Last weekend I went to New York City (my mother wanted to go to see the WTC memorial lights...)
So after 8 hours of driving time (yes, we drove)...there I was in The Big Apple...
Her original plan was to remain across the river in New Jersey and view the lights from afar (she's afraid of NYC... Not of another terrorist attack...but of the New Yorkers themselves...lol)
But I figured there's no point in driving 8 hours just to look from across a river... I wanted to take in the sights of Manhattan firsthand...
So we ended up actually crossing the river (by accident the first time...she missed the exit to our hotel and ended up stuck going across the bridge...lol) and going right into Manhattan...
Even though she had the happy accident of diving right into the city...she still didin't want to wander around outside of the car...so we separated and my girlfriend (who came along) and I walked around Manhattan for a few hours taking in the sights...
AndI came away with a few observations... Times Square is awesome... Manhattan isn't frightening at all (I felt perfectly safe walking around after dark)... I wouldn't mind living there... But the one thing that struck me the most from the whole trip...
The WTC site is tiny... It's much smaller than an average city block... Even smaller than your average Wal*Mart parking lot (about half the size of our local Wal*Mart's)... It's really hard to picture how those two huge buildings fit in such a small chunk of land... And it's even more amazing that they fell directly into that small piece of land and not into anything around them (aside from the broken windows and the third building that collapsed)...
But I really want to go back and do more... We really couldn't do many of the touristy things because we only had a few hours and most of those were after everything touristy was closed...lol (I.E. Empire State Building observation deck, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, etc)
That place is awesome...
ID:193026
 Apr 10 2002, 6:32 pm
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My girlfriend and I drove through New York City almost exactly a year ago... well, she drove, I just kind of sat there (Lexy's not too good with cars)... we didn't get to stop in the city and do anything, but I saw the towers from what I think was the George Washington Bridge (Lexy's not too good with landmarks, either). At the time, my girlfriend, who is from New York, was talking about how when we could afford to take a real vacation, we'd go up to the top of the towers... it's kind of eerie. Except in the sense that everybody in the whole country went A) "Just think, I had never been up there and now I never will..." or B) "Just think, I was just up there [time] ago...", which kind of takes the eeriness away. But you know.
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Cool photo...
We didn't get to walk that much of Manhattan...just from Pier 17 up to Times Square (about half of the north-south length of the island, though...) But that included side trips down Wall street, under the Brooklyn Bridge, over to the WTC site, past the Empire State Building, etc... So it covered a decent chunk... But you're right...no Central Park... I was making a list before we left of all of the things I wanted to see...and of course that was on it... But plans sort of changed once we got there...and it was dark before I got the chance...lol I was all ready to ride around on the Subway (against everyone else's advice)... And I'd been on the Paris Metro before so it's not like I couldn't navigate it... The problem arose, though, that all of the stations we went into had out of order ticket machines...and no manned booths... But I kept dropping into the stations we passed to check out the maps (because we left ours at the hotel...lol)... And we finally found one that had a working machine...so we bought two tickets just in case... That station wasn't a line we needed (and it would have taken too many transfers to make it worth it to get onto a line we needed from that train)...so we got the tickets to use when we came upon a line we could use... But by the time we came across one...we were so far along by just walking that it wasn't worth bothering...lol But at least we got a couple of neat souvenirs out of the deal...lol So I've got to go back and do all of the things I didn't get the chance to do this time around... And preferably spread out over more than just one day...lol As for living there...I've always wanted to... I don't know how it happened, since I've lived in a small town all of my life, but I've always been a "big city" kind of person... And that city is the king of all big cities...lol But the thought did come to my mind, though, that after the novelty wore off it would just get tedious and tiresome to put up with all of the traffic and noise and whatever else... Not to mention the horrendous rent for anything in that city... I suppose I could commute from Jersey... Although it cost me $60* to take a cab from Times Square to our hotel right across the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey... So paying that twice everyday would really suck (and I would rather not drive to Manhattan everyday...trying to find