New York City - Midtown Manhattan

We made this trip without the kids, so we had the rare luxury of getting to sleep in the next day. We had a lazy morning, and then walked over to Midtown. We passed by Rockefeller Center, which was already crowded with people even though the big Christmas tree wasn't lit up yet and was still being decorated. We weaved through the swarms of people and went into a very important landmark - the Nintendo Store.

Both of our kids have really gotten into Nintendo this year - for Halloween their costumes were Toad and Mario riding Yoshi. So we picked up a few souvenirs for them, and then went upstairs so I could geek out at all the Legend of Zelda stuff they had available. I've spent way too much of my free time playing Zelda games (having reached 100% on Tears of the Kingdom, not to brag), so it was cool to get to see Link there. I did refrain from touching, climbing or sitting on him.



After leaving the Nintendo store (and instantly regretting not getting a plush korok), we walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Construction on the church started in 1858, and was completed in 1878. It's still the largest Gothic Revival Catholic Church in North America.





And a little bit of fall color outside the church:



Across the street from the church is the statue Atlas, which was placed here in 1937. The bronze statue depicts Atlas holding up the heavens on his shoulders.



From there we walked over to Bryant Park, which was turned into a giant Winter Village. There you can ice skate and visit over 180 shops.



It was crowded and chaotic and a little overwhelming. So I tried to escape the crowd and instead visited the nearby Main Branch of the New York Public Library. The building opened in 1911 and it is massive. It's estimated that the library contains over 2.5 million volumes in its stacks.



Not all of the library is open to the public (unless you're there to do actual library stuff, like researching). But enough was open that it was cool to walk around and explore.





The library has been shown in a bunch of movies, like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Network, Regarding Henry, The Thomas Crown Affair, Maid in Manhattan and Spider-Man. It was in Ghostbusters:



And in The Day After Tomorrow, it's where they go to escape the tsunami (and subsequent freeze):



Of course, we didn't see any ghosts or waves of water that day. Just the waves of tourists heading to the Winter Village.

New York City - Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal opened way back in 1913, and it still ranks as one of the world's largest and most majestic train stations. The architecture here is astounding. The Main Hall is so immense that you can't capture the whole thing in one photograph. I carried a fisheye lens with me all the way from Arkansas just so I could try to capture as much of the cavernous space as possible.



And as large as the space seems on the inside, it's crazy to see the building be overshadowed by the massive skyscrapers around it.



The exterior of the building is just as impressive as the inside. It's a shame that buildings aren't built like this anymore.



It was busy there, of course, with a constant stream of commuters and tourists entering and leaving the station. In fact more than 21 million people visit Grand Central every year. Which is amazing, especially since the building was almost torn and destroyed in the 1960s.



From Grand Central I walked a few blocks over to the Tudor City Bridge, which is located near the United Nations Building. As I was walking down the sidewalk I started chatting with another person out walking, who turned out to be another photographer out that night taking pictures. We talked for a bit, and he shared some photo location tips. We added each other as friends on Instagram, and when I got back to the hotel later that night I saw that I had been speaking with Neil Vigdor. Not only is he a really good photographer, but he's a reporter with the New York Times as well (he's at @gettinviggy on Instagram if you'd like to give a follow).

So here's the last shot for the night, looking up 42nd Street towards the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station:

New York City - The Oculus

The Oculus is one of the most visually striking additions to the World Trade Center complex. It opened in 2016 and cost $2 billion to build, making it the most expensive train station in the world. The exterior is made up of white beams that curve upwards, which are meant to look like a bird taking flight.







I took a few pictures before sunset of the Oculus, then did a quick walk around Lower Manhattan as it started to get dark. This is the view of Zuccoti Park, which was already covered with Christmas lights (we were there the week before Thanksgiving).



And a few blocks away was a pedestrian bridge that offered this view of the rush hour traffic.



And the view at the intersection of West Street and Albany Street:



I didn't realize it at the time I took that picture, but I was right by the hotel that we stayed at during our visit in 2006. This was the view from our hotel room, taken during a white-out blizzard. 



And then I headed back to the Oculus, so I could take a few more pictures (and to catch the subway). The Oculus is massive, and serves as both a transit station and a shopping mall.



The station serves 12 subway lines and also the PATH train to New Jersey. It's estimated that over 250,000 people use the station each day to commute to work.



And one last shot of the Oculus, looking up at the ceiling from the concourse.

New York City - World Trade Center

It's been said that time will heal all wounds, but anyone who has ever grieved knows that isn't true. Despite it being now almost 25 years since the September 11 attacks, there is still a deep sense of sadness that pervades the 9/11 Memorial. Walking through the Memorial you can't help but replay the memories of that day, and actually being there seems to amplify those traumatic memories. It makes the past more visceral, more haunting. But the sounds of the waterfalls, which mark the footprints of the former Twin Towers, help to quiet and dim the noise of the city. The well-manicured grounds are a stark contrast to the pile of debris and rubble that once stood here. Where a cloud of toxic dust once roared through the streets, there are now rebuilt buildings. Life has moved on.



I got a little emotional while I was there, especially after walking by a solitary white rose placed on the parapet that lists all of the victim's names. Every morning, fresh roses are left on the names of the victims who would have been celebrating their birthday that day.





On my first visit to New York City in 2006, we actually stayed at a hotel just a block south of the World Trade Center site. Back then it was just a large hole in the ground, resembling a massive construction site. It is almost shocking (in a good way) to see it now, and how much has changed in the years since.







Towering high above the memorial is the One World Trade Center building, which is the tallest building in both the US and in the Western Hemisphere. It's the seventh-tallest building in the world.



Near the Memorial in Liberty Park you can find The Sphere, which was the world's largest bronze sculpture when it was placed in the plaza between the former Twin Towers in 1972. The Sphere was damaged, but it managed to survive the attacks. It was never repaired, and was placed as a symbol of resilience and survival. A reminder that even with the scars, we can keep on going.

New York City - St. Paul's Chapel

From Trinity Church it's a short walk over to St. Paul's Chapel. Along the way you pass by Zuccoti Park, which was on the news a lot a few years ago during the Occupy Wall Street protests. On this visit it was much quieter, filled with people taking pictures of the Christmas lights. I stopped and got a picture of this sculpture called Joie de Vivre.



And then I made it to St. Paul's Chapel. The church was built in 1766 and is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan. It's also the only colonial-era church and the oldest public building in continuous use in Manhattan.



St. Paul's Chapel survived the Great Fire of 1776 thanks to a bucket brigade that ran from the roof of the church to the Hudson River. When New York served as the country's first capitol, George Washington attended services here.



The church and its cemetery are less than 100 yards from the sprawling World Trade Center complex. Despite being so close to the Twin Towers, the old church received almost no damage from the September 11 attacks. The building and its stained glass windows remained intact. It's thought that a large sycamore tree in the cemetery absorbed most of the falling debris. It's an interesting contrast to stand in the cemetery now and seeing the One World Trade Center tower looming large above the centuries-old graves.





And the view of the inside:



I exited the hushed quiet of the sanctuary and returned to busy streets of Lower Manhattan, heading across the street to a park by the Woolworth Building. The iconic skyscraper was built in 1913, and was the tallest building in the world until 1929.



As I headed back across the street, I walked by the old church again. I stuck the camera through the bars of the fence and managed to get one more shot from the cemetery:



And for a little comparison, here's a shot of the old church that I took during a visit to New York in 2006 during a blizzard: