New York City

Feb 24-25, 2024
AC8982 YYZ-LGA, UA3504 EWR-YYZ

We try to get to NYC once a year, and found a nice airfare and a good rate at the Hyatt Centric Midtown. Even with a good rate, staying in New York is quite expensive, so we optimized the time with an early morning flight to LaGuardia, and had the whole day in the city.

Feb 24

Although our original flight was quite early, we were actually near the gate before the even earlier 6:15am flight, so with some flexibility from AC, we got an extra hour in the city. On arrival, we had time for breakfast at the Air Canada lounge before taking the bus into Manhattan to drop off our stuff at the hotel, and went for a long walk.

Times Square was our first stop. We considered getting last-minute theatre tickets, but nothing inspired us enough to wait in the exceedingly long lines.

Nice day at Central Park rock

Central Park's Gapstow Bridge

Queensboro Bridge to Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt island cable car

Walking along the East River, looking back at newly opened E. Midtown Greenway trail, which partly explains why this area was new to us

The end of the new trail with the UN headquarters ahead, along FDR Drive

"Good Defeats Evil" sculpture in the UN Garden

Heavily protected UN headquarters building, without flags

The Chrysler Tower is one of my favourites

Pretty cool truck advertising

Christopher Park, right across from the Stonewall Inn

Stonewall National Monument

The Jefferson Market Building

The Empire State view from our hotel's rooftop bar

It was a bit cool for al fresco, but we made the most of it

Having walked a giant portion of Manhattan, and having our first visit to the historically important Stonewall Inn, we rewarded ourselves with cocktails on the rooftop before heading capping it off with dinner nearby.

Feb 25

I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been to NYC, and although we love it, we tend to keep going to the same iconic places. With that pattern, we never made it to the Metropolitan Museum. With most of the day available, after breakfast, we walked through Central Park, and were at the museum in time for opening.

Central Park high rise view

Waiting for the Met to open

Sculpture Gallery

"Before Yesterday We Could Fly" Period Room

Impressive remains of the 23BC Temple of Dendur, saved and relocated to the US during the construction of the Aswan High Dam, as a gift from Egypt

The intricate carvings of the temple, still visible in the stone

More of the temple structure

Four Statues of the goddess Sakhmet

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

Edgar Degas, The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer

D’Arcangelo painting with the familiar Esso logo

Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos

Heading back to the hotel along Central Park, stopping at 107th Infantry Memorial

Having thoroughly enjoyed our morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we checked out of the hotel and made our way back to Newark. We ended the day visiting some of the newer United Clubs at Newark, before our evening flight back to Toronto.