by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor

After being back in New York for 3 1/2 months, I still feel like an adventurous tourist. My guard is up and my Spidey senses are in full alert. There are so many things to do here that you can easily spend a whole week here. I had to acquaint myself with the New York subway system.  Am I standing at the right side of the platform? Is this train heading North or South? Slowly, its coming back to me.

NSC member Annette Li came out to New York on her own for a solo vacation. The weather in September was beautiful. The temperature was warm, so we were able to walk around in our tees and shorts.

I met with Annette at her hotel and we started our tour. We checked out the Vessel at Hudson Yards, walked the Highline, visited Little Island, ate lunch at Chelsea Market and visited Greenwich Village.

Two days later, I met up with Annette again and we took the train to visit Little Italy, NY Chinatown, City Hall and we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Can you believe that this is my first-time walking across the Brooklyn Bridge? So, I was really looking forward to doing this.

We had brick oven pizza at Juliana’s Pizza and then it was time for me to head home. We did take a lot of pictures along the way.

A month later, my brother Mickey and Curtis O. came to New York on the same week for a visit. My brother stayed home with mom and Curtis and I hit the town. We waited an hour at TKTS and brought 50% discounted tickets to see Beetlejuice on Broadway. A big savings for seats in the orchestra, 13th row, center.

After purchasing our tickets, we walked south to the Vessel at Hudson Yards (Again). During our visit, the first level of the Vessel was opened to the public and we were able to go inside. Usually the Vessel is opened so you can walk around the inside and climb to the top. Unfortunately, there’s been a high incident of suicidal jumpers that force the closure on the upper levels. 

We continued walking the Highline (Again), visited Little Island (Again),stopped by Chelsea Market. Truely, I never get tired of the walk or the views. We stopped for lunch at Piccola Cucina Estatorio in the Village. We treated ourselves with an afternnoon snack at Domnique Ansel Bakery . Picked up an Original Cronut  – What’s a cronut? “half-croissant, half doughnut” pastry creation.  

We finally made it to the renovated South Street Seaport, where we rested and enjoyed the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. I was pooped. We clocked in 27,000 steps, about 7 miles that day. Pretty soon it was time to go back uptown via Subway to Times Square to see Beetlejuice that evening at 7:00pm

Two days later, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge (again).  I can now say I walked it twice in my lifetime. We ended up on the Brooklyn side called DUMBO where we had real NY Pizza. (Not deep dish or brick oven) We walked along the waterfront where you can see the view of New York City skyline.

We ended the day by taking a ride on Jane’s Carousel, A restored carousel from 1922. Cost of the ride – $2.00 What a bargain and a fantastic view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_2rwvdjp2o

One of the highlight of Curtis’s visit beside visiting me of course is checking out to New York’s newest cultural experience called the Summit. You’ll read all about that in the next article.