Day 3: UN, 30 Rock & Times Square
I had only seen the United Nations (UN) on TV and at the movies, but never in person. In every show that takes places in the UN, everyone dresses business formal. There is a dress code (of sorts) according to the UN website FAQ:
"Please dress in a way that respects the professional working environment of the United Nations. United Nations Security reserves the right to deny entry or remove from the premises anyone not behaving or dressed appropriately."
"Wear a business suit in upper 90s°F weather? But we are tourists, not employees", I thought.
I did some digging and was relieved to find some insight on how visitors like us should show up at the UN. Fortunately, I packed a pair of jeans. Today was the only day of the program that I wore it. But first, I got to get ready, and then stepped outside our room for the 12-Steps meeting on Zoom. The elevator hall wasn't private but it provided sufficient quietness and seclusion to hear and be heard by the people in the meeting. That worked out great, so I planned to do it again two days later. Next was breakfast at Tick Tock Diner. (Full details of the dining experience is found in Addendum – Complimentary Dining.)
For the day's itinerary, Tour Guide Joe chartered a bus to take us to the UN, then to Rockefeller Center aka 30 Rock, and then back to the hotel. We were allowed to bring backpacks and leave them on the bus. That included water bottles according to their "What (Not) to Bring" policy; cameras and video recorders were permitted. Assistant Langston joined us at the start of the trip while Assistant Jeff would meet us at the UN.
We arrived in front of the UN where Jeff waited. He guided us to an office across the street where we queued up to receive our visitor's pass.
When the group was ready, the security guard let us in. We entered a similar screening area like the one in Battery Park, and then... we were in the north lobby of the General Assembly Building. I took a panoramic view of the front area (see below middle video). Behind the stairs on the far right was Technology Museum, an exhibit detailing the history of media technology (see below right video).
Before continuing further, our group was split into two for the UN tour. Jeff, Wife, Son and I were with group 1, while Joe went with group 2. We proceeded past the front desks, past the wall exhibits to our left, went towards the south lobby and waited by the escalators for our UN tour guide. Ben from Germany welcomed us. He was knowledgeable but he talked fast. (I had difficulty following him at times.) We went up to the third floor where the tour officially began. It was also where we saw two of the many gifts the UN had received: replica of the Royal Thai Barge "Suphannahong" (below left), and Tepak Sireh (below right).
According to Ben, Philadelphia was considered at one point for the headquarters of the UN, specifically the area behind the Rocky Balboa statue. That idea was nixed when John D. Rockefeller Jr. showed up with millions of $$$ on hand, making New York City the chosen home. (FYI, UN's would-be site is currently home to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.)
As we proceeded to the next chamber, there were additional TV screens mounted on adjacent walls of the chambers. Each screen displayed the daily schedule of each chamber. We came to Trusteeship Council Chamber. Unlike the last chamber, we were allowed to enter while a meeting was in progress so long as we didn't take pictures or videos. We briefly saw the Australian delegate spoke before we were quickly ushered out.
One notable subject Ben brought up was language translators – the most difficult job in the UN. It requires extensive training, exceptional fortitude and nothing less than near-perfection (that's what it sounded like to me). According to Ben, most did not have what it takes to do this – the dropout rate is a staggering 85%! The only training program that is as difficult (if not more so) is Navy SEALs.
That being said, allow me to draw your attention to the photos below. Notice the devices circled in red, one for each seat. They are radios that allow attendees to listen to the meetings translated in six languages, one channel for each language. Pretty neat, huh. Ben also showed us a touchscreen monitor, and its two-fold purpose: 1) educate visitors on the work UN is doing, and 2) help UN track their progress on current projects. By pressing a soft button on the monitor, a different screen appeared followed by an explanation (by Ben) on what it meant.
There were some artwork gifted to the UN. Starting below, from top to bottom, left to right: “Mankind’s Struggle for a Lasting Peace”, "The Golden Rule", 1988 Nobel Peace Prize certificate, and "Chernobyl".