parking and deal with all of the traffic and whatnot) Speaking of traffic... Those people just don't care... That's the best way I can put it... Almost every car you see has a dent or scratch somewhere...lol We saw (more than once) people pulling u-turns in the middle of oncoming traffic (a big no-no around here...and really anywhere... but they seemed to all get away with it with no incidents) and crossing three lanes of 60-70 MPH traffic without signaling...lol Insane drivers in that place... Here in the midwest, we've got a sort of politeness in our driving... But there the attitude seems to be "I'm going...and it's your problem to watch out for me"...lol Even our cab driver was like that... He was parked in front of a minivan...and when he went to pull out...he backed into the thing... He just looked back, shrugged, and went on his way...lol (of course he didn't hit it hard enough to cause any damage...but even small taps like that around here don't just go uncared about...) We also came up behind a guy who had stopped his car in the street to get out to buy a hot dog...lol As our fashion around here...we politely stopped behind him to wait for him to move... But then got promptly beeped at for blocking the way and passed by all of the cars behind us...lol It was then almost impossible to get back out into traffic (No one lets anyone go around there... Here, just about everyone will stop and let someone go... There, you've just got to push your way out...lol) Oh well, like I said...it was a really cool experience...and one that I plan to repeat someday in the not so distant future... *<font size = -1>$24 fare doubled to $48 for the hassle of crossing the bridge and losing the driver valuable time, plus the $6 toll for him to get back and a &6 tip on top of that... seemed fair to me, though...especially after trying to hail a cab for nearly half an hour at 1:30 AM in Times Square...lol</font> | |
It was probably the George Washington Bridge... That's the big steel one at the northern tip of the island that connects it to New Jersey...
We crossed that bridge about 4 times during the duration of our trip...lol I see what you mean about the eeriness... We passed the site in the car along one side that was all blocked from view by a chain link fence with thick mesh in it...but later on when my GF and I were walking around...we ended up on the other side where the fence was shorter and you could barely see down into the pit (they're below ground level now with the cleanup)... And the memorial lights (which are really cool looking, by the way) were behind the site (they're actually kitty-corner across the street from the site itself)...and it was a pretty humbling view... I really wished I could have seen them before so I could compare the before and after in my mind... We didn't view it from the platform, though... You needed to get a ticket for an assigned 15 minute timeslot to use the platform...and all of the tickets for that day and the next monring were gone by the time we got there... But we were close enough... I didn't take any pictures of it, either... It just didn't seem right to take any pictures... We did take pictures of the lights...but none of them turned out...lol | |
SuperSaiyanGokuX wrote:
Speaking of traffic... Those people just don't care... That's the best way I can put it... Almost every car you see has a dent or scratch somewhere...lol We saw (more than once) people pulling u-turns in the middle of oncoming traffic (a big no-no around here...and really anywhere... but they seemed to all get away with it with no incidents) and crossing three lanes of 60-70 MPH traffic without signaling...lol Insane drivers in that place... Here in the midwest, we've got a sort of politeness in our driving... But there the attitude seems to be "I'm going...and it's your problem to watch out for me"...lol My dad went to New York City a few years ago, and he said that in New York, people have horns, no brakes. I don't know if it's true as I've never been there before. [EDIT] I know they have brakes, I don't know if the way they drive is different. [/EDIT] I hope to visit New York some time in my life. | |
My dad went to New York City a few years ago, and he said that in New York, people have horns, no brakes. I don't know if it's true as I've never been there before. I hope to visit New York some time in my life. And that's why the subway was invented. | |
He's more right than wrong...lol
They really never slow down unless they absolutely have to to avoid getting killed...lol Traffic laws seemto be nothing more than just a suggestion in that place...lol However...there were signs up everywhere warning that there was a $300 fine for excessive honking...lol So everyone just makes these tiny little beeps instead of laying on the horn... I really pity the firefighters and ambluance drivers and police in that city... If they need to get down a street...it's up to the other drivers to get out of the way, right? Well, that doesn't quite work when there's so much traffic that there's nowhere for anyone to go...lol So they end up having to drive down the wrong side of the road if there's too much traffic going their way...lol | |
now by girlfreind do u mean boyfreind?
