On Saturday night we decided to head over to the new casino at Aqueduct. Resorts World New York City is a welcomed addition to me as I hate taking the bus down to Atlantic city. Looks like I won’t be doing that anymore. I expected the casino to be busy but nothing like what I saw when I walked in.

The entrance to the casino is absolutely beautiful. Hard to believe I was at Aqueduct where I have been playing the ponies for years. There was security all over the place and that made me feel good.

Resorts World New York City Entrance

Debbie and I were not really planning on doing much gambling and it was a good thing because we couldn’t. We got to the casino around 8:30 pm and figure we would sign up for players cards and get some dinner. That didn’t exactly work out since the line for players club cars was about 50 people.

We decided to get some dinner instead so we headed over to the food court and looked around and there was no seats and the lines were all 15 people deep. We got in a huge line for the buffet instead. What we didn’t know was that the line was for reservations to get into the buffet. After standing in line for a half hour we got our reservation for 9:30. I was starving at this point and regretting that we came to the casino.

With a half hour to spare Debbie and I figure we might as well sign up for players club cards since we have a 1/2 hour to kill. We got online and it took 25 minutes to get a card. We get our cards and head over to the buffet where we wait online again even though we have reservations. They then open the line to people without reservations and 18 people get to cut right in front of us.I was not a happy camper to say the least. How I kept my cool is beyond me at this point.

We get into the buffet which was cheap at $19 but I didn’t care as I was starving. Debbie got the upgrade for another $9 and had lobster which she loved. It was well worth it. I should have upgraded also and got a filet. They looked great and they cook them on the spot to your liking. I was very happy though as I loaded up my plate with manicotti, meatloaf, mashed pototo’s and some fresh strng beans. I went back and filled up a second plate it was so good. They had loads of choices and all the food was fresh. Every plate I looked at had huge crab legs so they were a big hit.

The deserts were great and I loved the ice cream which is probably the best I have ever eaten. Our waitress was very pleasant as was all the help in the restaurant. I was amazed I was at Aqueduct, it felt like I was in a major 4 star restaurant. It was a very plesant experience from start to finish.

After dinner we decided to try to play some slot machines. This was a bad idea as there were 3 or 4 people waiting at every machine waiting for people to lose their money and move on. After 25 minutes walking around the casino Debbie finally found a machine to play at. She lost a quick $40  and then the seat next to her opened and I put in $40 into a nickel machine which I hate and hit max bet and it was a $20 spin. What the hell is that? I spun again just to get off the machine and that was that $40 in 2 spins. I didn’t even want to play nickels and here I am losing $40 in 30 seconds. I was ready to leave. Debbie had some money left on her voucher so we found another machine and settled in and lost our buget and we got out of there.

The walk back to the train was very dark and it is only a matter of time before there is a mugging. They need to get the new ramp for the train ready as fast as possible. Although that wouldn’t have helped us since we were heading towards the Rockaways. Walking to the old North Conduit train station is dangerous. You can take a shuttle bus but even after they drop you off you have to walk down a dangerous path. The really need to make the station at the casino be accessable to people in both directions.

The lines at the casino on a Saturday night are long. Until they open up another floor it is just dumb to go here again. I hope they have more food choices on each floor also as it will be very crowded for food at all times if they only have a food court planned.

Yesterday I got my bike out of the bike shop on the upper west side and decided to take a ride down the west side bike path instead of just getting on the train to take the bike home. Since I haven’t exercised in a few days I figure it would be a good thing.

Bike path on west side of Manhattan

While driving the streets towards the bike path was an adventure in itself as I had to avoid double parked trucks as I made my way across West 77th street. After avoiding a few cabs I managed to get my street smarts kicked in and took no prisoners attitude and rode with an aggressive attitude and I was much better off.

The bike path was much better than I expected. Finding it was kind of tough as I had to drive through a dog park to get to it. There was an entrance to the west side highway for cars that I almost made a mistake getting on until I thought about it and pulled over and asked a parks department worker who saw I was lost.

In the background of the picture you can see the boat basin which is a great place during the summer to stop and have a bite to eat. Behind that is the George Washington Bridge which is now a goal to bike up to since I found this bike path.

After using the restroom and composing myself from the aggressive street driving I headed towards lower Manhattan.

The bike path really is a cool place for runners and bikers alike. Some ways the path winds around playgrounds and stuff was pretty cool. After passing a few of these I ended up at the foot of a big cruise ship which was parked next to the the USS Intrepid Museum.