To the right of the statue, you can see a large photo of a mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb that fell in Nagasaki (on August 9, 1945). It brought back memories of the trauma egg I did when I was in therapy. The mushroom cloud represented the cycle of childhood abuse I experienced from my parents. Like the atomic bomb, the fallout from their abuse was twofold: immediate and long-term. That's all I'm going to say at this point.
Ben saved the best for last, that being the General Assembly hall – the Granddaddy of them all. With the exception of the last two rows of seats at the back, the rest were furnished with desks – for member nations – row after row all the way to the rostrum. Towards the front on each side of the hall are two floors of translators booths.
The tour concluded with a group photo. We took the elevator to the basement where the gift shop was. Wife bought a keychain and a mug, while I got me this cool hoodie made out of fleece (or so it claimed). When all of us were accounted for, we headed out through the first floor and to the chartered bus waiting for us. Langston left for the day.
On the way to Rockefeller Center, Jeff mentioned that he lived two blocks away from the UN. He shared a two-bedroom apartment with two others, and his bedroom was formed from part of the living room. The monthly rent of the apartment was $5,300! (That's three times the rent in North Carolina for the same unit.) Joe talked about how Brooklyn got its name – from the Dutch name Breukelen that means "broken land".
We alighted across the street from Studio 1A with the "NBC News" name and logo beaming as far as the eye can see. Like with the UN, we were allowed to leave on the bus what we didn't need to carry. It was 12:50pm. We were to get our own lunches and meet back at 2pm. Joe mentioned the lower plaza under 30 Rockefeller Plaza (30 Rock) having plenty of dining options, appropriately called Under 30 Rock. I was questioning why the stairs to Under was situated on the opposite end from 30 Rock. When I stood in front of the stairs, I understood.
It was quite a view: a patio with tables, chairs and umbrellas for outdoor dining in the foreground, and statue of Prometheus and 30 Rock itself in the background. Once inside Under, we looked at the directory of restaurants. Many of them appeared to cater to the fine dining crowd, which we weren't. Looking at the decor and menu prices, a person making less than an executive could quickly go broke eating here twice a day on a regular basis. We found something that all of us would eat: Ace's Pizza.
Ace's Pizza had two office spaces. One on the left for dine-in and the other on the right for pick-ups – both were small rooms. We went to the dine-in room, sat at the bar and ordered a medium 9” plain cheese pizza. Drinks were lemonade, RC Cola and (tap) water for Wife, Son and me respectively. There were two waitresses on duty, and the one at the bar was multi-tasking taking orders, serving them and ringing checks. Her waiting on us was interrupted repeatedly. My impression of Ace's was gradually souring when our pizza was served within minutes after ordering. Wife and I were surprised as it didn't appear there was sufficient time for the order to be processed. It was the quickest service I had ever seen, quicker than fast food. The pizza was cut into six slices. We took two each and were done in relatively quick time. Then came the check. 18% service fee was added to the order and tips was requested. I gave 3%, which is equivalent to 76 cents. (In hindsight, I should have gone with 0% tip.)
While waiting across the street from Studio 1A, we chatted with tour group members Eileen (from Wisconsin) and her grandson. This was Eileen's second Road Scholar program, the first was Japan with a different grandchild. For that one, Road Scholar arranged their flights and ground transportations. International travel wasn't in our plans for at least four years, but their experience was something to take note of. After the group was assembled, we proceeded to 30 Rock and waited at the entrance to the Observation Deck. For reasons that weren't clear, we received one ticket between the three of us. It said "Child". It got scanned and we went in.
We went up the stairs to the mezzanine level and into an enclosed area that had a wide screen similar to the Immersive Theater in the Statue of Liberty Museum. A 5-minute film was shown summarizing 30 Rock's history, glitz and glamor. It culminated with a Christmas segment accompanied by a literal shower of snowflakes on us from the ceiling. "Now that's immersive," I thought. The door at the other end opened. We continued on until we entered the Welcome Gallery. At the far end, a staff member stood before a hall of elevators that would take us to the 67th floor. To our left was a miniature model of Rockefeller Center with light show and music. It's hard to hear the music in the video.
