Midnight At The Empire State Building, Part II

If at first you don’t succeed, get some beer, have a Papaya dog and then try, try again! Last week I tried to go to the Empire State Building and it was closed due to fog, which I’ve never heard of and it surprised a lot of commenters as well. So I thought I’d retrun tonight at midnight tonight and try it all again.

First stop on the way there was to get a Mega-Millions ticket. It's up to over 300 million dollars! Let's hope this is the winner and I'll be taking some real trips if it is!

Deja view. Straight up Sixth Avenue, just like we did last week.

And as we cross over to Fifth Avenue, there she is. It's a clear night tonight, so there shouldn't be any problems.

And here we are, the Empire State Building on a clear night.

There's quite a few people here, considering it's kind of late.

I thought there'd be a long wait, but you get zipped through fairly quickly. Here we are boarding the elevator already.

They really jam a crowd into the elevators here. My claustrophobia has kicked in big time.

And as we approach the 86th floor, I realized one crucial mistake. I was stone-cold sober. And I have a quaking fear of heights. I was thinking so much about the possibility of it being closed again I forgot to drink to calm my nerves for this. As I realized this, I even said aloud, "Motherfucker, I forgot to drink!" The woman who's looking at me in this photo like I'm nuts, looked at me like I was even nuttier. I kind of felt like throwing up at this moment.

The Observation Deck. The moment of truth. I really thought about taking the elevator back down and going to a bar and trying to salvage this post somehow, but I knew it would be disappointing if I did. I was up here and I had to get photos and be a professional about it. Onwards and upwards...well, we're already upwards, so onwards we go.

It was a little freaky just being on the inside of the Observation Deck, but I thought maybe I could get some decent pictures without going outside. I was wrong, I kept getting reflections and they looked like shit, so it's outside I go.

Oh fuck. As soon as I got outside and snapped this photo I felt dizzy, started sweating. and kind of had a mini anxiety attack I couldn't move for a few minutes and the building felt like it was swaying. They really should have a bar up here, it's just not fair!

I decided to focus on other people taking photos so I wouldn't have to look directly down over the fenced in ledge.

Okay, I'm a little more at ease, time to get some official shots from up here.

Here's a shot I took while about a foot from the ledge, but you can see the ledge in the bottom, so I sucked it up and went all the way to the fence.

Okay, here's one shot and I'm sweating bullets up here.

And another, I'm starting to feel dizzy here.

Okay, I think you get the picture, everything's bright and shiny down there. I gotta get outta here.

Aaahhhh!

Okay, back to sweet ground level.

And it comes full circle as I see this in a souvenir store on the way home.

The Empire State Building
350 Fifth Ave. (Near 33rd St.)
212-736-3100

Further Reading: essortment, Great Buildings and Wired New York.

Empire State Building

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

Midnight At The Empire State Building

New York City is the reported city that never sleeps, so time from time I thought I’d post what’s going on at midnight in the Big Apple. I just found out that the Empire State Building is open till two in the morning, perfect for a stop at the witching hour of midnight in New York City and a chance to confront my fear of heights all within one post. But first, a little liquid courage!

I really have a fear of heights, so I thought I'd have a beer or three to bolster my courage before we go. I think I'll start with the 24 ounce can.

Okay, time to hit the road, the liquid courage is firmly ingested!

And one for the road, discreetly disguised in this vitamin water bottle.

Okay, straight up Sixth Avenue to 33rd Street.

But when I get there, these two smiling fellows tell me that it's closed due to low visibility. It seems that if it's foggy out, the Empire State Building closes.

And true, it is foggy, but I wish they would've announced this before I bought my ticket online an hour ago! And is it me, or has the Empire State Building mutated into the Cardboard Box Man...aaaahhhh!

According to their website they're open 365 days a year, rain or shine, maybe they should say if it's foggy you're shit out of luck. At least the ticket can be used again, we'll try this again next week.

And so to try and salvage this doomed evening, I thought I'd take you to the bar in the Empire State Building and maybe find some action there.

Here it is, The Empire Room.

It was kind of dead at the bar and nobody wanted to be photographed. This is one of those nights where you can't win. I should've gone to the Bronx Zoo!

I thought I'd get something to eat, just to get a photo of some food, something, anything to save this post, but I was told by the bartender who didn't want his photo taken that the kitchen was closed. That's the thing about doing a blog live, it doesn't always work. This is a good example. Here I'll show you a great equation for a shitty post.

An empty bar +

More of an empty bar =

Exit, stage left. What do you do when your post of the evening falls into the toilet?

You go across the street to the Papaya Dog. (Sorry, Al!)

Get a dog for a buck fifty...

And try, try again tomorrow. Hey, you can't script this stuff and it doesn't always work. We'll try this again next week. Hopefully tomorrow's post works better, now time to drown my sorrows in this dog and the beers left at home!

Further Reading: Wikipedia, Shades of Fun and IMDb.

Everywhere you go,
Always take the weather with you.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!