Skyscraper Museum, plus "Where do you live in New York?" (Part 6)

In case you did not already know, New York City has a LOT of museums.  The app NYC Museum catalogs nearly 150 museums in NYC.  Surely, there are more.  (Don't call me Shirley.)

Obviously, there are museums of all sorts, from art to history to science to culture to the absurd.  We doubt we will visit all of the museums in NYC, but we are having a wonderful time visiting many of them. 

One museum that we found fascinating was the Skyscraper Museum in lower Manhattan.  While it might be a relatively small museum, it covers a mighty subject very well.  We learned about skyscrapers throughout history and how they are measured (there are several competing methods).  Displays showed the tallest  structures that exist today and those that are still under construction, as well. 

One exhibit catalogs "supertall" buildings around the globe, buildings that are taller than the Empire State Building (1,250 feet).  Can you guess how many supertalls are completed or in process?  If you guessed 50+, you are correct. 

The tallest of the supertalls is the 2717 foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  The building is a half mile tall.  Now, that's a skyscraper.

Burj Khalifa, 160 stories, 2717 feet, Dubai

Another exhibit was especially interesting.  A model maker from Arizona thought it would be a good to carve scale wooden models of Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan, showing all the skyscrapers and other buildings in those sections.  Amazingly, he did this without ever having visited NYC.  He used photos and other resources to create the models.  He then drove from Arizona to NYC to present the models to the museum.  The scale models are accurate and detailed.  We even located our building in the Midtown model.

Photo of scale model of Midtown Manhattan (North is to right).  The green space near the center is Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library main branch.  Madison Square Garden is the circular building near bottom right corner.

Photo of Midtown model.  Bloomingdale's is in the bottom right corner and the Bloomberg Building is the very tall building next to Bloomie's along the right side of the photo.  Our building is the small building in the bottom center of the photo.

Photo of Midtown model, looking down Third Avenue.  Where we live is the somewhat circular building in the foreground (with the box on top).

P.S.  In case you want to learn more about NYC skyscrapers, a recent National Geographic article is worth reading.  Some of the photos and graphics might take your breath away.  Seeing the buildings in person certainly does.  Thanks to our friend Mark Chmielarksi for sharing the article with us. 

Winter in NYC, How Bad Could It Be?--More

Like we said, people questioned the sanity of our decision to endure a NYC Winter.  It seems we should have listened. 

Not only did we pick the Winter with the greatest single day snowfall in recorded history, we picked the Winter with the lowest Valentine's Day temperature in recorded history.

On Valentine's Day last weekend, the mercury dropped and dropped and then dropped some more until it stopped at -1°F during the early morning. 

No matter how you cut it, that's cold.  

Fortunately, our apartment stayed warm despite the cold outside and some drafty windows.  For some reason, we bundled up with every warm piece of clothing we have and ventured out into the early morning cold.  We can verify it was cold, cold, cold.  The wind, of course, made it worse.  We kept our time outdoors very brief, either by descending into the subway or ducking into a store.  We didn't need anything from TJ Maxx, but the good people at TJ Maxx know how to heat their store.  Thanks, TJ Maxx! 

All we have to say is that we are so happy we selected NYC for Year 1 of the 10 Year Plan, instead of Watertown, NY.  That would have been unbearable.

Our Little Friend

Say hello to our little friend.

The day after the snowstorm in January, Susan built a little snowperson on our terrace, complete with candy cane arms, a stylish tiara and the obligatory I Love NY mug.  There was plenty of snow but it was so powdery that building our snowperson was a challenge.  The snow was better for skiing and shredding than for snow creature construction.  Still, persistence and patience paid off and the end result was a well-groomed, smartly outfitted snow being.  If you look closely, you can even detect a smile. 

Of course, unless you live at the North or South Pole or in a freezer, even a well constructed snow creature has numbered days.  Our little friend disappeared but left behind some mementos for reuse when our friend returns after the next snowstorm. 

We hope to see our little friend in future travels.  In the meantime, perhaps our little friend will visit you.  If so, please share a photo.

P.S.  About the little friend comment, apologies to Tony Montana. 

Winter in NYC, How Bad Could It Be?

People said we were crazy:  "Why are you starting the 10 Year Plan in New York City just before Winter begins?"

We thought:  "How bad could it be?  A little snow and some cold temperatures.  We'll be fine."

Now we know why New Yorkers go to Florida during Winter.  

On January 23, New York City experienced its greatest one-day snowfall, 26.inches recorded in Central Park.  That's a single-day record since records have been kept.  We live near the Park and saw the snow pile up and up and up.  The snow fell so rapidly, more than 1 inch per hour, that the street plows could not keep up with it even though they plowed every couple of hours or so.  To put the snowfall in perspective, an average Winter in NYC has about 25 inches of snowfall.  

We "hunkered down" in our apartment for the duration of the storm.  We were stocked with supplies and the fireplace kept us toasty warm.  We hunkered well. 

