Girly Thirties: Day 40 - Uptown to Harlem then back down 5th Ave tour

I headed to the pickup point at central park on 59^th street which overlooks the “Pond” which was so picturesque I just loved it.

Time Warner Building

But mind you in all of this I had been getting text after text so it was getting a little hard to keep up with the questions etc.

Christopher Columbus Statue at Columbus Circle which is basically a big roundabout

But finally the bus arrived only like 30mins late… It was getting quite cold by that stage… If I had known it was going to take that long, I would have gone back to the apt and rugged up more but the guy said it was only going to be 5 mins. Damm you mr red bus man!

Dakota Building where John Lennon was tragically killed

So we went through my hood where I was staying and got to see parts that I wouldn’t get back to see again because time was running out real fast.

Right near my street along Central Park West

We headed into Morningside heights past some amazing old buildings including an old hospital which they have closed.

The Beautiful old hospital

Past the beautiful Church of John Divine again - yep still stunning.

The statue from the Cathedral of John Divine

Then through the Columbia University precinct which was beautiful along with the highest point in New York which is significant because majority of New York is flat because during town planning they decided to flatten most of the city to improve traffic flow.

At the Entrance of Central Park and Columbus Circle

We travelled past the General Grant memorial which is also known as Grants Tomb as he was the 18^th President of the USA as well being a general in Civil war. It was surrounded by the beautiful fall colours overlooking the Hudson river and west side highway.

General Grants Tomb

Alongside is the majestic Riverside Church which is a interdenominational church of American Baptist and United Church of Christ.

The Riverside Church

It apparently has some amazing pipe organs which sound amazing and it is one of the 24^th tallest buildings in the world and major contributor to the church was John Rockefeller. It has seen people such as Martin Luther King and Fidel Castro all speaking at the pulpit.

The old Tenement buildings

Then all around Harlem past the famous tenement buildings which have been renovated and gentrified. We also ventured past the Apollo theatre which is where the Jackson 5 later Michael Jackson first performed and very famous music hall in the USA

Apollo Theatre

It saw wonderful performers such as Ella Fitzgerald, The Pips and buddy Holly. It wonderful spot in Harlem to remember all the greats.

Statue of Duke of Ellington

They have an array of shopping up there as well which was surprising given the demographic of the neighbourhood there were a lot of chain stores. I thought they would have a lot more “local” shops.

the beautiful sunset across the park

We then travelled around to the beginning of central park to where the 110^th street meets the park which also is known as cathedral row and not too far from the Lincoln correctional centre which has some of the best views in the world overlooking the park and it is a prison mere metres away from historical cathedrals and million dollar condos.

the sunset reflecting on the beautiful old buildings

At this point there is a great statue of the duke of Ellington overlooking the park which is at the entrance at pioneer gate. It was the first statue dedicated to a African American and it is said that he was one of the early originators of Jazz music through the cotton club.

the first real entrance to the park

As we headed down 5^th avenue we saw a amazing sunset with the warm colours hitting the buildings, it was stunning.

Sunset reflecting on the Guggenheim

I loved the way the warm colours were hitting the walls of the million homes and the Guggenheim museum.

The Met on sunset

The way the prettiness was coming through the park with the way the trees were being highlighted by the sunshine. It was a perfect fall evening in NYC.