New York on the last full day

We got onto the Hop on Hop off Bus intending to head to the Brooklyn Bus but we got caught in the Occupy Wall Street Protest and it took ages to get to Battery Park..some of them should just get a job.....so I left Sully to the Brooklyn Loop and I headed back to Macy's which had been a plan of mine from the first day.
The night before, for Sully's birthday - he likes to keep that day quiet - we had gone to tea on the 48th floor of the Marriott hotel on 44th Street as it had a revolving Restaurant and we were there for at least one revolution so we decided that the view from the Empire State Building could not have been worth the two hour line up.  This restaurant had been recommended by our Greeter Bob and it was a great recommendation.
Macy's was huge and daunting.  I finally found something I really wanted to buy and started heading back to the hotel.  I found something to wear to Jessica's wedding just around the corner from the hotel ($375 reduced to $75) and now I am happy.  The shoe floors at Macey's were daunting and I found nothing worth taking off my hiking boots for....the place would have been wheelchair accesible but I did not let Sully loose as he would have just winged about the prices - although they were amazingly cheap- and I wanted some time to
myself.
I have bought Sully a tee shirt that says ' I survived a New York taxi ride" and that sums up any taxi rides we had in New York.  None of the drivers showed an ounce of happiness - hey you are not cleaning toilets-  at least they are working!!!!

But apart from that - I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!!!!!

New York I am in Love

I love New York but Sully got over the crowds.  Yes it was crowded but to me that was part of the charm.  I was still out at 10pm shopping on my own and feeling safe.  Unfortunately we could not get into any Broadway Shows with the wheelchair but we walked past a lot of theatres.  Our greeter took us to Central Park but we just went in the Southern End as there were other things to do.  We had tickets to the World Trade Centre Memorial on the Sunday.  This is very sobering and New Yorker we spoke to had been affected by this day.  The Memorial is very well done and it was sobering to see names and even recoginize some names from all the media.  It must have been truly horendous on that day - and obviously some even suffer to this day.

After that we caught the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as Battery Park Park was only a few streets away.  We also walked past the Bull Statue of Wall Street on our way to the Ferry.  I can not emphasise enough how great the Statue of Liberty is in real life.  We had sailed past her when we first arrived, and the first look was breathtaking!!!  Every glimpse after was the same.  We had decided not to get off at the island as we were heading to Ellis Island and we wanted to spend as much time there are possible.  Ellis Island is where immigrants came on their way in to America for assessment and entry to the country.  The place is a living and breathing museum and has been restored brilliantly.  Unfortunately we were there for four hours and could have spent a lot longer but the final ferries of the day were leaving.  That is one place I want to go back to....have I mentioned that I love New York!!!!!!!!

Hop on Hop off Buses in New York and the wheelchair

After much investigation - including a phone call to New York- Sully was assured that the Grey Line Buses in New York were wheelchair friendly.  Well they were to a point - some were and some weren't!!! Hey tell the truth, mention that and all would have been fine.  However except for that, all was good.  Sully did all three loops offered - uptown,downtown and Brooklyn and I gave Brooklyn a miss as I wanted to do some serious shopping and we got held up in the Occupy Wall Street protests and it cut into my shopping time.  For the record I had fun shopping but there was almost too much choice!!!!

New York and the Wheelchair

We stayed in the Hilton Times Square which is in the heart of the city in 42nd Street and just of 7th Avenue.  Fortunately the streets are flat but they are very crowded and Sully has seen more bellybuttons than he ever wants to see.  The first day we sailed in and then then fun began.  We went for a wander to Times Square - it is simply amazing to be there and to look up towards the sky scrapers and realise that you really are walking down man made canyons. We decided to eat and saw a sign for subway - however that was actually a subway sign so we went to a Pizza place - when in New York!!- the slices were about the size of one of our pizzas.  That was where Sully discovered his first flat tyre - he had two on that day!!!- and he changed it in the Pizza Shop.  After much walking we had hot dogs for tea - they are not big and we need two to fill the spot.

