toured just a day before. We’ve heard there were no fatalities but 29 people were injured. Another explosive device was found just few blocks away. We are now intimately aware of the risks of living in a large city like New York. We promise to be careful.

In the next week we have tours scheduled for SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy, as well as Wall Street. We’ll take in Little Italy’s San Gennaro Festival, do a Fashion Windows walking tour, and a New York City food tour. On Thursday, September 22 we have priority tickets to be in the studio audience of Good Morning America. We are scheduled to be part of the 8:00 a.m. hour, so please watch our national television debut!!

As always, thanks for reading!

 

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