The day after the storm, we unhunkered and ventured over the Central Park, along with thousands of other New Yorkers.  A thick blanket of snow covered everything in the Park -- a veritable Winter Wonderland.

Here are some photos taken during the snowstorm and the day after. 

59th Street as seen from our apartment.  Snow covered the street and sidewalks, while cars and pedestrians were scarce.

The construction site across the street

The Queensboro Bridge as seen from our apartment

Whiteout!  The Queensboro Bridge as not seen from our apartment

The day after.  The bridge is still standing but the normally crowded is nearly empty.

The day after.  Two feet of snow cover Central Park like a think blanket.

Some dude trying to say warm and upright on the slick walkways

Some random hottie out for a brisk walk, styling in her faux fur coat and hat.

Winter scene in Central Park

Winter scene in Central Park

Two random hotties standing tall despite the big snow

Only in New York City (Kramer's Reality Tour)

We recently had an Only in NYC experience.  We took Kramer's Reality Tour.

Kenny Kramer is a long-time NYC stand-up comedian and he is the basis of the Seinfeld character Cosmo Kramer.  Kenny was a neighbor of Seinfeld co-creator Larry David and remains his close friend.  And, once you meet Kenny in person, there can be no doubt whatsoever that Kenny is the real Kramer. 

On the 3-hour tour (no shipwreck involved), we heard all about the creation of Seinfeld.  The tour began in a small theater setting where Kenny shared stories.  Then, we ventured out in a tour bus to see all the Seinfeld sites on the West Side of Manhattan.  As Kenny said, "If there can be a TV show about 'nothing', there can be a tour of places that no longer exist".

Some spots still exist, however, most notably the soup stand where the Seinfeld characters stood in line to get hot soup.  We braved the 9 degree windy weather to get our soup, too.  (No questions are allowed or you might be told, "No soup for you!").  The Mulligatawny was very tasty, and best of all, it warmed us up.

The tour was a great experience and we highly recommend it (unless you have no idea who or what Seinfeld is).  Kenny has been doing it for twenty years, and he now limits the outings to four months per year, and only on Saturdays.  We got lucky!

Here are some photos from the tour.

Kenny Kramer, the real Kramer, tell stories and jokes

Photo of Kenny Kramer in front of Monk's Diner near Columbia University.  The diner where Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David created the Seinfeld Chronicles (original name) is on 9th Avenue near 44th Street.

The tour includes a stop at the Original Soup Man, aka the Soup Nazi.  The Mulligatawny was excellent!

Kenny Kramer with some random hottie

Serving up the soup, plus extra treats if you behave.  Otherwise, it's . . . . (next photo)

Translation:  "No soup for you!"

Kenny sells some great merchandise.  And yes, that is an authentic autographed Assman license plate.

P.S.  It turns out that The Kramer Reality Tour is not an Only in NYC experience.  Kenny travels the world with a stage version of his show, from Ames, Iowa to Israel.  Who knew?

Polar Plunge Completed

On January 1, Greg did the unthinkable and got the year off to a memorable start.

Greg joined a thousand like-minded lunatics on the beach at famed Coney Island for the annual Polar Bear Plunge.  The air temperature was around 30F but the wind was biting.  Thankfully, the water temperature was a balmy 50F.

If you have never plunged into cold seawater, you should try it.  The experience was unlike anything that Greg can remember:  time stopped, muscles contracted, heart slowed.  In short, it was great!

The best thing was raising money for a worthwhile cause--Camp Sunshine, where families with sick children create lifelong happy memories.   

Below are some photos that tell the story. 
 

Pre-plunge:  Keeping a stiff upper lip

Pre-plunge:  Waiting to the last minute to disrobe

Waiting the staging area.  That's Greg in the white polar bear hat on the left.

Borat and a patriotic friend

The Chief Bear led the way

Post-plunge:  On the warm subway, soaking wet, happy as can be.

Drying out at home

Good times!

  

Return from Hiatus (Finally!)

Greetings from New York City!

After travelling here and there, our hiatus is ended.  Blogging resumes and we will do our best to make it interesting.

What have we been up to?  Well, here is a summary:

• we have traveled to North Carolina, Florida and Arizona
• we endured the greatest single snowfall that NYC has seen . . . ever (Well, make that in recorded history.  NYC probably had some serious snowfall during the last ice age when it was under a mile of ice.)
• we endured the coldest February 14 that NYC has seen . . . ever
• we enjoyed a visit from Sally
• we have enjoyed time with family and friends
• Greg took the polar plunge and survived
• we have enjoyed many plays, tours, restaurants and sporting events

• (drum roll . . .) we met the real Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld fame

Thanks for being patient while we were on hiatus.  Please stay tuned for more blog posts.

Susan and Greg

January 24, 2016 (the day after the record snow), in Central Park in front of The Plaza Hotel