Derek Walter

By Derek Walter
NEW YORK – The Big Apple always offers more than one can chew. But especially with only 24 hours to spare, it means making some serious decisions and planning. So this is about one trek through New York and what can be accomplished in short amount of time.
7:35 p.m. – Arrive at Penn Station via Amtrak. Take a four block walk to a nearby hotel to drop off the luggage and check in. The rooms are really small in New York, just as you would find in any major metropolitan city, so don’t expect much square footage because you won’t spend much time there anyway.
From there it’s only about three blocks east to the Empire State Building. From King Kong to Tom Hanks, the Empire State Building has played a huge role in Hollywood. It should be part of your trip, as it offers a fantastic view of New York. The observation deck is open seven days a week until 11 p.m., and it turns out that Sunday night is a pretty light wait. It includes typical New York hospitality: the staff yells at the visitors while they wait in line for tickets. While wearing nasty, bright yellow shirts that won’t be seen in any fashionable storefronts, they, shall we say, strongly encourage people that aren’t buying tickets to get out of line to let one person do the buying.
After you get to the top floor, the first step is to take a cheesy picture in front of a non-realistic background of the Empire State Building. Once this torture is over, the real reward begins: taking in the sights of New York. Signs around the deck detail the neighborhoods and buildings that you’re looking at. Going at night is definitely worth it, as the lights of New York are an amazing site.
9:05 p.m. - Once back on 34th Street, a short hike uptown takes you to Rockefeller Center. It is home to NBC’s today show, making it worth a stop to see where the national broadcast originates each day, even if you visit after hours. The Rink Café sits in a sunken area of the center which is filled in the winter with ice and becomes a skating rink.
Just across the street is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, another of New York’s landmarks. So if you’re checking off a list of “things to see,” you can hit two in just one area.
10:30 p.m. – No trip to New York is successful without hitting Times Square. It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is, it always feels like daytime in Times Square because the lights are so bright. So many of the backgrounds you find on television are instantly recognizable: MTV’s TRL studios, ABC/ESPN’s studio that overlooks the street, and the multiple signs and video boards that make the area rival a section of the Vegas strip.
12:13 a.m. – One of the beauties of a metropolitan city, especially New York, is they don’t roll up the sidewalks at 10 p.m. (like Clovis).  Restaurants are still open and serving and you can even get your favorite coffee drink past midnight on a weekday.
1:30 a.m. – Left Times Square and the 10,000 people that are still there to head back to the hotel for some sleep.
9:05 a.m. – Had breakfast in one of New York’s corner delis where if you move too slow the person at the counter yells at you (think soup Nazi).
9:35 a.m. -  Riding New York’s subway system beats sitting on Freeway 41 at rush hour. If you can detach yourself from the need to be driving a car, you’ll find it’s a great way to get around. Figuring out where the trains run takes a bit of effort and paying attention, but you’ll figure it out. And despite the reputation, New Yorkers tend to be much friendlier than the stereotype. In fact, after sliding my subway card through one of the card readers, I didn’t open the gate in enough time to get through, leaving me outside the gate after having already paid for my ride. A New York police officer saw that I botched this, took pity on me, and let me through.
10:30 a.m. – The World Trade Center site, commonly referred to as Ground Zero, is now an active construction zone. Plans are in place for Freedom Tower, which will replace the former twin towers, and for a memorial to the victims of September 11. The current site includes a kiosk explaining the plans along with a memorial to the victims and information on the day’s events. It was an eerie, disturbing place to be at after seeing the events on television.
11:15 a.m. – Just across the street from Ground Zero is St. Paul’s Chapel, a church which essentially functioned as a rescue mission after Sept. 11. The church is filled with remnants of the aftermath: personal mementos, gifts and posters from around the nation, and most telling, the pews are marked and scratched from still from the workers who crashed out there. It’s another reminder of the tragedy and pain of September 11.
12:10 p.m. – Taking a breather from the heaviness of the Sept. 11 events, it was refreshing to lunch in one of the nearby cafes by Wall Street. Highly recommended is a French cafe which offers fresh sandwiches and drinks, all organic, and freshly packaged, which means you can pick out your food and sit down in less than five minutes.
12:45 p.m. Walking nearby you arrive at Wall Street, home to the New York Stock Exchange. The security apparatus is apparent, as vehicle traffic is inaccessible to the main building, and any approaching delivery cars and are stopped and inspected by a bomb-sniffing dog. Ignoring this, you can see the Stock Exchange headquarters, and head down the street, turn the corner, and see the famous statue of the bull.
1:35 p.m. – A few blocks down the way is Battery Park. From here you can take a boat to Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty. Even if you’re not going there, you get a great view and can snap a picture. The statue is one of those things that looks a lot smaller in real life than it does on television and in postcards.
2:15 p.m. – An oasis of the urban jungle of New York can be found in Central Park. Despite its many settings as the site of a murder in episodes of “Law and Order,” it’s filled on this day as people walk and jog, some even on their way home from work. Surrounding it are the Upper East and Upper West ends of New York, which have some of the most exclusive housing in the city.
The Dakota, an upscale residence on the Upper East Side, is located just off of Central Park and was the residence of John Lennon. It is here where he was shot and killed. You can see the occasional tourist snapping a picture.
5:05 p.m. – Dinner at Times Square, always an excellent choice for lots of options and another chance to go blind in the lights.
7:15 p.m. – Back to Times Square. Nearly 24 hours filled with adventure. Only in New York.