I recently took a day off to play tourist in my own home town. First, I took the subway from near Coney Island all the way to Elmhurst, Queens, to visit my high school, Newtown High School, to pick up gym shirts I ordered for my alumni group on Facebook. I miss the buskers on the subway and there was one in the tunnel connecting the Sixth Avenue train line (B/D/F) to the 7, but he wasn't that good. I think he was singing some Whitney Houston song but I didn't catch it right away. I actually got off the R train a station early to do some CityStriding. I don't go to Queens often so every little bit helps. By the time I was done it was lunch time. Stopped by Phở Bằng, near Broadway and Elmhurst Avenue, for lunch. I didn't enjoy sharing a big round table with two other lone diners. Next time, maybe I will try Phở Bắc, further in in that same strip mall.
First stop in Manhattan was a re-visit to Amster Yard on East 49th Street. It's a courtyard garden for a private Spanish library, Instituto Cervantes. Without reading about it I wouldn't venture past the gate on 49th Street. But it's open to the public, I used to go there regularly when I worked in the area, indirectly for TIAA-CREF, or whatever their name is now. It's nice to be there and not hear the noise of the city outside.
Next stop was the "rooftop garden" of the re-built NYPL Midtown Manhattan Library. I know, it's now known as the Niarchos Foundation Library, but old habits die hard. I read about the "rooftop garden" but haven't had a chance to visit. It's actually referred to as a "rooftop terrace". My fault really, I like "rooftop gardens" so that was my expectation. Lots of sitting area but very little greenery. There was some area under construction, hopefully that will add some plants etc to the terrace.
Lastly, I visited the "new" Moynahan Train Terminal, which is where the Main Post Office used to be. The post office windows were still there, perhaps preserved for historical purpose, but behind them toward Ninth Avenue there is a large area with skylight, shops etc. I heard much about the Moynahan Extension of the High Line. I expected it to be a part of the Moynahan building but it turned out it's an avenue over, on the block across Ninth Avenue, an area called Manhattan West. The nice thing is where the Moynahan Extension ended is a plaza a few floors above the street. Such plazas were popular in Hong Kong, the last time I visited the "island nation". "Sky bridges" would connect a few such plazas so people can travel from one part of town to another without ever being on street level. I love walking and enjoyed such walk very much, no need to deal with vehicular traffic. I traveled the entire Moynahan Extension, past the giant pigeon sculpture, back to the High Line near Hudson Yard, back toward 23rd Street. Took the C downtown to transfer to the D and got off at Grant Street station - Chinatown. I love Vietnamese heros - bánh mì - so it was necessary to stop by Saigon Bakery to get some. I also got some nem for my mother, from Tân Tín Hưng grocery store. Another long subway ride home and that was my day being a tourist in Manhattan.
