New York: Day 5
Last day in NYC! Had a bit earlier start as I had to be out of the hotel by 2. I packed up all my gear and headed to the lobby. After seeing my cousins on Saturday, John had offered to let me crash at his apartment which was 5 blocks from Penn Station. I had a train headed to Boston on Tuesday morning so it was perfect. The hotel was able to store my bags for a while so decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Instagram vs Reality videos couldn’t be more accurate. Everyone wants that epic shot of the Brooklyn bridge supports with not a soul on it. However, there was only about 10,000 people on the bridge haha. Navigating the crowd I passed dozens of pop up tables filled with any trinket or chachkey NY item you could think of. People flocked to them and spent $1 to $15 on mini statue of liberties, bobble heads, stuffed animals, even 360 photo booths (which I have to say are genius and people eat that shit up haha). I stopped along the way trying to get in a good photo where I could. It was clear that an EPIC empty bridge shot was impossible but shooting above the crowd offered some cool options. The textures were insane. I made my way to the other side of the bridge and walked toward Water St. in Brooklyn. At the corner of Washington and Water St is the iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge. Like the Brooklyn Bridge the street was PACKED with others that wanted to take the same photo. I took photos where I could but just to stand and admire the view was more than enough.
I started the journey back to the city but before I had to stop at another pizza place. Like all of the others it was jammed with people. I got my normal slice of pepperoni and an even sprung for a beer. No matter where you are in the world you always see familiar things. A mom with her two younger daughters were coming down the sidewalk. Her two daughters were on their Razors and the younger one attempted to hit the brake before the planter but it mattered not. She took a face-plant right to the sidewalk and planter. She looked up at the man in front of her with that face of “am I ok??” Thus it turned to tears and her mom came racing down. The little girl attempted to explain why she crashed but all she could get out was “brakes! NO BRAKES!” They sat at one of the outdoor tables till the tears stopped and then like nothing happened they were off again.
I collected my luggage from he hotel and caught an Uber to my cousin’s. He works at a venture capital firm so he didnt have the flexible schedule like I did. Wanting to get out of his hair I dropped my stuff and walked the few blocks to B&H Photo. You can spend your life savings in that place given just a few moments. They have EVERYTHING you could possibly ask for. I picked up a filter, camera strap, and a lens and got out of there as quick as possible. I had hopes of going to the Rockefeller Building but they were closed on Mondays so decided to hop the train to Central Park.
I arrived at Central Park looking to walk the aqueduct path. I followed it about 1/2 a mile or so stopping to take pictures of the skyline across the lake. I had reasoned I got the gist of Central Park and was going to start the walk back to the subway. It dawned on me that I was probably close to the filming location of Only Murders In the Building. Took to google and sure enough it was only 4 blocks from where I was. The building is called The Belnord. It’s a fantastical building with 2 large archway entrances. Inside you can see the courtyard with planters and fountains. I approached the doorman outside the gates and we exchanged hellos. I mentioned that I work production and was fun seeing other filming locations outside of Hawaii. He asked if I wanted to take a stroll inside the gates which was a no-brainer. I snapped away and the doorman and I chatted away. He was a really cool dude who has worked there for 26 years. I imagine in his wildest dreams he wouldn’t think a tv show would become so popular that people just come by to see. His name was Nelson and he was from the Dominican Republic. We had a really great chat and when he heard I was on this Metallica adventure he couldn’t believe it. Wanted to talk Metallica and showed me old photos with his Metallica posters. We shook hands multiple times and I was on my way.
John and I grabbed dinner at a local burger spot down the street which was hosting trivia night. We answer questions even though we were participating. Had a beer and an exception smash burger, per John’s recommendation. We returned to his apartment and he showed me the rooftop that had an AMAZING view of the Empire State Building. John had a bunch of questions about photography and we worked together to shoot a night photo of the Empire State Building. My attempts at going to bed before midnight were gone in the wind and it became 3am again. Finally got to sleep knowing I had to be up in the morning to catch my train to Boston.
What a great last day in New York and what an insane start to this adventure. The concert days are Friday and Sunday so am working my way up the coast headed to the next stop. The Tri-State area had been rocked and it was off to the next city, Montreal!
