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New York City Visit
June 6 - 13, 2018

Small Bus Tours NYC
Day 4 Saturday, June 9, 2018

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Click on each photo below for a larger image.

Small Bus Tours NYC

The Small Bus Tour NYC
Provides A Comprehensive Overview
of almost all major NYC attractions.

We did the Platinum 8 Hour Tour and loved it! Not only does this provide you a drive by overview of more than two dozen well known NYC attractions, but even gives you a brief live guided tour of a few of them. A tour guide on their small bus narrates during the entire drive. The tour guide gets off and walks with you narrating along the way at a few of the attractions including Times Square (See the ball that drops at New Years!), Madison Square Park / Flat Iron Building, Gramercy Park, Washington Square Park, Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, Ground Zero, 9-11 Memorial Pools, Freedom Tower World Trade Center, Grand Central Terminal, Central Park, the Dakota Building where John Lennon was shot and the Strawberry Fields memorial to him in Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. It also includes an hour ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

After this tour you will have a much better idea of everywhere you will want to return to for a more in-depth visit during the rest of your stay. We used a 7-day unlimited MTA subway pass for $32 to go back and visit in depth a number of the places that we saw on this Small Bus Tour. Farai was our tour guide and Guy was our bus driver. They were both very informative. We would definitely recommend this tour to everyone, especially those visiting NYC for the first time. We'd even recommend taking this tour on your first day in the city even if you plan to later do a Hop On Hop Off tour on one of the open double deck big bus companies later.

Take a look at all their 5 Star Reviews on TripAdvisor. If you take this tour, I'm sure you'll be giving them a 5 Star rating too!

Waiting To Board The Tour Bus

We waited in front of the McDonald's in Times Square where the Small Bus Tours picks up passengers. We had to wait longer than usual before starting the tour as the company was bringing in some additional passengers from across the river and the tunnel under the river was tied up in traffic more than usual. But it was comfortable just sitting on the air conditioned bus reviewing the tour literature. The above are photos taken from where we waited for the bus in front of the McDonald's.

First Stop: New Years Ball In Times Square

2018 New Years Ball in Times Square.
The Ball Is Left On The Building All Year Until The Next New Years Day.
The Ball Drop Is On This Building.

Left: Barbara Cepinko (my wife) & Steve Grande (me).
Right: Cheryl Mack. New Years Ball In Background Of Both Photos.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaruant In Times Square.

Garment District

In the upper left photo notice the giant button and needle symbol of the Garment District. In the upper right photo notice the short building among towering buildings around it. I think the tall buildings are the Macy's Department Store. When everyone on this block sold their buildings to Macy's, the owner of this short building refused to sell and thus it remains here surrounded by the towering buildings of Macy's.

Flat Iron Building

The Name Is From The Shape Of The Building.

Empire State Building

Left: Barbara Cepinko (my wife), Right: Cheryl Mack.
Empire State Building In The Background.

A Lot Of Interesting Building Architecture.

When Completed, One Of These Buildings In The Background Will Become
The Tallest Building In North America, Taller Than The Freedom Tower.

Washington Square Park

Little Italy

Chinatown

Government Buildings

United States Courthouse

Left: Manhattan Municple Building, Right: New York County Courthouse.

City Hall Park

Buildings Near City Hall Park

Brooklyn Bridge

We Walked Up The Pedestrian Walkway In The Center Of The Brooklyn Bridge
Up To The First Tower Taking Photos Along The Way.

Photos From The Brooklyn Bridge. Tallest Building Is The Freedom Tower.

Isamu Noguchi's Iconic Red Cube

140 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

Wall Street

Charging Bull, also known as Wall Street Bull.
Hard to get a good photo with people climbing all over it.

Staten Island Ferry

Barbara and Cheryl at the Ferry Building.

The Ferry.

On The Ferry.

Freedom Tower, Tallest Building In Manhattan Skyline.

Statue Of Liberty As Seen From The Staten Island Ferry.

Brooklyn Bridge.

Freedom Tower & 911 Memorial

The Two 911 Memorial Pools.
Located where each of the two World Trade Center buildings once stood.

Oculus Underground Shopping Center

Left: These "wings" are all you see of the Oculus from the street.
Rgith: But once inside, the underground portion is huge!

More photos from inside the Oculus complex.

Grand Central Station

Photos From Inside Grand Central Station.

Buggy Rides In Manhattan

I thought they had discontinued these but I guess they are still available.

Trump International Hotel And Tower

The Dakota Apartments

The building where John Lennon lived and was shot to death.

Central Park

Bicycle Rentals Near Central Park.

Strawberry Fields - John Lennon Memorial in Central Park.

Carriage Rides In Central Square.

A Couple More Photos Of Central Park.

432 Park Avenue
Tallest Residential Building In The World,
3rd Tallest Building In The United States, 2nd Tallest Building In New York City,
Behind One World Trade Center, Ahead Of The Empire State Building.

A Few More Photos Of Manhattan

Trump Tower

Dinner In Little Italy

At the end of our Small Bus Tour NYC, the driver said he'd drop us off anywhere we wanted to be let off in Manhattan. We asked him to drop us off in Little Italy as that seemed the best place to go for dinner and to look around a bit.