Seabourn Sojourn

USS Intrepid

I grabbed a vitamin water from a vending machine at the USS Intrepid  which I had never seen up close before. Which I find amazing since I live in the city. I have just never been over here before. It is now on my to-do list to come back and spend the day. They have some cool planes on board, a submarine parked next to it and what I want to see “The Concorde” on the deck.  I have the feeling I will be back here in the very near future.

After taking a quick break I got back on the bike and past by the Heliport where they were doing some practice landings with Military helicopters which was pretty cool. The traffic on the bike path became a lot more congested as I approached Chelsea Piers. They even have traffic lights on the bike path and people directing traffic. I had to stop twice for pedestrians.

I made my way downtown and saw signs that to use the Brooklyn Bridge I had to cut across Warren street. I stopped to take a picture of One World Trade Center being built. Which I am sure that will be done next time I am in the area.

One World Trade Center

Since I was prepared for Manhattan bike riding from my earlier adventures I decided to man up and drive across town. It was now around 5 o’clock and people were getting off work and the streets were just packed. I made believe I was a bike messenger and just took the traffic as if I owned it. I had to get off the bike and walk across City Hall park as it was just too crazy on the streets.

I made my way up the Brooklyn Bridge and got back on the bike and it was just as nuts as tourist and people walking home from work had the bridge packed. The bridge does have a bike lane but with so many people and not enough room for bikes to pass each other in both directions it was crazy. I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a few pictures and a video. I didn’t realize until I got home that the couple in the video must have just got engaged. She was not just giving him a kiss on the bridge, she was giving him a OMG yes kiss.

Fuji bike on the Brooklyn Bridge

I navigated the streets of Brooklyn to the Jay street station and took the train home. I had enough adventures for one day.

On our latest visit to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge proved to be a great visit as we got to see an American White Pelican. Here is the video.

I am not a rap fan but JayZ really sums up New York in his “Empire State Of Mind” Video. If you are thinking about coming to New York this video shows some of the best places in the city to visit.

I always get asked about Central Park and even though it is not in Brooklyn it is a must see when you come into the city. I always wander around near Columbus Circle and then head East towards the Central Park zoo before heading up towards the reservoir. Here is a cool video I found that shows some other cool things to see in the park.

If you are going to walk around in Central Park make sure you bring comfortable shoes, a bottle of water, and maybe some binoculars as there are many types of birds.

Great song about Christmas in New York City.

Today I am standing on a subway platform in downtown Brooklyn, A Japanese guy with only a duffle bag ask me how to get to the airport. As I am giving him directions I ask him where he is flying to and he tells me Japan. I say you don’t have much luggage for such a far away destination he says he flew in this morning from Japan to see the place where Mr Matsui plays before they tear it down.

The guy had a subway map detailed with exactly how long it would take to go stop for stop on the train all the way to the Bronx. He came all the way from Japan to see Yankee Stadium. He didn’t even stay for tonight’s Yankee game. Fly in and fly home and that is it.

He says to me that he was amazed that there was not a big statue of Mr Matsui outside of Yankee Stadium. I just chuckled under my breath. I don’t think there is even a statue of Babe Ruth at the stadium and this guy was expecting a Matsui statue.

I made sure he got on a Far Rockaway bound “A” train that will take him to the Howard Beach station for connection with the Airtrain to JFK Airport. After such a long trip I wanted to make sure he got home ok.

It seems that they are almost done fixing the clock tower down on Atlantic and Flatbush ave. They started to take the wrappings off the other day. It does appear to be cleaner than it use to be. I wonder if they are gonna fix the time on the 4 clocks.

The clocks use to tell all sorts of time. It all depended on which side of the clock you were facing. You can see more about the tower here http://www.nyc-architecture.com/BKN/BKN005.htm

A tornado hit Brooklyn yesterday! As much as I heard it all on the news for the last two days it is still hard to believe. I was not near where the twister set down. I was about 5 miles away and I had no clue that a tornado was that close to me. I was by the Atlantic Avenue Mall around 6am and was caught in a rain storm that made my umbrella totally useless.
The tornado was also said to have touched down in Staten Island as well. The reports from Brooklyn are still not complete but it is said that it touched down around 68th street and 4th avenue and kept on going until it ended up over in Sunset Park. The twister tore the roof off of a couple of houses. It even ripped apart a Baptist church. It just goes to show you these things don’t care what they destroy. There were no lives lost which is hard to believe considering the amount of people that were effected by this freak storm. The New York Subway service was almost shutdown system wide as the 3 inches of rain that fell in about an hour. All this rain ended up in the subway.

There was no escaping the wrath of this storm as people all over New York City lost power due to the high winds. The winds were all types of speeds all over the area. Even parts of Long Island had lost power due to trees falling over power lines