I slept in this morning, rare for me, but it’d been a late night last night what with all the postcards, blogging and burning my Puzzle & Dragons stamina. I ventured out for some late (for me) breakfast, before walking to this building:
It’s called ’34 Hudson Yards’ and at 103 floors is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the USA. If you look closely near the top, you’ll see a triangular platform jutting out. That’s an outdoor observation platform called ‘Edge’, opened only a couple of years ago, and was my destination today. At first I was a bit underwhelmed – since the building is new and has no history, the line experience was very dry – but once I rode the elevator to the observation deck my concerns just melted away…
Unlike others I’ve been to, the edge of the platform is just a glass wall which seemed to deter many people from stepping too close. It’s the 100th floor and since the glass is diagonally away from the edge when you go right up to it you can look directly down. It’s fantastic!
The views are spectacular, and the position closer to the river gives a different perspective on the city from the other three towers I’ve visited (this trip and last year). If you compare to yesterdays photos from the ESB you’ll see the visibility was better today as well.
The above is a photo of the Empire State Building taken from Edge, and you can see the two observatories are about the same height. They’re both outdoors as well, although the glass-only walls of Edge are better (more thrilling) than those of the ESB. That said, the outdoor part of Edge is only one side of the building, although you can view in all directions inside the building.
Edge has a transparent floor section you can stand on, and many patrons didn’t want to anywhere near it. In the above photo I am 1100 feet above the ground, standing on reinforced glass and looking down to the street. Had the floor broken, it would have taken me about 9 seconds to hit the ground, and when I did I would have been traveling over 300 km/hr. I imagine Kristin would have retired on the lawsuit money as well 🙂
The glass walls are very thick (at least an inch) but have gaps you can stick your fingers through. It was amusing to watch people summon their courage to walk close to the glass walls but still be hesitant to stand near the gaps. Even though they were scared I think they were having fun though.
I’ve now done four observation decks in NYC and enjoyed them all, and it’s interesting how each has its own strengths. Rockefeller center is the best placed, One Vanderbilt had the best experience at the lower levels (the mirrored rooms were extraordinary), ESB has a rich history and wonderful 360 degree views and Edge has the thrilling glass walls and floor. If you had time to do only one of them, I think I’d recommend the Empire State Building, but if you’re interested in these sorts of attractions then I believe there’s worth in all four.
Of course there’s two other notable decks in NYC as well (one is in the above pic). Do I have a third trip in my future?
After dark I skipped down to Times Square to see the lights and the people and neither disappointed. Every time we visit it seems the screens get bigger and you can barely see the buildings now for all the advertising! Covid is a very distant memory now (there’s absolutely no hint of the pandemic any more and I don’t believe I’ve seen a single mask these two days) and the city is once again bursting with tourists.
And since I know you’re interested, my meals today were an egg/bacon sandwich for breakfast, a turkey sub for lunch, some hot candied cashews for an afternoon snack and a burrito bowl for dinner. It was all delicious!
I head home tomorrow but not until mid afternoon. I’ve got a special plan for the morning; something that wasn’t possible the last three years. Let’s hope it works out…
