My adventures in New York City (Day 2)
Reason for the delay…
No, it was not as some asked due to a New York mugging (I felt completely safe the entire time) nor attack from giant mutated sewer rats.
After typing up the first post in this series last week while I was in New York, I realized something.
My time there were "Free Days" for me (this comes from the Strategic Coach program I am a part of.) That means no work on those days.
Since I made the commitment to following the program and I set these 4 days aside as free days, that meant no blog post writing until I got home.
Lesson learned - if you make a commitment to following a new system or improving your life, take that commitment seriously and follow through with it.
Wednesday was my second day in New York and it was a blast. I love this city.
I was a bit nervous when I left the hotel, it was cloudy and drizzly, not the best weather to be exploring but I was on a mission.
It was time to visit Danny Meyer's first restaurant, Union Square Cafe next to the Union Square Park.
I was going to catch a cab since it was on 16th Street (I was on 43rd) but after getting started I decided I could make it there walking, plus I had plenty of time.
I ended up arriving 15 minutes early so I walked around the park only to discover it was the location of a cool Improv Everywhere event. Their site is one of my favorite fun sites to check out the cool and creative things they get large groups of people to do in public. Their most famous is the "Frozen Grand Central Station" which has been viewed by millions on YouTube the past 2 months and even featured on the TV show CSI last week.
One of my favorites is "Mobile Desktop" where they drag full size computers (with the massive old-school monitors and everything) into a Starbucks to work just like somebody who brings a laptop. It was hilarious… one of the computers was running Windows 95 it was so old. Also one of people pulled the massive monitor and keyboard onto her lap to work. They even had people waiting in line thinking they were for public use.
Anyway, they did their "Look Up More" event in the building looking out on Union Square Park. It was cool to see where it went down.
Unfortunately with my dead camera battery I left without pictures.
Then it came time for my visit to the restaurant and I was a bit concerned… had I built up in my mind too lofty of expectations that would be impossible to be met?
Without a long minute by minute recap, I will keep it short with the following.
The food was flat out amazing. I was in heaven. And Scott my waiter was perfect. Friendly and helpful when making a choice and later, when I struck up a conversation eager to contribute.
Then it came time for dessert. Normally I would skip it but I wanted the full experience. Except one problem, nothing on the menu grabbed my attention, especially the items Scott recommended. So after some hemming and hawwing I passed on dessert and got an espresso.
A minute later I changed my mind and was going to get something just to try, flagged down Scott and told him to get the frozen custard dealio which was most interesting sounding one he mentioned.
He laughed and said he had already ordered that one for me on the house. Wow, I was impressed, he had the insight to know I wanted to try dessert but wasn't drawn to any of them by the description.
So he picked the one he thought I would enjoy most so I didn't leave with the thought "I wished I would have gotten dessert" which would have overshadowed the amazing food and experience I had leading up to that.
By now the skies were clearing up and the sun was out… a perfect day to walk the streets of New York and for my next adventure - the top of the Empire State Building.
But first, I passed by the Madison Square Park. I love this about New York. The city has these great little parks all over the city, and they are full of people hanging out during their work break or any time during the day.
This was also the location of 3 other Danny Meyer restaurants. One of which I knew I would be coming back tomorrow to eat at, Shake Shack, his version of a hamburger, hot dog and milkshake stand.
Next up was the Empire State Building. Like a typical tourist I took the full package - 86th floor observatory, plus the 105th floor ticket, plus the audio tour and the special map of the city so I knew what I was looking at.
Interesting business observation - this place makes a FORTUNE!!
Via my rough (and conservative) estimates. They have 4000+ people go through a day (probably a lot more during prime tourist times), each paying on average $20 (most likely more, I paid $41).
That's $80,000 a day, $2.4 million a month, $28.8 million a year with no product costs.
Not bad for a little side business.
Another business lesson - upsells.
They charge $14 for a ticket to the 86th floor (this is their main product).
Then $15 to go to the 105th floor (even though the view is basically the same, some people will pay for it because its offered) and another $8 for the audio and $7 for the map ($12 if you get both). And then they had other tours you could purchase too, including a movie tour of the city… it is like taking a tour but you watch it like a movie. And don't forget the picture they take before you enter that you can purchase when you leave.
We will be showing you our proprietary upsell formula at the upcoming sold out Quattro Workshop. It is one very effective way, if done properly, to radically change your business and profits.
While up there I got to see a number of places in the area I wanted to check out including the famous St Paul's Cathedral. (It's amazing that these 100+ year old churches are all over this city, where a little speck of land is worth millions of dollars.)
An interesting observation while I was leaving. When I arrived the line was "short", meaning it was still inside the building and only took 20 to 30 minutes.
When I left, the line was out the building and around the block and would most likely take an hour to 90 minutes or more to get through. So that 4000 people number is probably really low.
Freak Meeting!!
While walking down the street this guy taps me on my shoulder and goes "Hey Kevin do you remember me?"
There are something like 8 million people in New York City, none of which I know.
The chance of me running into somebody on the street here is virtually zero.
But I did.
It was one of the guys from my Strategic Coach group. This is a high-end coaching program Matt and I are a part of that meets 4 times a year. (Yes, I practice what I preach and have a coach to help me become more successful.)
It was the craziest thing that he noticed and remembered me in a crowd of fast walking New Yorkers. The coolest part, he said I look just like a New Yorker and not a tourist!
Next on my walk around - Rockefeller Center. Been there, saw it, checked it off my list.
I eventually found myself back home in the hotel room for a short rest, (quick estimate is I'm doing 10+ miles a day in walking!) Also confirmed my trip out to the middle of nowhere Long Island to stop by Mike Filsaime's office to see him and Tom and check out their operations.
Next I head out to catch the 7pm showing of the musical Jersey Boys. It is the story of the Four Seasons. A group of 4 jersey boys from the wrong side of the tracks that end up selling over 100 million albums in the 1960's.
Not only did the story sound inspiring, but it also won the 2006 Tony Awards. Sounded like a great choice.
Unfortunately I left with mixed feelings. It was good, but not great. I knew most of the songs, but they were not from my generation and they tended to go rapid fire through skits at times. My seat neighbors loved it though, they grew up in that era.
To wrap up the day I wondered around the Times Square area to find a place that sounded interesting to eat.
It ended up being a BBQ place that seemed to be popular and well ranked. I thought it would be a good judge against the Danny Meyer BBQ at Jazz Standard the night before.
Wow, what a huge difference! The food was bad (burnt and dry ribs with bland coleslaw, but at least the brisket was tasty) and service was uninspiring, the poor lady was hopelessly going through the motions.
That's the recap for Day 2 (Tuesday).
Tomorrow will include my first New York Subway experience (hopefully better than my first cab experience from Monday) and my trip to the iconic Yankee Stadium!
~Kevin
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