There were so many people. In some spots, there were literally queues just to get through. People joked that it felt like we'd ended up in the New York subway. I arrived at 10 and it was already impossible to move. When I left, it was even worse.

They really did a great job promoting the park. And it's free (:​

You can never have too many waterfalls, and since they exist in the northern part of the state, that means we have to go there (:

I wanted to visit this place back in 2013, but couldn't fit everything into the route. Now it finally worked out. Watkins glen park. Hooray!

When you find yourself outside the city, New York State (and New Jersey too) sounds exactly like this.

Street food? Of course made from lobsters (:‌

The office has a few decent meeting rooms where the windows have almost perfect views (if you ignore the walls that block the sightlines).

By the way, this is one of the busiest streets around. The video was taken during lunch hour, when it's pretty quiet. As evening approaches, you'll see noticeably more people and cars. If you need to get somewhere quickly, it's better to use the parallel streets. Stay away from 5th Avenue and Broadway.

Campaign agitation for the 2020 elections is already in full swing (:

A map of tourists at the helicopter office (showing where visitors came from for the tour). Europe is completely covered. In the US, only the coasts are densely packed. Africa is completely empty (except for the northern part).

You can find literally everything in New York. Even things you'd never dream of.

A colleague convinced me to go on a helicopter ride. There are tons of companies here that happily take tourists up in their helicopters. Some of them even do it for reasonable prices.

It's absolutely amazing. The pilot hovers in all the right spots. Turns wherever needed so you can see everything from every angle. At some points it felt like you could practically reach out and touch the skyscrapers.

They take safety seriously: passengers are strapped into the cabin so nobody falls out. Phones are secured and hung around your neck. Everything else gets put in storage.

P.S. The photos are mine. I wouldn't have believed this was even possible just a couple days ago.

You never know what you'll find on coffee tables in New York :)

Once it gets dark, you can take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and catch an amazing view. That's exactly what I did.

Sounds fun, but honestly, the only interesting part is walking down the middle of the bridge where it's over the river. Before and after that, there's this incredibly long, boring interchange that you just want to escape from as quickly as possible. You can actually get to that same spot by subway. Not that the view changes any :)

This guy clearly knows how to wash windows without a ladder (:‌

New York is replacing phone booths with LinkNYC stations. These things provide free Wi-Fi, you can make calls to any state from them (plus a special SOS button for quick 911 calls), and even charge your gadgets. All completely free for users.

And free for the city too. They don't spend a dime from the budget on implementation or maintenance. The system is run by a private company and supported by advertising revenue. Over 12 years they planned to make $1 billion (!) and give half (!!!) to the city's budget. But after the first 4 years of operation, it became clear that those projections were way too optimistic. Not least because they didn't charge for advertising from local small businesses and nonprofits.

Everyone says it's a small world. So there I was, halfway through my second week on a business trip, when I suddenly found out I've been staying in the same hotel as two colleagues for the past week and a half. On adjacent floors, no less. And we never ran into each other once the whole time, even though we go to the same office every day.

They told me there's this little balcony on the 17th floor with a free view of the city. It's really nice in the evening.

Waterfalls from the weekend. Finally developed the photos :)

So today I'm walking around the city, minding my own business. Then I notice this light drizzle suddenly appearing, like someone just sprayed water from a spray bottle. There are no clouds, no rain was forecasted, nothing like that should be happening.

I walk a bit further and it all stops. Then I realized what was going on: there's construction work happening up above. They're washing something down with water up there, it gets sprayed around, and from below it looks like it's drizzling. So not everything that falls is rain, you know?

Sometimes late at night the city falls asleep, and horses wake up. They stand at red lights and don't gallop (:

An American diner. It's a quick-service café that's a lifesaver when you're on the road. The food is always edible, and often actually tasty too. The interior is classic. It's got to have that stainless steel look.

New Jersey, according to the internet, is considered the world capital of diners: there are more of them here than in any other state.

Though the café in the photo is in Milford, Pennsylvania (almost on the border with NJ). But New Jersey also has a town called Milford. And so does New York. And Connecticut. Plus 23 other states...

The record holder for repetition is Riverside. There are 43 of those across the country.

In New Jersey, you can't pump your own gas. It's the law from 1949! Only a gas station attendant can do it.

Violating this gets you a fine between $50 to $250 on your first offense. Repeat violations can result in fines up to $500.