Not long ago me and all of my colleagues went on a trip to New York City. We were asked to pick a part of the city and find out nice locations to visit. When traveling by myself I usually dont make a big day to day plan, but I do try and find things I want to see before I go and see if I can see those when I’m there. As I have been in New York City 2 times already I have been to all the touristy things so I went for the stuff that is a bit ‘off the beaten path’ so to speak.
First of all, what is Downtown New York actually. It is everything on Manhattan below 14th street and has some of the up and coming areas in New York like SoHo (South of Houston), NoHo (North of Houston), Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street).
Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Air Shaft
The first one is one we have all seen, but probably don’t realize that. It is the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Air Shaft, which is a not so nice looking hollow building that provides the tunnel below it from fresh air. This is of course not why we know it. We know it because it is not just an air shaft, it is also the Head Quarters of the Men in Black.
New York City Hall Subway Station
One I will go too next time I’m in New York by myself, or with people willing to visit it, because this time there was just no time to do so. The subway station below city hall has been there for over 100 years (construction finished in 1904) but closed down in 1945. They started doing guided tours to it in 1995, but stopped that in 1998 because it was considered a security risk being underneath city hall. But you can still go there with the subway, you just have to stay inside the 6 train after its last stop and the train will drive trough the city hall station to make the turn to go back. It is probably not as nice looking as the images in the presentation, but at least I’ll see it.
W Hotel & Residences
From the outside not that special, just another high-rise building in New York City, but once you enter the bar there is that pretty cool ceiling. This also is one that is on my list for the next time I am in New York, no idea if you can just walk in and have a look around though.
Fulton Center
Just a subway hub Designed by Grimshaw Architects in collaboration with Arup and world renowned designer James Carpenter with shops around it, so it does not sound that interesting, but the glass Sky Reflector , as it is called is pretty cool.
Hook and Ladder 8
A fire station in down town New York, like many others, but this one is special. It is the headquarters of the Ghostbusters, so expect some ectoplasm and other creepy stuff when you are there. Well no, it actually is just a fire station, they just filmed there for the movie.
Charging Bull
Probably the only well known item on my list here, but it is a nice one. Right in the middle of the area in New York that caused the economic crisis and lost the world a lot of money. You can probably not get a nice picture of it when you are in New York because there are bus loads of tourists around it all the time.
8 Spruce Street
A tower bt architect Frank Gehry which looks much better on pictures then it does in real life, at least when I was there. The wrinkly building just looks weird and for some reason not extreme enough, but at least it is a bit different that the usual buildings.
Cooper Square
Cooper square has 2 strange buildings on it. The Cooper Union, which is a school for science and art and The Standard which is a 21 story luxury hotel. The Standard is a building I kinda like, especially the way they build it next to the old building that houses the Asian Pub. Not sure about The Cooper Union, looks to me it is just weird for the sake of being weird. The interior is better then the exterior if you ask me, even though I just saw that on pictures as we were not allowed to go inside.
So, there are a few things I will try to see next time I am in New York, and I’m sure there will be more visits as I love that place.