A return to travel for work means more frequent trips to the Big Apple. Although I enjoy NYC any time of year (in the limited doses I visit), I particularly love the beauty of fall and the splendor of Christmas! This year I had trips that pre-and post-dated the infamous 30 Rockefeller Plaza tree being setup and decorated. Due to the crowds that the tree and the ice rink draw, building security has separate lines and access for tourists versus tenants. With my employee badge, I can walk in and out fo the door that is much closer to the tree and get close - and crowd free - photos! The trade off is that I have to show my badge constantly to get in and out of lines to access the elevator just to run downstairs to the corridor for Starbucks or to grab a salad for lunch. But it's a fair trade off.
In early November, they were readying the platform for the tree. They would have it all set up and decorated by my next trip!
In December, the hotels around 30 Rock were either sold out or ridiculously expensive (must have been all those tourists coming in to see the Rockettes!) so I stayed in lower Manhattan at another hotel that I like. Although the hotel gave away my king bed room and stuck me with two little beds, I did get an Ellis Island view room that overlooked the Hudson, which was cool.
I almost always take a photo of Rockefeller Center when I visit it - multiple times per year. It doesn't get old to me. I need to ask my colleagues that work in the building every day (or these days....2-3 days per week) if they still do that seasonally.
30 Rock tree: the views from the street....and the badge access view (i.e. leaving the building by the employee-only exit).
I had a team dinner in the Financial District, so had to get a picture of that tree with the Wall Street bull, as well! It was raining a lot on the day/evening that I was out walking and would have had good opportunities to take photos of decorations so didn't do as many as I might have otherwise. It was enough effort to get where I needed. Since my closest million friends were also trying to get cabs, etc, the streets were pretty crowded and my time was limited. But it's all part of the city experience!
