On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:35:43 -0600, Paul Brandon wrote: > And if they've got some period music scheduled, so much the better. > > On Dec 23, 2009, at 8:38 PM, Jeffrey Nagelbush wrote: >> As far as I am concerned, at this time of year the best place to go >> in NYC is the Cloisters at Fr. Tryon park. The weather adds to the >> mood of the place. And those wonderful unicorn tapestries.
For those that are not familiar with the Cloisters, it is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it contains a number of medieval works of art in a structure that is itself a work of art (Thank you Mr. Rockefeller). For more info about it, one can read the Wikipedia entry; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloisters Info about its address, hours of operation, and how to get there (the subway-bus combination is recommended; take the "A" train to 190th St but stay in the first car to shorten the distance to the elevator; Washington Heights is literally on top of one), see: http://www.ny.com/museums/cloisters.html For events at the Cloisters, see: http://www.metmuseum.org/cloisters/events Now, I did not push the Cloisters as a place to visit because it takes up a big chunk of one's time. Though the Met Museum is on 5th Ave 79-83th Streets, the Cloisters are on the uppermost west side of Manhattan. If one is in the western part of Midtown, say the 59th St/Columbus Circle subway station, it will take about a half hour to get to the 190th St subway station (though there is an interesting express ride from 59th St to 125th St). Then there is the bus ride to the museum which adds another 10-15 minutes (wait included). So, depending on whether one gets the "A" train at 59th St or elsewhere, traveling time one way can easily take an hour. Now the Cloisters are a really nice place but one really has to be into medieval art. After visiting the Cloisters, one can visit Fort Tryon park but in winter it is unlikely that one would want to stay out too long. Fort Tryon is north of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (the 168th St subway station stop) and the George Washington Bridge (the 175th St subway Station). Yeshiva University which has several campuses spread out around NYC, has a main campus on the east side at 185th St (accessible from the 181st St subway station). These points of interest might be interesting to some but I don't think that most would want to explore them. Meaning, after you do the Cloisters, you go back to areas where more interesting locations and activities are clustered. There are other NYC attractions that one could go to but they too require a significant traveling time and are somewhat out of the way. The Bronx Zoo, Coney Island (where the Cyclone roller coaster and the NY Aquarium are located), the Bronx Botanical Garden, the Brookly Botanical Graden, and other attractions are scattered around NYC. Typically, if one goes to these places, that's all one is going to do because of the amount of time getting to them. NOTE: one can drive in NYC but it take extensive knowledge and experience to do so efficiently. Taking mass transit (subways, buses, etc.) is usually more time efficient (but you'll hear New York complain). Even so, traveling away from Manhattan central can take a significant amount of time. One final suggestion is to take the "tramway" which is next to the 59th St bridge (eastside) and goes to Roosevelt Island. It's like taking the Staten Island Ferry: it's mass transit but the sights along the way are something to write home about. Info about the tram is provided here: http://www.ny.com/transportation/ri_tramway.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Island_Tramway For people who are "train/subway fans" this website provide a lot of info and photos about the subways, the different "lines", and the stations: http://www.nycsubway.org/lines/index.html This site give one an idea of what to look for in different stations and their history. By the way, there is a transit museum located in Brooklyn but it may be somewhat difficult for out of towners to get to. The transit museum does have a shop in Grand Central Terminal (GCT). If one is around GCT, it is worthwhile to visit the grand train station (think about the dancing scene in it from the movie "The Fisher King"). GCT is on 42nd St and Park Avenue. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
