FAO Schwarz
FAO Schwarz is one of the most famous toy shops in the world and has been around for almost 150 years. The store features a Grand Hall with more than 20,000 computer-controlled colored lights, a giant dance-on piano keyboard and "FAO Schweetz," a classic New York candy shop. FAO Schwarz was founded by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, who opened his first store in Baltimore in 1862 and relocated to lower Manhattan in 1870. The New York flagship store moved to its current location on 5th ave in 1986. More importantly this shop was featured in the Tom Hanks film Big in the 1980s and involved him and some other actor performing a duet on the giant foot piano. Unfortunately we decided to be kind to the kids and not show them up by performing on this piano although I did go on it for a photo.
NBA Store
This is the next flagship store that we went to. This shop is lcoated on 5th ave and is really cool from the moment you enter as the doors are revolving with handles shaped like arms of a basketball player. Once inside there is a huge flatscreen t.v. with NBA games on and downstairs there is basketball nets and balls to shoot with. Oh yeah and there is plenty of nice NBA clothes even a tshirt with the name Griffin on the back which spoiled it if you ask me! Here some pics of us midgets next to NBA players:
Canal Street - Chinatown
As well as the shops on 5th Ave there is another big shopping area on Broadway near Chinatown. Just off of Broadway is Canal Street - best described as New Yorks answer to Paddys market or the Barras. There were plenty of souvenier shops, but even more knock-off goods. The place was full of fake designer bags and watches. It was hilarious to walk along the street and get big black guys and tiny Chinese women approach you and whisper in your ear "Gucci, Armani, Rolex" as if it was drugs they were trying to sell you.
Flushing Meadows Park
We were staying in Queens and located only 4 miles from Flushing Meadows Park. This was the location of the 1964 World Trade Fair, but more importantly, the location of one of the Men In Black film scenes! The Unisphere and the 2 observation towers which transformed into giant space ships in the film can also be seen at the start of every episode of King of Queens so it was great to be able to go and see it for ourselves. The park has also been referred to in an episode of the Simpsons and one of the GTA games.
Carrie Bradshaws Stoop
After a few minutes of research on the internet I found the address of the stoop used for Carrie Bradshaws apartment in Sex & The City. The address wasn't the same as the one mentioned in the t.v. series as the street exists but the apartment number doesn't, and the actual apartment used is over the other side of Manhanttan. Only the outside of the building was used in filming - inside was filmed in the studios. This stoop gets a lot of attention and was a main feature in a Sex & the city tour until the locals complained so much they managed to get the tour company to take this location off their tour and get a sign saying no trespassing across it. However there are still a lot of individual tourists visiting the stoop and we stopped here to take a few photos. I also read that the location of the stoop was chosen as Sarah Jessica Parker supposedly stays a block down from it and people have apparently seen her with her child, unfortunately we didn't.
World Trade Center Museum
As we mentioned on our first post we went to the WTC site on our first night here. We went back a second time to see the memorial museum preview center. This small museum is dedicated to showcasing the amazing plans that they have to open a huge memorial museum on the exact site of the Twin Towers. It is also designed for people to go in and share their stories and feelings of the events so as they can collect all the information and artefacts to showcase. Regardless of where in the world you were, you can go into a booth and record your memories and feelings of the day, which will be recorded and stored for potential use in future displays.
The museum features a scale model of what the completed site will be like and provides up to date information on what stage they are at. It also hosts memorabilia from that tragic day. The most interesting piece we seen was the leather firemans helmet of Lieutenant Mickey Kross, which according to him, that and a huge miracle saved his life as he was one of the firemen in the North tower when it collapsed.
The museum is scheduled to open up on the 11th of September 2011 to cmmemorate the 10th anniversary of the event. More information can be found here:
http://www.national911memorial.org
Hudson River Parks
One of the other things that we did whilst here was get out and explore the many nice parks along the Hudson River. It is great in a big city like New York that there are nice places to come and relax in the sunshine. The place is also infested with cyclists and joggers, especially on such a nice day like it was when we were here.
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