New York   

A very interesting and vibrant town. Take the advice of locals - don't try buses in the city. You would have been able to walk a lot faster than the bus can go. The traffic is horrendous but the subway is great - quick, clean, user-friendly, frequent and pretty inexpensive. The city is clean but the graffiti is overwhelming. Parking seems to be a nightmare even in the suburbs - there didn't seem to be anywhere you could park for free for the whole day. The Statten Island ferry is terrific - it is free and gives you a great ride across the harbour and past the Statue of Liberty. It is usually crowded (even in winter), mostly with tourists I think.

New York is a working port. This is across from the port area to Lower Manhatten.

Lower Manhattan again. You can just see some of the Tall Ships moored below the skyscrapers.

 Central Park - on a grey and misty day- and weren't they all??

Skaters enjoying the ice in Central Park(well, look carefully!). It is a very large park - about 15 blocks long and two or three blocks wide.

The romantic horse drawn carriages constantly trotting around a well worn track in Central Park.

The 'grand dame' herself - no, it's not Edna!

Ellis Island is also in the harbour, quite close to the Statue of Liberty.

Looking from the ferry terminal for the Statten Island ferry, towards the skyscrapers in Brooklyn.

This is probably "middle" Manhattan. The pretty building towards the right is the Woolworths Building.

The Ferry Terminal and Lower Manhattan. Ground Zero is near the extreme left of this picture and possibly a little further up.

The Brooklyn Bridge and skyline from Brooklyn Heights.

The pedestrian and cycle pathways on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge - thousands do it!

City Hall - quite close to the on-ramp for the Brooklyn Bridge.

What else but the Brooklyn Bridge again.

Close up of some of the lovely detail on New York City Hall.

The Empire State Building. The queues to go up were very long.

Still looks very modern after all this time.

Christmas windows in department stores - I forget which one this was.

Macy's - supposedly the largest Department Store in the world.

Inside Macy's just after Christmas.

Christmas tree and Hanukkah Candles in a park in Brooklyn Heights.

Christmas decorations in the Rockerfeller Centre.

Art Deco beauty of the Rockerfeller Building

Rockerfeller Building entrance.

Skaters on the rink inside the Rockerfeller Centre.

Typical 5th Avenue apartment building.

Cartiers dressed for Christmas.

Beautiful homes in Brooklyn Heights - with gas lamps. It is probably a little like Kirribilli but the daytime view isn't as pretty but the evening view would be very spectacular.

A leafy street in Brooklyn Heights.

On the beach at Coney Island - it is at the extreme end of Brooklyn.

Unfortunately Coney Island actually closes in winter - there wasn't even anywhere to get a hot-dog.

The Boardwalk at Coney Island. The beach wouldn't get much use in winter!

Both the Brooklyn and the Manhattan Bridges from Brooklyn.

The 'subway' station at 46th Street, Queens and a different view of the Empire State Building.

Across the tracks from Queens for a view of both the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.

Bustling Chinatown. We did have some difficulty finding anyone to speak English here.

The external fire escapes that are a feature of New York. Some are quite decorative.

All the older buildings - no matter how yuppie - have external fire stairs.

The doorway to St Patrick's Cathedral. It is just opposite the Rockerfeller Centre.

In Harlem - an Anglican Cathedral.

The elegant Chrysler Building.

The glassy Trump Towers.

Times Square.

And then there is the graffiti. New York seems to be quite clean really but the abundance of graffiti means that it always looks somewhat 'grotty'.

Everywhere you looked, on every flat surface seemed to be graffiti - some attempted to be 'artistic' and some was just 'vandalism'.

Check out Boston too