Day 17, Wednesday 16th May
Fortunately for the planner, the day dawned warm and sunny so we caught a cab down ti New Yorks latest attraction - The Highline. Percieved some 5yrs ago by the fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg and funded to the tune of $20million US, by her and her husband , (yes philanthropy is still alive and well in NYC) with the help of Mayor Bloomberg, who passed a bill to prevent its demolition, it consists of open parkland developed on top of the disused railway that threads its way through the streets of downtown New York. It was spectacular and definitely worthy of a visit, so much so that we traversed it in both directions, ending up at the Chelsea Market on our return. Another piece of New Yorks architecture that has been preserved we found amongst other things, the clothes from NZ fashion designer, Karen Walker on sale.
Since the sun was still shining we decided to walk to the bohemian village of Greenwich down the infamous Bleeker St. Passed the Magnolia Bakery of Sex and the City fame and ended up at a delightful lunchstop called Hoomus, where we enjoyed probably our best New York dining experience. Delicious dips, roasted vegetables and pita bread all washed down with a Millers lager - superb. We left the Pusher to indulge in one last gallery, The Frick Museum so he put us safely in a yellow cab and with great confidence headed deep into the bowls of the earth to catch the Metro uptown. The Payer went home to rest and the Planner to assume yet another role - the Packer!
Some time later the Pusher returned very relieved as he had become totally lost on the metro, ended up walking to Union Square and then found the correct line 6 to take him to the art gallery, which he ultimately enjoyed immensely. His confidence had been squashed so he was more than happy to stay above ground and walk up to the Rockerfeller centre later that night. We watched the sun set on another glorious New York day from the Top of The Rock before heading along to one of New Yorks other famous institutions, The Plaza Hotel. This was closed for a $60billion US renovation but the Planner had established that there was live Jazz in the Rose Bar and thought she would indulge her fellow family in fitting farewell NYC cocktail.
Once more the wheelchair patron entered with security at hand via the service lift ( which we decided was really a bit rich if you had been a paying guest). We discovered the very ornate bar overlooking the lobby and the 5 piece jazz band were in full swing. But the bar itself was very quiet. We ordered cocktails which were reluctantly dispensed with absolutely zero aplomb or service and which tasted worse than a can of premix. What a dissapointment but suddlenly the lack of patronage made sense. We departed after one drink and wheeled home via the next worst experience, Macdonalds on 2nd Ave for a burger and chips for dinner.
Fortunately for the planner, the day dawned warm and sunny so we caught a cab down ti New Yorks latest attraction - The Highline. Percieved some 5yrs ago by the fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg and funded to the tune of $20million US, by her and her husband , (yes philanthropy is still alive and well in NYC) with the help of Mayor Bloomberg, who passed a bill to prevent its demolition, it consists of open parkland developed on top of the disused railway that threads its way through the streets of downtown New York. It was spectacular and definitely worthy of a visit, so much so that we traversed it in both directions, ending up at the Chelsea Market on our return. Another piece of New Yorks architecture that has been preserved we found amongst other things, the clothes from NZ fashion designer, Karen Walker on sale.
Since the sun was still shining we decided to walk to the bohemian village of Greenwich down the infamous Bleeker St. Passed the Magnolia Bakery of Sex and the City fame and ended up at a delightful lunchstop called Hoomus, where we enjoyed probably our best New York dining experience. Delicious dips, roasted vegetables and pita bread all washed down with a Millers lager - superb. We left the Pusher to indulge in one last gallery, The Frick Museum so he put us safely in a yellow cab and with great confidence headed deep into the bowls of the earth to catch the Metro uptown. The Payer went home to rest and the Planner to assume yet another role - the Packer!
Some time later the Pusher returned very relieved as he had become totally lost on the metro, ended up walking to Union Square and then found the correct line 6 to take him to the art gallery, which he ultimately enjoyed immensely. His confidence had been squashed so he was more than happy to stay above ground and walk up to the Rockerfeller centre later that night. We watched the sun set on another glorious New York day from the Top of The Rock before heading along to one of New Yorks other famous institutions, The Plaza Hotel. This was closed for a $60billion US renovation but the Planner had established that there was live Jazz in the Rose Bar and thought she would indulge her fellow family in fitting farewell NYC cocktail.
Once more the wheelchair patron entered with security at hand via the service lift ( which we decided was really a bit rich if you had been a paying guest). We discovered the very ornate bar overlooking the lobby and the 5 piece jazz band were in full swing. But the bar itself was very quiet. We ordered cocktails which were reluctantly dispensed with absolutely zero aplomb or service and which tasted worse than a can of premix. What a dissapointment but suddlenly the lack of patronage made sense. We departed after one drink and wheeled home via the next worst experience, Macdonalds on 2nd Ave for a burger and chips for dinner.
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