John Lennon Memorial
Grant Choitz at Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center
Singers had all of Saturday free to explore the city and small groups broke off to do a variety of different things. Most tried to pack as much into the day and evening as possible. Some made a late a night of it, but many students chose to get back to the hotel relatively early in order to get a good night’s sleep before the big concert day on Sunday.
First Subway Ride
Many great stories came out of the day, but a common one was in regards to the weather. It has generally been sunny and humid in New York while we’ve been here but mid-afternoon on Saturday a storm blew in very quickly, and some students with smart phones even reported that they had received a Flash Flood Warning on their phones. The sky got dark, the wind picked up, in some places it hailed, and then there was a torrential downpour. It was heavy, heavy rain that caught many students who were out and about by surprise. By early evening it had blown over and the sky was back to partly sunny. But Saturday night there was lots of sharing about “Where were you when the storm hit?”
Central Park
Some of the activities various singers took on included more visits to Central Park, including visiting the “Imagine” John Lennon Memorial; seeing Wall Street, Times Square, the 911 Memorial, taking the Staten Island Ferry, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, finding famous cheesecake, bus tours, visiting various areas of the city such as The Village, Little Italy, Soho, Tribeca, the West Village; riding the subway and taking in a show on Broadway. We heard good reports from those who went to Tony’s Restaurant and the jazz club, Birdland.
Monty Alexander and the Harlem Kingston Express at Birdland
“Got to see the Statue of Liberty upclose on a statue cruise this morning! First time for all three of us! Loved it!” – Kelsey, Alexander, Katie Planner and Hannah Howie.
Friday night Russ, Kevin, and Alex Fine enjoyed Birdland. After hearing good reports from that group, Geoff, Angela and Jenna went on Saturday night. James Franklin went both nights and reported that jazz pianist Monty Alexander played different sets and he really enjoyed both!
911 Memorial
