New York Day 3: Soho, The Village, High Line & Yankees vs Red Sox

My third day in New York City would be devoted to some major walking and sightseeing. Since I have seen all the major sights in the city, I wasn’t gonna do to all the things you normally do when you’re in New York City. Instead, I decided to walk my way uptown from Canal Street all the way to the end of the High Line and cross the neighborhoods Soho and The Village which lie in between.

I took the subway to the Canal Street stop, which marks the south end of Soho. This neighborhood lies next to China Town and used to be the place to be for artists and hipsters in the 60s and 70s. By now, the area has become a lot more main stream and has been developed into a major shopping area with high street and high end stores. You will find H&M, Topshop, Zara, Mango, Aldo and more, but also Michael Kors and Vera Wang.

Typical Soho street: tall tenement like buildings and cobble stoned streets

I had lunch at Dos Caminos and moved on to The Village. This area is decidedly more artsy, with art galleries, music stores and designer clothing boutiques. The area is very green too, with trees lining the streets and Washington Square right by it. NYU is also located in the area which makes for a diverse and interesting vibe. I paused for a bit on Washington Square as the sun had come out and some street musicians were playing some freestyle Jazz.

Washington Square

Typical Village Street

One particular store I found I would like to mention. It is yet again a bookstore called Bookmarc. But this isn’t just any old bookshop. In fact, it is part of the Marc Jacobs franchise and is located on Bleecker Street. Here you will find a selection of literature, cook books, as well as books on art, design, photography, music and film. It features plenty of limited editions and collectibles and offers a very particular selection as it’s only a small shop. Added bonus: your purchases are wrapped in a Marc Jacobs shopping bag. I kept on walking west and ended up on the Hudson shore with a nice view of New Jersey and a peek of the Manhattan skyline.

New Jersey Sky Line

Manhattan skyline with newly built Freedom Tower/ World Trade Center

By now I was only a few blocks away from the High Line entrance at Gansevoort Street. The High Line is a newly constructed park running from Gansevoort Street to 30th Street between 10th and 11th avenues. It follows an abandoned elevated train line that was constructed to quickly distribute goods along the city before the subway and other modern means were put into action. Rather than tear it down, the deteriorated train line was redeveloped into a walkway with plants and at some points the old tracks are still exposed. It also gives you a unique view of the city.

High Line: walking underneath a building

High Line: walkway with exposed tracks

View from the High Line

The park is more of an organized mess than a very cultured and neat one

View of Empire State Building from High Line

Flowers along the High Line walkway

At the end of the High Line, at 30th Street, there was a sign saying the park is still under development. So there is definitely more to come in the future. Since I was close to Macy’s I decided to step in, but it was so busy so I just went to the bathroom and got out of there. I walked on, all the way to Times Square and went back to my hotel as I had to get ready for the ball game.

Tickets New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox

That’s right! I bought tickets to see the New York Yankees play the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Now I’m not much of a sports fan, but since baseball is such a big part of American culture I didn’t see how I could pass up on this opportunity. It wasn’t even that expensive. It is cheaper than seeing a musical anyway. I headed out the door and took the Subway to Yankee Stadium along with what seemed like half of New York City. The subway was crowded with people in NY Yankees gear, all heading to the game.

Yankee Stadium

I picked up my tickets from the Will Call window and went in search of my seat. Since Yankee stadium is humongous, it took a while for me to find my seat. I ended up finding it just fine and met a few tourists from London who were also there on their first baseball game. There was a guy in front of me who was very much into the game and that was quite entertaining.

Inside Yankee Stadium

Me @ the stadium

The game itself was fun. It’s not a short game. In total it took around 3.5 hours to play 9 innings. It’s not a quick game either. The teams have to switch taking the field for each turn and that takes time. So in between, the spectators are kept occupied with quizzes, games and sing-a-longs. The most exciting moment was when the New York Yankees scored a home run. The entire stadium seemed to explode.

By now I only have 2 more days left on this trip and I’m trying to make the most of it. I am thinking of visiting Chelsea Market and South Street Seaport. So stay tuned for more NYC fun!