The View from The Top Racket

For once I had Saturday off and so I went into the City to watch the LSU-Kentucky game at our alumni bar Tutle Bay Grill & Lounge. This was a mistake, because every time I go there, we lose the game. So, sorry everyone, that was my fault. It was also a mistake because a Miller Lite bottle there costs $5.40.

But this is not an entry about LSU football, instead, I'm here to talk to you about a different sort of rip off, The Empire State Building. I dragged a friend of my from Queens, who was born and raised in Long Island and has never lived anywhere but in a three hour radius of NYC (and only in NY state), to the bar. She was amazed by the school spirit.

She, in turn, dragged me to the Empire State Building because as a New Yorker, she had never been. (She's also never been to the Statue of Liberty, the U.N., etc.) I thought it would be a good idea, because though I have been, I've never been at night. It was a chilly on the 86th floor in October. It was also pretty to see the city at night with no haze, no smog, all lit up. Unfortunately it was also $18! I couldn't believe it! My guide, which was written in 2006, has the price at $13. So in a year it has gone up $5. And it will just keep going up because people continue to line the walk for the view.

Now NBC has gotten into the act and you can pay to go to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. They are late to the game, but what with the popularity of the show by the same name (actually shot at a building in Queens, which they renovated to look like 30 Rock), they too could probably get $18 a head. It's now cheaper to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (and you have to take a boat to get there!) than it is to go to the top of a building, look around for five minutes and then leave.

To spare you the $18, the view follows: