New Years Eve

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge
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Most people go to Times Square to see the ball drop on New Year's Eve.  Our two friends did it, and truly enjoyed it, but my sister and I just couldn't stomach standing in Times Square all day.  Be aware that if you go, you need to get there mid-afternoon in order to secure a good spot.  Also, once you are in, you are in.  You are not allowed out to get food or use the bathroom.  My friends were literally there from about 5pm until midnight, relying on their own snacks and their strong bladders.  I never would have made it.  Instead, my sister and I went to see a Chris Rock show.  But more on that later.

First, we began our day by taking the subway over to Brooklyn, so we could eat lunch at Grimaldi's Pizza.  Can I say yum!  Make sure to get there early if you don't want to wait.  The perfect activity after eating there is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  What a beautiful bridge!  Even on a cold day (and yes the wind makes it cold!) it is so fun to admire the bridge as you slowly approach Manhattan.  Nice views.  It's nice to see all sorts of people out on the bridge, from locals doing their jogging routine, to bikers, other tourists, and everyone else!

Once across the bridge we visited Wall Street and Trinity Church.  It's a good area to walk through and as a tourist you feel like you are really seeing New York.  You must take pictures by the Bull statue, of course.

In the evening we ate at Tir Na Nog, a nice bar, and then headed across the street to Madison Square Garden.  There we went to the Chris Rock comedy show, our New Year's Eve planned activity.  It was a fun thing to do and a good option if you don't feel like standing outside or doing the bar scene.  Madison Square Garden is truly huge - it seats 20,000 people for concerts!  We had seats in the nose-bleed section but we still enjoyed ourselves.  Jill Scott sang some awesome tunes and Rock counted down the new year for us.  Walking back to the hotel after the show, we saw fireworks going off over Central Park.  What a great city!