One of the places well-visited by tourists in New York City is the Rockefeller Center.  It’s located in midtown Manhattan covering the blocks of 48 Street to 51 Street, and 5th Avenue to 7th Avenue.  The center was originally owned by the Rockefeller family, but was later sold to group of companies owned by Jerry Speyer and Goldman Sachs.  The Rockefeller center is one of the historic national landmarks of America. From here stands the second tallest building now in New York, Rockefeller Building, and one of the best places to go for aerial views of New York City.

During Christmas season, a traffic congestion is a problem in midtown Manhattan.  This is caused by tourists from all over the world visiting the Rockefeller Center to view the tallest Christmas Tree in New York. At the foot of the giant Christmas tree is the giant Prometheus sculpture and a skating rink - attractions that add to the thousands of lightbulbs adorned on the tree.

The NBC studio is located also at this center.  Of course, we should not forget that the famous Radio Music Hall is located also in this complex, at the 50th Street and Avenue of the Americas.

After three weeks with no photo blog, I’m back again!  Wow! It’s really busy weeks for me.  Yeah, I’ve been busy researching on ways to make this photo blog “findable.” Plus, I have three more personal web sites that I’m trying to develop.  It was really hectic.

Anyway, here’s my Big Apple photo blog for the week - a collection of spring flowers at Macy’s, Herald Square Branch.  Just like other special occasions sponsored regularly by this giant shopping mall, flower exhibition is regularly held at this place - starting on the first week of the spring season.

It’s Springtime in New York City, but the coldness still feels like Winter. Last week, I had the time to revisit downtown and other beautiful places of the city that never sleeps. 

Battery Park is the southern end of the Manhattan island.  From here, you’ll find the South Ferry Port where you could ride boats going to Staten Island and Jersey City. This park has a lot of monuments and landmarks good for picture-taking. If you are saving from your visit in this city, you don’t really need to go to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Here, you could see the statue in the middle of blue waters.A US Army-Navy memorial could be found in this place. Then, as you walk towards north, you’ll find Castle Clinton, which served as a fortress long time ago. This serves now as a place to buy tickets for the cruise going to the Liberty Island. Just a stone-throw from the fortress, you’ll find the Korean War Memorial.

Few blocks from the Battery Park is the Wall Street area. This is the tourist spot that’s well-guarded by armed securities, including military personnel of the government. Just across the NYC Stock Exchange Building is Federal Union Building - the place where the first President, George Washington made his inaugural oath-taking. The Trinity Church compound along Broadway Avenue, is the place where Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 - July 12, 1804), one of the Founding Fathers, and Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815), inventor of steamboat were buried.

As you step forward towards the Ground Zero, you will realize that it’s time to eat for lunch, if you started visiting Battery Park at 9:00 AM in the morning. Just in front of the Helmsley building, you’ll find lines of food carts that are serving really good and cheap food. They’re hot and really yummy. Buy them “to go” and take the food to the park across the road. With the Spring around eating this yummy food at an open park is really great. Finish eating, and start your next journey for the afternoon, towards the Ground Zero. (To be continued on my next blog.)

I’m back with my regular photo blog.  This had been delayed because of the accident committed on my web site last week.  This whole site was mistakenly deleted by the tech support who was supposed to troubleshoot my other web site that’s newly registered with them.  The mistake made bigapplecity.com down for two days, plus, whole week on me to check for lost pages and rebuild other pages that lost the right links. 

Anyway, my photo blog today covers the Central Park, which is the most visited park in the whole USA.  It runs from 59th Street to 110th Street (midtown to Harlem area), 5th Avenue to 8th Avenue (eastside to westside).  This landscaped park has natural looking ponds and lakes, walking and jogging tracks, consevatory garden, outdoor amphitheater, playground for children, wide area for sunbathing and resting on summer time, mini-zoo, and scating rinks.

Once you’re inside the park, you won’t feel that you’re in a busy, noisy suburban city.  That’s because its boundaries are surrounded by natural trees that blocks a sight where there are running traffics.  The whole area is closed to commercial vehicles.

Buildings and properties surrounding the park are the most expensive and lucrative ones in the city. The park’s popularity has spread all over the world, because of the hundreds of Hollywood movies shot in this place.

Just across the Rockefeller Center is the St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  This Neo-Gothic built cathedral is the seat of New York’s Archbishop.  It is located between 50th and 51st Streets, along 5th Avenue. If you’re facing this church, to your right you’ll see the Sak’s Department Store, the store with it’s own zip code - the numbers that represent SHOES (74637). This cathedral is just across the Rockefeller Center.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a short-time sanctuary to tourists when they’re in midtown Manhattan, specially on cold seasons.  It’s open the whole day and have regular masses even on weekdays.  The cathedral’s architectural design makes the place unique, so, that when you go to this place only once you will always remember its uniqueness.

