After spending an extra 500 euros to get back to the states, my budget for the east coast was a bit restricted. I got into Manhattan from the airport and walked around the city for a couple hours before hopping on the subway up to Harlem where I had booked a really cheap hostel. I came up from the underground and discovered pretty quickly that Harlem in the middle of night isn’t the softest of experiences. I had never seen anything like the projects at night. They are generally quiet, but filled with more than the fair share of creepers.
The next day I managed to sort out a phone for being back in the USA. I ended up walking about 100 blocks to the Virgin Mobile store, using it as an excuse to tour half the city. I continued down to Battery Park, past the WTC, and through the Wall Street area. The whole downtown area has a much different feel than farther north on the island, and being near the site of the old WTC was not comforting.
I made sure to hit up Times Square at night on my way back to the hostel, and it was seriously cool. I ended up talking to a girl from Taiwan named Doris who was sitting next to me in Times Square. After discovering that we were both tourists for a couple days in New York, I asked her to come with me to the top of the Empire State Building the next day. The next day I cruised through central park, got some business done at the bank, and poked my head in a few museums. I met up with Doris in the evening and we went to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, which was ridiculously high. It is serisouly impossible to gauge the height of the building from below, and it is shocking to come out of the elevators at the top. I strongly advise going on a clear night, as the scenery at night in such a bright city is truly breathtaking. Dress warmly though, because the top levels feel about 20 degrees cooler due to altitude and winds!
Super late that night, after being offered cocaine and crack a couple times, I managed to meet up with Neil, my couchsurfing host for the night. He had agreed to host me for the night, but he would be headed to the airport early in the morning so I knew that I would only be able to get a few hours of sleep. Neil is from London and was a cool host, it was really a shame that I could only stay for one night. The next morning at around 5 we got up and he headed to the airport. I got some breakfast, and then napped at the first laundromat I found open in the morning. I went to Columbia University to try and meet up with the author of the book I had just finished, but he wasn’t available when I went in. I toured around the Columbia campus, which was pretty cool, and made sure to check out the business school while I as there, since I had been considering applying to business schools on the east coast when I got back.
In the evening I headed to the lower-west side to meet up with Cat Roberts, one of Megan’s friends from High School that was living in a really cool flat in New York. We had a little Wine Cheese party for her house-warming party, and I met a bunch of her friends and got a real feel for the vibe of living in NYC they way I would probably want to do it. I crashed her couch and then in the morning headed out to find the megabus terminal and make my way to Baltimore.