I ♥ nyc

After Amanda and I hit the Barneys warehouse sale downtown (note bulging shopping bags), we all decided to make a rare visit uptown (note Chrysler building in the background) to a few department stores... cue a group Herve Leger dress-trying-on session at Saks, in which we all tried on several $1500 dresses. Financial crisis, what financial crisis?

Amanda, Sonia and Dana in front of a fur shop window display... featuring fur-coat cats with pillows for heads. Bizarre.

Amazing view from Nick and Ming's bedroom window in Chelsea. (Note the New York Life Insurance building with the gold top on the far left, which was built in 1926, and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower with the white and gold peak in the middle – just reminding myself, as I always forget.)

Nick on his rooftop.

Empire State Building, with red, white and blue lights to commemorate Labor Day.

The view from Nick and Ming's rooftop at night.

View from the High Line (thehighline.org) – a fantastic redevelopment of a disused railway track in Chelsea into a public parkland. I wish they would do something like this in Sydney! First constructed in 1934, the High Line was originally used to transport goods to and from the meatpacking district warehouses. It fell into disuse in 1980. Two decades later, a neighbourhood lobby group formed to promote redevelopment of the area. In 2003 a design competition was launched, and a team comprising landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations and architecture firm Diller Scofidio Renfro came up with the winning design. After three years of construction, the High Line opened in June this year (2009). Since opening, it has hosted many public events such as free film screenings.
I didn't expect much when I visited the High Line, but it really is nice to have a car-free haven in Manhattan in which to wander around in – even on a rainy day. And it's so much easier to appreciate the frenetic pace of New York life when you're out of the way (and out of swearing distance) several metres above the ground. : )

The High Line (thehighline.org). A second section is still being redeveloped, and is due to open in 2010.

The uniquely shaped Flatiron building, which was completed in 1902. While it does resemble an iron, it looks more like a thin cake wedge to me.

Flatiron building.

The UN General Assembly.
So I finally did a tour of the UN after meaning to do so for over a year. While it was fairly interesting, I didn't think they delved very deep into the politics, the history or the organisation of the story behind the architecture of the building itself... not recommended if you're a politics buff!

On our way to see N*E*R*D in concert at Governer's Island, a 10-minute ferry ride from the southern tip of Manhattan.

View of south Manhattan from Governer's Island. Note the Manhattan Bridge to the right.

Portaloo with a view.

Pharrell! He sure knows how to work the stage (and bizarrely sent a shout-out to Baz Luhrmann in the audience, thanking him for coming), although the charm wore off when he pulled about 80 college girls onstage and proceeded to have a big, public love-in with them all. Gross.

"Lemme hear you say, 'Hell yeah!'"

Home again! Arrived safe and relatively well-slept thanks to V Australia (and thanks to the global financial crisis for the super-cheap airfare!)