Album 1		Album 2

I’ve missed three days of photo blogging.  So, I’m giving you 17 photo albums to enjoy today.  They’re all pertaining to paintings, sculptures, and other forms of arts inside the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. The “Met” is located along the “museum mile” at the eastern end of the Central Park. It is considered as one of the National Historic Landmarks of America.

The “Met” has more than two millions of arts collections.  So, if you wanted to enjoy these pieces of arts, you’ll probably need three  days to finish roaming around the museum. The arts are coming from all over the world, from ancient, Mediaval, and modern arts. From classics to modern arts.

Old sculptures are really amazing, specially the ones from the ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and ancient Egypt. Modern American arts are fantastic, too. If I am right from my observation, a part of the movie “Maid in Manhattan” starred by Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes was shot inside this museum. (Click the pictures below to view the albums. Please check the links at the home page to view all of the 17 albums for today’s photo blog.)

Album 1	Album 3	Album 4	Album 5
Album 6	Album 7	Album 9	Album 10

Spring is far yet to come in New York City.  The snow storms are still here, and probably more are coming.  So, if you’re new in the city, all around is like a haunted place where plants and trees are leafless.  All trees and their twigs are all black dead. 

I’m hoping that with my photo blog today will give life to your virtual sightseeing of the city, because I’ll be showing you lovely flowers.  Some of these flowers were shot at the Bronx Botanical Garden, Macy’s Flower Show, and flowers from all over the Big Apple City. 

I’ve observed that this page is becoming slow now when it opens.  Probably because of the pictures that come with the blog.  So, I’m starting from this current blog, I’m posting smaller pictures which you could click to lead you to the albums.

Album 1	Album 2	Album 3	Album 4

Born the eldest from 11 children in the family, I started to play the role of a breadwinner at the age of 10.  My father was was just an ordinary employee in the government, and had no other source of income to support a family.  So, at early age of 10 I learned to sell just anything to support my father’s meager income.  I used to sell newspapers on commission basis, and sell varieties of vegetables that were growing abundantly in our backyard.

When I came to New York City in 1992, I’ve seen how children enjoyed their childhood lives in children’s parks, in fastfood centers, in zoos, in aquarium centers, in malls, and in their homes.

Hi-Rise Buildings of New York City

My photo blog today is about the Thanksgiving Day balloons, and lovely animals in zoos, and different places of the city.  Seeing balloons and lovely animals pay-off all the parts of my childhood life that were missed as I grew up. I am not alone with this kind of feeling.  We could see it in hundreds of people watching with excitement these giant balloons during Thanksgiving Day parades; we could see it in hundreds of people visiting zoos all over New York City; and we could see these feelings from hundreds of people enjoying the fun rides at Six Flags, and other fun parks outside the Big Apple City. 

Added also in my photo blog today were shots of high-rising buildings.  I’ve taken shots of them from the streets.  Looking at each of them from below, with the infinite skies is like watching fantastic works of art, with the blue skies as the background on a canvas. (Please click the pictures below to view more.)

Is there art from the garbages in a trash bin? Many, if not all, may have thought there’s nothing there but garbage.  Or probably, I was just crazy taking these following shots inside garbage bins, and experimenting from results if there’s arts in them. Don’t feel or think nasty.  These shots were taken on sunny days from different places of the Big Apple City.  Some of them were taken from garbage bins in Bryant Park at 42nd Street, behind the New York City Library.  While others were taken from garbage bins at the Liberty Island around the Statue Of Liberty.

Perhaps, if I cut out from where most of the garbages were gathered in the pictures, we could really see an art in them.  But you will see them un-edited this time.  So, be the judge if there’s really art in them. Please send your comments on how you perceive making garbage as a form of art. (Click pictures below for more.)

New York City is a good place to take pictures in any angle of the city.  I remembered an article how the movie, “I am Legend” of Will Smith which was supposed to be shot in Los Angeles.  But the producers decided to shoot the movie in the Big Apple City, because of the nice backgrounds of buildings.

I had no helicopter ride when I took some of the aerial shots here.  I had only a pocket money, just enough to pay my entrance to the Empire State Building at 34th Street and took shots of Manhattan from the top.  From here I was able to take pictures of downtown, the sunset at New Jersey, and the East River.

From this photo blog, you’ll see pictures also of the Twin Towers when they were still standing before 09/11/01.  Along Queensboro Bridge, I had shots of First Avenue towards downtown.

This photo album is a mixed-up of other pictures, with other aerial shots of Alaska from plane while I was on my way for vacation to the Philippines. (Click the pictures below to view more.)