So far, I have been in New York City four times: two one-day trips organized by the International Office, a five-days stay around Christmas 1999, and for New Year's Eve 1999. At christmas I bought myself a camera (Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer) and started shooting pictures.

On New Year's Eve I went to NYC again. I wanted to be part of one of the biggest celebrations ever, especially as it's only three hours away from my university. I arrived in Manhattan at about 7pm. By that time the Times Square was completely filled and noone was allowed to enter anymore. Well, after running around the place for more than one hour I saw a chance of passing the barriers (and the police officers) and - it worked! I managed to get to the center of Times Square 12 hours after it was completely closed. You can't describe the feeling when I passed the last barrier and became part of the big crowd - it was just incredible.

First off, some nice postcards:

Look, how tiny the Statue of Liberty is compared to the twin towers of the World Trade Center.	This is Little Italy. Compared to Chinatown, the name is probably correct. Anyway, this only means that Chinatown is really big.
Impressive city. Don't forget that everything on this page is located in Manhattan, which is the smallest part of New York City.	Central Manhattan. You can see the Central Park which is quite big.

Some photos of New Year's Eve 1999:

Let's celebrate the New Year! By that time it still was 1999 in NYC, but in Brazil the new year had already started.	Finally. We made it. Year 2000 is here. Everyone's still alive. No bomb exploded. Only 366 days to go for a new millennium.
Here you can see the scrolling text on the ABC building and the street sign of West 44th street and Times Square. The crowd of people was filling just about all the streets from 30th to 60th street at least.	That's what Times Square looked like after the celebration. Streets covered with trash... You can also see the barriers in the background that were used all over Central Manhattan that night.

Some photos of New York around Christmas 1999:

This picture was taken from inside the Statue of Liberty. It's quite difficult to get up there - a very small stairway is leading up the way, and due to all the people who want to get there it takes hours until you arrive.	Skyline of Manhattan, some minutes before sunset. Very beautiful colors. Unfortunately they did not come out too well here.
Breakfast in the youth hostel in Brooklyn. Very friendly place, neighborhood is okay too.	Yes, this is Manhattan. Central Park, to be more precise. Nice little castle in the background.
Ice skating at the Rockefeller Plaza at night. Popular christmas tree in the background.	This is Buddha. Always a smile on his face. You can find this temple in Chinatown.
This bull (the one next to Guido) should represent the financial power of the United States I guess.	The New York Stock Exchange. Well-known from a lot of movies.
The Supreme Court, another building well-known from movies. A lot of stars have been walking down these stairs.	Statue of Liberty. On that day I have been up in the crown of that French girl, looking out at the Financial District of Manhattan.
The New York Police Department (NYPD), decorated for christmas.	This is Chinatown or Little Italy at night.