Archive for March 29th, 2007

In the dog-eat-dog streets of New York, we eat our low-carb bagels on the go as we dodge taxis, strollers, suits, and madmen. We live the lyrics, “If you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere,” and discard the sentimental idea that “life’s about the journey, not the destination.” We’re on the clock. Of course, it’s about the destination. We’ve got places to be, people to see, and if we’re not there, someone else will elbow our opportunity. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., once said, “I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.” And so, at 6:20 in the morning, I woke up to the opportunity to make a living in the very place Rockefeller’s words are displayed: Rockefeller Plaza.

At 6:21 my head was back on the pillow. Battling a cold and an onslaught of assignments that have kept me out late, my body waged a war against my will. I walk the streets of New York every day. Did I really need to see New York from the Top of the Rock? More out of duty than desire, I grudgingly brushed my teeth (but not my hair) and got on the bus.

As a bridge-and-tunnel kid, I get a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline twice a day. Ever since 9/11, I’ve instinctually turned by head toward the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building each time I round the bend from Jersey. I’m not sure if I do it out of paranoia that I’ll see a plane flying towards one of them, or if it’s out of appreciation of their beauty.

It therefore beguiles me that after twenty years of being closed, the Top of the Rock is once again open to the general public, particularly since you still can’t enter the Statue of Liberty’s crown. Needless to say, I freaked out when the elevator started shaking and rattling on its way up to the 67th floor. I was the only person on the elevator and was by no means expecting a Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure-esque ride that hurdled to the top of the skyscraper. I grabbed the side of the elevator as a frenetic display of “Saturday Night Live” scenes whipped through the portal.

I came out of the elevator as if in other world. All was serene. It was a sleepy 8:30 by then, and I was the only person on the tour. The whole city opened up to my eyes, as I stepped out onto the terrace. The sun glinted off of buildings, waking up the world. But for a little while, it seemed as if I had New York all to myself.

Top of the Rock is open from 8 AM till 11 PM, and while I’m sure it’s heartbreakingly beautiful at sunset or in the pitch black night, there is something special about being one of the first people to the top. The view, admittedly, isn’t all that grand during the day if you’ve ever done anything remotely similar. The Empire State Building commands sole attention, but no other building stands out. You can barely see the Chrysler Building and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Even 30 Rockefeller Plaza itself doesn’t seem to stand up to its legacy. The website boasts of architect Michael Gabellini’s reimagined observation desk. In reality, the observation deck’s modern look serves its purpose–unobstructed views of Manhattan–butcomes across as rather bland, particularly when you’ve heard about its 1933 look:

The Observation Deck’s original design was inspired by the decks of the great ocean liners of the era - complete with deck chairs, gooseneck fixtures and vents inspired by a ship’s stacks. A trip to the Observation Deck was like setting sail in the heart of the world’s most dynamic city.

Rockefeller Center has such a rich history, definitely worth researching and exploring. Spending the exhorbinant $17.50 to see the Top of the Rock isn’t really going to give you any more of a New York experience than you get from watching NBC’s sitcom “30 Rock.” Both place New York at an intangible distance. You need to get out and walk in the shadows of the skyscrapers to truly understand New York.

I love trivia and I’ve always wanted to go to Capone’s because of the free pizza deal. You get a WHOLE free cheese pizza with every drink you buy. Free pizza + trivia? What could be funner than that?

We arrived early because I had never been there before and wanted to make sure I got a seat. Luckily, Capone’s is a rather large dive-y bar and it was quite empty at 8:00 on a Tuesday. We had our pizza, which was really good for free pizza and waited for trivia to start. More people arrived and Gideon, our charming old-timey host, walked around trying to get teams together to compete. There were 3 teams competing for one prize: a glorious pitcher of beer. We were team uncoolkids competing against team just a second and team batcave.

The first round was fan-boy trivia and this time it was all about video games, which I know nothing about. At the end of the round, he passed out some white lined paper and gave us the names of a bunch of video games and we had to write down who the hero was. I got 2 points just for having a pen! I think we only got a couple right, but my random wrong answer of Marmaduke as one of the heroes got us an additional 3 points.

The next round was pop culture and we got all of these right. He had us finish the first line of a tv show theme song and name the show. I was BORN to play this game, having watched way too much television as a child and also possessing an idiot-savant like ability for remembering song lyrics. During the second part of this round, Gideon would describe a scene from a movie and you had to give him the name of the song and the artist that was playing during said scene. This was my favorite round. It was a lot of fun. Also, I knew all the answers so I felt all smart and stuff.

The next round was not as fun. It was all about booze and this time specifically about rum, which none of the teams really knew anything about. I guess the $500 my Dad spent so I could go to bartending school really was a waste. Sorry Dad. This was when team just a second bowed out. I asked if we could have their points but was denied.

Then it was time for Brooklyn trivia, which lucky for me, my teammates seemed to know a lot about. For the bonus round, you had to name 4 movies that featured The Brooklyn Bridge. We put Lonely Guy, Manhattan, The Baxter, and If Lucy Fell. They were all right, but our host hadn’t seen Lonely Guy or If Lucy Fell so he looked them up online because he didn’t believe us. We ended up being right, so we got extra points. Told you so Gideon.

The lightning round about Nations was really the deciding factor for this game. We kicked some team batcave butt. Gideon would give us a phrase, for example ’splitting the bill’ and we would respond with ‘going dutch’. Get it?

In the end, the winner was……..team uncoolkids!!! yay!! We won a lovely pitcher of Newcastle. It was a super fun cheap casual no frills kinda night. Perfect for a Tuesday night especially if you’re a little low on funds, like I was. I will definitely be back.

The Triviacrats happens every Tuesday night at 9pm at Capone’s Bar, N 9th St between Driggs and Roebling and it’s FREE.