A Few Days In New York City

by Ryan Clements

As you well know we've been traveling all over the place this year, so I've made it my mission to not only enjoy the skateboarding aspect of it, but to also experience the culture of wherever I've been going. During our most recent trip to Manny Mania in NYC we stayed a couple of days after and saw the sights. Once again we wouldn't have any pictures if Jenna didn't shoot them. Just like Andrew W.K...I LOVE NEW YORK CITY!

Ryan

We started at the Empire State Building. It's as touristy as you can get, but the view is breath-taking. They have an audio tour that lasts about an hour and gives you a serious geographical and statistical education of New York City. I think I learned more in that hour than I did my entire senior year of high school

Stop number two was a Catholic church called St. John the Divine, which is close to the north end of Central Park. This is a sculpture of the Apocalypse depicting NYC that was done in 1997...four years before the tragedy of 9/11. Note the World Trade Center towers

This statue is out front of St. John the Divine. It's Michael the Archangel battling Satan. Note how huge the church is in the background

We then walked all the way through Central Park and popped out at The Dakota. That's where John Lennon lived and he was shot pretty close to where Jenna is standing right there. Check the guard in the background...he won't let you get past that sidewalk

I was digging the ornamental iron in front of The Dakota. Supposedly Yoko Ono still lives there

Back across the street in Central Park in Strawberry Fields I had to pay my respects to Mr. Lennon. There's this hippie-guy there that has decorated the Memorial daily with flowers for the past 15 years. He gives speeches about the history of Lennon and Yoko Ono in NYC

This is the bar where all of the skateboarders hang out, Max Fish. At this point we were the only ones there and it's still light out. Yikes

As the sun went down the party began. That's Drew from Ambiguous on the left and Dave from Red Bull on the right

Alanna stole Schaefer's Jaeger-bomb and ended up properly bombed as the night went on. I don't have any photos from the next bar that we went to because it was way "too cool" to shoot photos in that swanky joint. Definitely a NYC experience

I tried to be a guest, but they wouldn't let me through the front door! Walking through Times Square the night before coming back to Tampa was a great way to end the NYC experience