NYC.  There's something about you.

Mars surprised me at Christmas with a trip to NYC for New Years.  As always, we had a great time. 

I had never been there for New Year's however and I certainly have never been there during an Orange Alert.  I was a bit nervous at the prospect of going to NYC for New Year's but once I saw the unprecedented security they had in place I didn't think of it again.  An attack would have been simply impossible. 

Times Square, New Year's Eve.  (I didn't snap this pic btw.)

The evening of December 31st, NYC and Time's Square especially, was locked down.  There were eight police and one coast guard copter over Manhattan along with an unknown number of jetfighters.  Commercial and personal flights were suspended over the the island.  Trying to get into Times Square was a chore.  The NYPD had Times Square barricaded with cars, trucks, and fencing from 10 blocks out in each direction.  No cars or trucks were permitted until 3:00AM next morning.  There were only 20 entrances in for pedestrians.  Each entrance was a full street and we got in at E 57th.   There were metal detectors and they were patting down everyone.  Seven hundred thousand people managed to get into the Square despite the long lineups.  TS was swept for explosives beforehand.  Normally every corner in NYC is covered by a cop but this time there were five on a corner; a sergeant and four officers.  Each had gas masks and everything.  I honestly never felt safer.  Apparently there were even snipers on rooftops plus a whole slew of invisible security measures.  I'm sure the FBI were there as well.  Central Park South was made into a command area and there were trucks from ConEd, the EPA, the NYPD and the FDNY.  The Hercules squad was in front of St. Patrick's complete with armor and submachine guns and everyone was having their picture taken with them.  Anyway, except for having to check in, which no one minded at all, the security didn't interfere in anyone's enjoyment of the biggest New Year's party on earth.  What. A. City.  What else can I say?  The party was great and all too.  I'm sure you watched in on TV.  It's everything you think it would be and more.  I want to be there next year because it's the 100th anniversary of NYC's New Year's party.

We also enjoyed some soup from Al's Soup Kitchen; AKA the infamous Soup Nazi.  I've enjoyed Al's soup once before but it was Mars' first time.  The shop is on 55th between 8th and Broadway.  It's a couple doors up from 8th actually.  The line up, as always, scrolled down 55th and around onto 8th.  Mars felt the line should be going the other way, towards Broadway.  I told her she should tell Al about her idea but she didn't fall for it.  Anyway, I couldn't decide what to get.  On the day we were there the choices were Mulligatawny, Seafood Bisque, Chicken and Broccoli, Turkey Chili and one other.  I was leaning towards the Bisque but the Turkey Chili sounded to die for too.  In the end I went for the Mulligatawny because that's what I had last time.  Mars handled ordering pretty well:  cash in hand, state your soup, step to the left right away.  We got our bags and ran back to the West 63rd St. Y where we were staying.  We each got an orange, crusty bread, chocolate, strawberries, and grapes.  Mars couldn't believe the quality of this soup.  I hadn't tasted that Mulligatawny in probably about 3 years (Al's in closed in the Summer which is when I usually get to NYC) and my eyes were watering it was so good.  You have not tasted soup or anything like this before I promise.  I know it sounds trendy to say because of the show and all but I promise you, his soup really is that crazy awesome.  I know what you're saying; "It's soup.  How good can it be?" but the flavor!  Mine had cashew halves, big pieces of potato, and veggies like I couldn't believe.  But the spicing!  It was at once sweet and spicy.  He calls it mild and it is but my mouth was burning just enough to enjoy the sensation.  I'm not kidding if you get to NYC between November and March get to Al's and you'll see.  It's that good.

What else? 

JFK is a 9 terminal monster.  

JetBlue is a great airline.  Every seat has complimentary DirectTV!  The only problem was that Mars and I could only watch one episode of Clean Sweep during the 1h5m flight.  And the Blue Chips were tasty. 

The AirTrain brought us from JFK to Howard Beach in Queen's where we caught the A Train to Columbus Circle in Manhattan.  Then a four block walk to 63rd and the Y which is were we always stay.  It's styling.  And this year we lucked out because the renovations on 12 were completed and the one bathroom with many shower stalls was replaced by private bathrooms which was a nice improvement. 

We made it down to the Village, SOHO, NOHO, and Little Italy in our travels. 

I lost count of the number of iPods and British Bulldogs we saw on the streets (But I didn't get to witness an Applejacking).  It's a rich town. 

Mars bought some goods from a nice young man with a sheet on Broadway.  Brit tourists were snapping up pirated Return of the King and Elf DVDs.  We snagged the last tub of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup from Gristedes. 

We ate at Plaza Diner way over on 3rd which was absolutely great.  lol.  I was excited to see that they had Root Beer Floats so I ordered one.  Then our uniformed waiter who was probably 60 years old and the nicest old New Yorker you could imagine told me he didn't have any Root Beer so would I like a Coke float instead?  Sure I said.  Then he told me he had been working there 11 years under 3 different bosses and they've never once had Root Beer in all that time.  What a place.  All the guys at the counter were talking about the Yanks and the BoSox.  lol. 

Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.

We checked out the tree at Rockefeller Center.  I've seen it hundreds of times on TV but I never really understood how big it is.  And they must have applied the lights with a firehose; it was absolutely dripping.  I counted the windows in 30 Rock behind the tree and figured that the tree must be at least 8 stories tall. 

All in all, another amazing trip to the Capital of the World, NYC.  If you haven't been, go!  I've been at least 10 times now and I never get tired of it.  It's great because I know my way around there pretty well now and it always feels a bit more like home. 

I didn't take many pictures this time out but Mars did and I'll post them once she gets them developed.

Until next time New York.