Three years: Best of 2013

Three years ago  it  was  sunny and warm .  Three years ago on April 6,  2013 I published not one but two first posts  in my blog Big Apple Secrets.

The first one was about one of the New York  nicknames -Gotham and the second  one - about Easter installation near Rockefeller center.

 Three years later there are more than 350 posts in my blog.   I'm never short of topics to write about  - New York is a remarkable city.

Every month more than  1000 people from different countries- United States  and Great Britain, Spain and Netherland,  Australia and France read my blog- thank you,  me dear readers!
 To celebrate the birthday of Big Apple Secrets  I  created  three separate posts  and every post has  a table with   picture, a short  summary and a link  to the  posts that I choose. So twelve  handpicked  posts for every year   - 2013,2014 and 2015.

Read my blog, and if interested, tell me what you would like to read next  - New York have so many secrets!

If you like to look at  2014 post per month  list   click here!
If you like to look at  2015 post per month  list   click here!

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	The East River Ferry   If you ride the full length of the route as I did on early July morning - you can see The Freedom Tower rising in the south, United Nations building to the north. You'll pass under three bridges, each over 100 years old - Brooklyn bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge. The views from the ferry are amazing! The price is $4 for a one way trip on weekday and soon will go down!
	The monument to the sailors near Columbus Circle The Maine Monument stands near Columbus Circle, on the northeast at the entrance to the Central Park and honors the 258 American sailors who died when the battleship Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The vessel's explosion was a catalyst in bringing war between the United States and Spain. The real reasons of the explosion are still unknown..
	The Little Prince was writer in this building This charming building with blue trim, and over-flowing window boxes sits on East 52 just less than a half-block from 5th Avenue. There is a plaque on the building that says that several chapters of “The Little Prince” by Saint-Exupery were written in a studio on the second floor
	Ansonia coop, Upper West Side Ansonia is one of the most famous and maybe most unusual apartment buildings in new York. It is located on the intersection of Broadway and Amsterdam Ave, upper West Side. It is more the 100 years old and the history of it is fascinating – there was a farm on the roof, famous gay club and Plato’s Retreat, the sex club, in the basement.
	Old Speakeasy in the heart of Midtown Bills Gay Nineties, A New York Original Speakeasy is located in a 19th century townhouse, at 57 East 54th Street.The house on 57 East 54th Street was built in the 1850’ as a private house. There was a secret liquor room in the basement hidden behind the false brick wall.
	The oldest monument in New York  is  from   Egypt Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City. Cleopatra’s Needle in New York is the oldest man-made object in Central Park. The obelisk is more than 3000 years old and was commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmosis III around 1450 BC in celebration of the 30th year of his reign. Part 1   Part  2
	The Oldest Apothecary in America C.O. Bigelow Apothecary at 414 6th Avenue is the oldest apothecary in America. The Bigelow archives told that Mark Twain ( he lived at 14 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village from 1900 to 1901) bought the toothpaste there. When Thomas Edison ( as featured in advertisements ) burned his finger on a prototype light bulb, he ran into the store for balm.
	Bowling Green park, the first official park in New York Manhattan's Bowling Green park, sitting at the very beginning of Broadway, is the first official park in New York. This park is the site of one of the most symbolic moment of the War of Independence. A gilded lead statue of King George III was erected here in 1770. On July 9, 1776, after the first public reading in New York State of the Declaration of Independence, this monument was toppled the crowd Part 1  Part 2
	Astors-Landlords of New York. John Jacob Astor came to America in 1763 from Germany and made a fortune in fur-goods trading. Every president of United States after 1931 was the guest of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. Queen Elizabeth II, General Charles de Gaulle, Nikita Krushchev, David Ben-Gurion were among the gusts of the Hotel. John Jacob Astor IV, one of the wealthiest men in America and the member of a prominent Astor family built st.Regis hotel.  He was on Titanic. Read the story of Astors in  in my blog:  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3
	Temple Emanu-El Temple Emanu-El - the largest synagogue in the world. It can accommodate 2,500 worshipers - more than St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. It is on the site of demolished John Jacob Astor IV mega mansion on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 65th Street. The house was one of the grandest houses in New York at that time.
	Rockefeller Center Christmas tree It doesn't get much more "iconic NYC Christmas" than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, towering above the ice rink below. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a world-wide symbol of the holidays in New York City. Official Christmas tree tradition at Rockefeller Center began in 1933. Usually the lighting is at the first days of December. Starting from 1986 the tree is always Norway spruce between 69 to 100 feet tall. The tallest tree was from Connecticut in 1999 and stood 100 feet tall.
	Balto the sled dog in Central Park There is a small statue of the dog in the Central Park, just west of East Drive and 67th Street. This is Balto, Jet black Siberian husky.The statue, a big favorite  of kids in the Park -  is on it’s place for more than 85 years.In the winter of 1925, Balto and other sled dogs and their drivers became national heroes when they successfully delivered a diphtheria serum to the isolated residents of the small city Nome, Alaska.