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I'm in love with Manhattan. I've only visited for any length of time thrice. I want to live there someday. I love being able to get everything you need without having to own a car. I love the sound of the traffic at night, and Central Park. All the interesting stores and restaurants.
I was surprised by the driving when I got there. I expected it to be really bad. But it's not bad so much as aggressive. It seems to be every driver for himself. If you want to change lanes you have to just stick your nose in there, and it's up to the other cars not to hit you. Heh. Some of the streets in Manhattan have ambulance lanes. Like Amsterdam Ave I think. It's a lane in the middle of the road that says "ambulance lane" or something. But I'm not sure whether cars still clog it during rush hour. Z | |
Zilal wrote:
I'm in love with Manhattan. I've only visited for any length of time thrice. I want to live there someday. I love being able to get everything you need without having to own a car. I love the sound of the traffic at night, and Central Park. All the interesting stores and restaurants. That's a perfect description of the driving we witnessed... It's almost completely opposite from the way we drive around here...lol Some of the streets in Manhattan have ambulance lanes. Like Amsterdam Ave I think. It's a lane in the middle of the road that says "ambulance lane" or something. But I'm not sure whether cars still clog it during rush hour. I noticed one street with a "Fire Lane" in the middle...but it still seemed to be rather crowded...lol | |
And by the implied criticism of gay people in the choice of insults you've recently deployed, did you mean to say that you never want to join any of my games?
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Ah, the typical fallacy ("phallusy"?) of straight male thought... that someone has to be the "man" in any given relationship. Not that it's any of your business, but both I and my partner are very feminine in appearance and dress, although we're both a tad on the assertive side. You will not receive any information on any aspects of our relationship beyond dating, and asking for them in an inappropriate manner will no doubt be treated as a violation of the forum community standards.
You have been treated kindly so far, GreenDice, and given waaaaaay too many "second chances" for many people's likings. Don't blow it. | |
Lesbian Assassin wrote:
You have been treated kindly so far, GreenDice, and given waaaaaay too many "second chances" for many people's likings. Don't blow it. Kindly? noooooo not kindly at all. if this was a threat by you to get me banned because of this post i guess anyone who offends you in particularly will get banned because you know the creators personally. i am in my state of anger constantly because of idiots like RaeKwon and others who know who they are pissing me off on AIM and spamming my pager. Now i have nothing against you lexy but i hate when you bring up totally irrelevant things like in a past flame about was it europeans subtitling films and also your "bitchy" attitude maybe some kind of permi-PMS? but you probably have a hard time living picking at every curse word you hear on the forums as if there each a nail in your heart but you got to realize people curse alot in real life and you cant complain to someone because they curse in fron tof you in public (althought you probably would) so i would appreciate not anticipating every word as if your waiting to get someone banned just because of your attitude | |
I don't think you should be banned because of this post, this is one of your most innocuous ones. I don't like it personally, but I settle personal matters personally. If everyone I ever disagreed with were banned from the forum, there wouldn't be anyone left here. Including Dantom.