Before the elevator Inside the elevator
While waiting, Joe told the group to be ready to meet outside at 3:15pm. We were then directed a few at a time by the staff member to a specified elevator. Inside the elevator, an audio/visual material played from the ceiling almost like a fanfare to what was coming next. At the 67th floor, a staff member directed us to head right. I took in the view of the city skyline through the windows. Taking pictures was difficult due to limited field of view behind the walls. The unobstructed balcony view would be found on the 69th and 70th floors. Mom and Son weren't comfortable with heights so they hung out in the Weather Room. I was similarly acrophobic but that didn't stop me from taking the escalator to the 69th.
After I got off the escalator, I saw the Beam to my right. Situated entirely on the deck and a maximum elevation of 10 feet from the floor, it didn't look as scary as the people sitting on it made it out to be. My attention quickly turned towards the balcony. From left to right as far as the eye could see, the unobstructed view was overwhelming. Reigning in my acrophobia took effort. I proceeded to take pictures of the skyline, opting for single shots over panoramic ones. The 70th floor above me was accessible by stairs. I believed the viewed would be better there and went up.
The Beam looked a lot less scary from the 70th floor. As I approached the windows, my breaths got slower and heavier. Taking each picture was laborious because the sunlight made it difficult to see my phone while managing the increasingly intense acrophobia at the same time. By the time I finished, it was 3:10pm. Wife had already texted me that they were heading downstairs. Much like at Ellis Island yesterday, I waited to take the third elevator and met with the group 5 minutes past the expected time. We took the train back to the hotel and were told to meet at the lobby at 5pm for dinner.
Rockefeller Plaza content starts at 2:29 onwards
Our first subway ride of the day began at 34th Street–Herald Square station and ended at 28th Street station, followed by an 8-minute walk to Hill Country BBQ Market. (Full details of the dining experience is found in Addendum – Complimentary Dining.) After dinner, we took the train again and alighted at 49th Street station.
As we walked towards Times Square, Joe informed us that One Times Square – now famous for the annual Ball Drop – was once the first home of the New York Times. The building itself gradually appeared larger in our line of sight. Before we knew it, we were standing next to the Red Stairs. Everywhere was buzzing with activity. Numerous visual material – commercials, still advertisements, newsfeeds – on large screens, one on top of another and sprawled across every building around the Square. People were taking pictures or just chilling. We could go up the Red Stairs but we had to move on.
(For the map shown above left, a letter in parenthesis shows where I was when the picture was taken. The direction of the arrow shows what I took: straight arrow means standard photo, and curved arrow means panorama.) Following Joe's lead, we made a right on W 46th towards the New York Marriott Marquis, and then a left into the hotel entrance away from street traffic. (Our hotel did not have that.) The large poster of Death Becomes Her by the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre reminded me that this area is part of the Broadway Theater District.
We came out on the other side of the hotel entrance, made a right, walked for a bit, then crossed the street and into Shubert Alley across the street. Situated between the Shubert and Booth theaters, this alley was now the place to see posters of every current stage production in the area. Beyond that, there wasn't much else here... as far as we saw.
From out of Shubert Alley, we returned to Times Square and the overexposure of visual material. This time, we were much closer to One Times Square – the Drop site. Continuing on to the right of the building, we proceeded past Hard Rock Cafe, then made a left. I noticed that the New Amsterdam Theatre was currently showing Aladdin before taking the stairs down to the Times Square–42nd Street station for the train back to the hotel.
We were back in our rooms a little after 7:30pm. For Day 4, we were to meet at the lobby at 9:30am. That gave us an extra hour to sleep in. Health app tally: 12,595 steps, 4.8 miles, 19 floors, 286 calories.
Ranking (from best to least)
Informative (too much to take in) and awe-inspiring. UN guide talked fast but good at answering questions. General Assembly was the best – took group photo there – art collection was second, witnessing a chamber in session was third. Purchased souvenir at gift shop. Worth a return visit.
2. 30 Rock
Like the film screening on mezzanine floor completed with snowflakes. Observation Deck (69th and 70th floor) was the highlight. Took pictures of skyline. Return visit not necessary. Would try a different skyscraper instead.
3. Times Square
Short walk-through. Sights and sounds were overwhelming... for first timers. Not interested in visiting again unless to see a show.
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