New York City- New World Trade Center, Brooklyn Bridge, The Empire State Building and More!

Our second day into NYC we decided to take the PATH Train instead of the bus. It’s much cheaper (only $2.50) but it takes you to a completely different area of the city. We got off the train pretty much at the bottom of the new World Trade Center—or The Freedom Tower. It’s a really beautiful building and is now as tall as it’s going to be (even though it isn’t finished) making it the tallest building in North America!

After walking around there for a bit, Zach and I walked to Battery Park for a good look at The Statue of Liberty, and then we walked through the Wall Street District! It was really cool to be walking amongst all these huge buildings! (Unfortunately I have limited pictures of this day because later on Zach’s camera got stolen along with our pictures, but more on that later.)

After wandering through Wall Street and having lunch, we decided to take a walk out onto the Brooklyn Bridge. I was really excited about this because it’s such an iconic piece of NY architecture. We made our way to the first brick section and looked back at Manhattan. It is a longer walk than it looks, but still very doable and definitely worth it.

After the Brooklyn Bridge we made our way into Chinatown and Little Italy! Chinatown wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Having never really been to a Chinatown, I was expecting it to look more like China—call me naive. Little Italy I thought looked a little more Italian, but it was also an area that Italian immigrants have occupied far longer than the Chinese in Chinatown, not to mention that you put a canopy over an outdoor cafe and it already looks European!

After walking through Little Italy we made our way to the NYU area and Greenwich Village, making a stop in Washington Square Park. We sat down to read for a while on the benches by the fountain. We sat our backpack and camera down next to us while reading, and we both looked up for about 45 seconds to watch this absolutely ridiculous street performer and when we looked back down Zach’s camera was gone. I hate the stigma of big cities and having that paranoid feeling causing you to grasp your belongings in clenched fists or hold bags close to your body, but there is something to it when people say to watch your belongings. We were a bit too trusting to set the camera next to us, but we learned our lesson. I don’t think that extreme paranoia is the solution; just make smarter, more conscious decisions with your belongings.

After the Washington Square Park incident we weren’t in the absolute best mood. So, we made two more stops before heading back to Nutley for dinner. One was a specific park that I really wanted to visit called The High Line. It’s a park that sits above street level on what used to be railroad tracks. There are now plants basically covering the tracks, a lot of areas to lounge or sit to read, and a lot of cool views. Plus, what a cool way to recycle and reuse this area into something the community can enjoy!

Our last stop was perhaps the most iconic stop you can make in NYC- The Empire State Building! This is something I’ve wanted to do when I was a very little girl, curled up on the couch watching Sleepless in Seattle with my mom, and getting to do it with Zach was great! The Empire State Building was included in the NY CityPASS. On our way we got to pass by Zach’s favorite building in NYC—The Flatiron Building!

Going up the Empire State Building was so much fun, and with the CityPASS you also got a free audio guide that explained exactly what you were looking at. It was very cool, and pretty romantic because it is in so many shows and movies. It would be significantly more enjoyable if there weren’t so many other people up there enjoying it with you, but regardless it’s a NYC staple for visitors!

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