What I'm referring to when saying you've been given too many second chances is not your conduct towards me, but your continuing conduct towards RaeKwon. You've got a problem with him? It's a personal problem. It's a private problem. Keep it that way! You know what? In real life, I curse up a swarm. I don't care much about what society thinks, after all, and I certainly don't shy away from expressing myself. My previous key name, which you might have been around long enough to remember, contained what many people would consider offensive language. What's more, I would defend anyone's right to say anything on the street... even things I disagree with (I'd still tell them they're wrong, but I wouldn't tell them to shut up). I believe in free speech. But you know what? If I go to someone's house, and I know they don't like cursing, I won't curse. Why? Because it's only polite! Their house, their rules. This is Dantom's house. I follow Dantom's rules. I don't object to your swearing... I object to it because it's against the house rules and because you know it is. | |
GreenDice wrote:
[snip]i guess anyone who offends you in particularly will get banned [/snip] It doesn't just offend her. And even if it didnt offend her, it would be irrelevant. (I will explain below) [snip] but you probably have a hard time living picking at every curse word you hear on the forums as if there each a nail in your heart but you got to realize people curse alot in real life and you cant complain to someone because they curse in fron tof you in public (althought you probably would) so i would appreciate not anticipating every word as if your waiting to get someone banned just because of your attitude Swearing is not permitted on the forums. Those are the rules of Dantom, not Lexy. The only person's attitude which has something to do with them getting banned, is their own. If you cannot abide by the forum rules, you have no place posting here. As for the cussing in real life, that is irrelevant as well. I use swear words in real life, quite a lot in certain areas when im talking to people I know. I do not swear on these forums. I abide by the standards set by Dantom, and I do not wish to pollute the forums. That way, no one gets offended(Atleast in that manner). Alathon | |
Kindly? noooooo not kindly at all. if this was a threat by you to get me banned because of this post i guess anyone who offends you in particularly will get banned because you know the creators personally. Four lessons: 1) Back off when you're going for the crapper. If you're making a downward spiral because of insults and she asks you nicely to stop, don't continue to make insults. 2) Don't bite off more than you can chew. Lexy is very good at arguing her point. As far as I know, she's never lost an argument on these boards. I myself have felt that. 3) Learn to be humble. If you think it's a veiled threat (which I didn't) don't reply to it as it is, because it will only turn it into an unveiled threat, and then outright action. 4) Every action deserves an equal and opposite reaction. If you're going to insult homosexuality, don't do it here; walk up to a pride parade instead. You'll get just desserts. but you probably have a hard time living picking at every curse word you hear on the forums as if there each a nail in your heart but you got to realize people curse alot in real life and you cant complain to someone because they curse in fron tof you in public (althought you probably would) If someone in public was interjecting a swear word after every third word, and doing it loudly, there's a very good chance that I would knock them flat on their backs. Swearing is one of any language's dumbest aspects, and their use is supposed to be reserved for the most hated of all evils. When people go "So anyway, I !&$%ing loved that !&$%ing movie! It kicked !&$%ing ass, man!" they're pronouncing hatred upon love and upon the movie, yet contextually saying they like it. Thus, they are swearing just for the sake of swearing, which is pointless and idiotic. Most people DON'T swear often, Dice. People swear on occasion, yes, but no one ever swears repeatedly just for the sake of swearing, unless they're ignorant and unconfident fools who try to feel accepted by their peers; they act non-conformist but wind up being just like all the other people who are trying to do the same. I swear on occasion, yes, and I reserve those for times when I only want to offend a single person, not offend an entire community of individuals who have to read all of this mess. so i would appreciate not anticipating every word as if your waiting to get someone banned just because of your attitude Lexy has stated on several occasions, at least in private, that she dislikes the concept of banning people from the forums and wishes that people weren't so ornery to warrant such action. | |
It might serve to pay attention to one of the rules outlined in the forum help (which if you haven't read, you aught to).
"...if someone pesters you, ask them to stop, with hostility if need be, but please do not talk about how arrogant they are, how they are sexually oriented, or any other number of insults which a thoughtful mind can concoct." Take it to heart. | |
Like you I loved NYC and ended up walking something like 200 city blocks by first time there, I walked all over that place, and rode the subways too. Wouldn't really want to live there, but its a cool place to see. Being night time I guess you didn't see Central Park? That place is cool too right in the middle of a busy city too.
LJR