On the next day we had booked a greeter.  Bob was fantastic - he sat with us for the first 30minutes and he explained how the city worked, Avenues one way and streets across and Broadway right through from one end to the other.  Some people we had met on the boat happened along and he invited John and Jan to join us.  Bob was fantastic and we went places we never would have ventured.  We thought we only had him for a couple of hours but at 3pm we said goodbye only because we had to organize our hop on hop off bus tour.  We had lunch at Stardust on Times Square where potential singers on Broadway waitress and sing between serving the tables.  It was a fantastic experience!!!  And the greeters was a wonderful way of seeing the city through the eyes of a local.  I will post all the contact details at a later date.

Holland America and a wheelchair

The ships are set up brilliantly for a wheelchair.  The one place they fail miserably is in regard to tendering.  On their website they state that they have a wheelchair tender.  They are very proud of that when you enquire about that at the front office.  Then they say "Mr O'Sullivan can walk" and it all comes crashing down!!!

After telling us that a decision would be made on the day, that it would depend on weather, we were thrilled to see the sun shining and the seas were lovely and flat.  Off we go to our meeting point only to be told that a Safety Officer ( who we still haven't met to this day - spineless pratt) had decided it wasn't safe on the shore side.  There is a lift to the tender deck and a lift in the tender boat and we were quite happy to be on our own from there but we were told the ramp was steep and the roads were gravel.  They would not let Sully on the tender - they would not let him leave the ship.  We tried pointing out that Sully was not one of the old and infirm but no go.

I went to Greenland to be confronted with a very manageable ramp for Sully and the roads were bitumned.  Consequently the office and several managers had encounters with me after I got back - and someone named Annabel offered us a shore excursion for our disappointment in Halfiax.  She did go a little pale when I pointed out that they would not take us on shore excursions because Sully could not climb steps.  They ended up putting $140 towards our bill as the cost of a shore excursion.

STILL SULLY DID NOT GET TO GREENLAND!!!!!!!

WWW.hollandamerica.com.au

More wheelchair in New York

We went to Grand Central Station and it is magnificent.  The roof is beautiful and it is all really surreal to be in places that you have seen so many times in movies.  We also went to Rockerfella Plaza and had to go twice to work out where to shop.  We tried to go to the place for cheap tickets to Broadway shows but couldn't get anything for the wheelchair.  We will try again tonight and instead of asking for a specific show, we will just ask what wheelchair seat they have.

We had pizza for lunch - how New York - and it was a huge slice from a huge pizza and we only needed one each.  Sully discovered his first puncture in the whole trip and was able to change it sitting in the pizza store.  We had hot dogs for tea - I always wanted to do that in New York and they were disappointing.  About the size of your hand - we needed two of them- but you had to do it once.  I intend having a pretzel today - they seem to be the size of your arm, we may share one of those.  The shops are open late and I will be shopping a lot over the next few days.  One of a purchases will be a new port - even the guy in the wheelchair may be getting a makeover while we are here - wish me luck with that one!!!!!!

A wheelchair in New York

We are in New York and I for one, never want to leave.  We were up at 5am yesterday so we could be on our verandah for the New York Harbour.  It was amazing, and even more amazing was realising that there was the Statue of Liberty.  After all those years of seeing her in pictures, the real thing did not disappoint.  The boat arrived at the docks around 7am.  Our disembarking time was around 10.30 and then the fun of being in New York began.

We were told that there would be plenty of taxis, and there were, but there were also plenty of people.  They had a numbering system and we got 10-sounds good- bu they were only up to 37 on the preious 100.  So after about 45 minutes we had a taxi pull up about 10 feet from the gutter - great if you are not in a wheelchair.  Finally someone from the port authority worked out that I was not letting that taxi go anywhere and they man handled Sully over the very high gutter and got him into the cab.  The taxi driver was not impressed that we were only going a few blocks...but you get that!!!!!

We are staying at the Hilton Times Square and we are on the 32nd floor.  We can see the Empire State Building from our window and once I worked out that a window was open, I could actually get rid of the traffic noise - we are in the city that never sleeps.  We went for a walk and Times Square ad Broadway are simply wonderful.  The blocks are quite small and very flat- but there are a lot of people around and wheeling along can be quite interesting.  I personally would just keep on rolling- but you know Sully, he keeps trying to go around people but I think he is slowly realising that this is New York and people will get out of your way.  There are plenty of police around both on the footpaths and on horseback and it really does look like a movie set.