One of the above serves drinks. The other blow-dries hair.

Central Park

Note to self: avoid NYC during the tourist season between Christmas and New Years. Even Central Park was packed with tourists (and presumable NYC residents) on Christmas Day. Walking a bit further into the park led to a gradual decrease in people and an increase in the quality of photo opportunities.

New York Public Library

Overall, I found the library to be not quite as accessible or approachable as the Boston Public Library. This could be partly due to the huge number of tourists (relative to the people there who actually intended to read or study). Unfortunately, the Rose Reading Room (filming location for Ghostbusters, which I have coincidently never seen) was closed for renovation at the time of our visit.

The two stone lions outside, Patience and Fortitude, were inspired by the lions guarding the interior of the Boston Public Library. They were originally deemed too approachable and not scary enough, but that was eventually deemed acceptable, since after all, they’re located outside of a library intended for the public. The lions enjoy standing as a National Historic Landmark, separate to the landmark protection on the library itself; if the library ever gets demolished, the lions will still be standing.

9/11 Memorial

The area surrounding the memorial is full of construction and renovation, even 13 years after the tragedy. The memorial itself consists of two gigantic craters where the Twin Towers used to stand. Bronze plates on the edge memorialize all those who lost their lives, and the water cascades down into a seeming bottomless pit in the center.