It looks like part of a park...but it's just the rooftop of our closest grocery store! Lucky for me we can shop this close to home, and in front of our window the squirrels have lots of fun jumping, playing and also nesting in these short trees!
My host lives in this amazing place, across from tall buildings where you can actually see lots of trees and birds and gardens. And there are these 10 or 15 really tall oak trees that make life here in New York City the best it can possibly be! Lots of people walk their dogs here but it is not an official city park! It's just the most amazing free and open space in a city environment that anyone could hope for! We can see it right from the window! On those special nights when the stars and the comets are visible, some people actually bring blankets and lay down on the ground in this area to watch the events in the night sky because we have less streetlights than a normal street, so the sky is a little bit darker.
It's so fantastic here near New York University. All these buildings in front of our window are occupied by professors and visiting dignitaries, and the University is so rich that it can afford housing for thousands and thousands of families. These particular buildings are not occupied by students, but the University owns other buildings all over the city that house students, classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories, theaters, galleries, restaurants, gymnasiums, book stores and more.
In the glass and steel skyscrapers, they enclose the water tanks somewhere inside the building, probably as high as possible.
The big silver thing on top of the building is a water tower.....all buildings over 7 stories tall must have a water tower. the purpose is to bring the water up high, and then when the residents need water the pressure is stronger because it's coming form above.
Here is a shot of water towers in another part of town where you can see the old style of a water tower that you might see on a farm.
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Here are two shots around 14th Street, looking north and in the view you can see the Empire State Building, the Con Edison Building, and some unknown skyscraper going up in the distance.
It seems they build a brand new building almost every single day here in New York .....exciting yes, but NOISY!
subway train arriving on the Number 4+5+6 Line
"pay your fare!"
one ride $2.25 (but, you can stay all day and night underground for this simple price of $2.25, you can travel from Manhattan to the airport, which would cost $45.00 in a taxi....or, if you don't have a home, you can stay underground for a week!)
subway or bus is the same price, but you can't stay all week on the buses!
one-way bridge crossing $8.00.....
average one-way taxi trip $13.00.....
let's WALK instead!
We used to use tokens. I liked using tokens.
They were the size of quarters made of Brass.
Now we use a refillable card, like a credit card that you add value to in a machine.....we used to buy tokens from a person and now we use a machine to add credit. Many of the visitors from other countries can find it easy to use this machine because it gives instructions in several languages!
Some companies pay a portion of their employees' monthly fares.
These are taken from my friend Jean's house.
On the left here is a shot that looks fake.....you think New York is full of buildings and skyscrapers and more buildings....but guess what? It really is!!! Tall Buildings and Tall Buildings just EVERYWHERE! You can see another two water towers behind me.
