The Dakota was high on my list of places to see while in New York City. Sure, it is a classy, high end apartment.... but it will forever be associated with John Lennon who lived there from 1973-1980, when he was assassinated there.They obviously were doing work on the building, as scaffolding was everywhere. We walked over to Strawberry Fields, the memorial dedicated to Lennon in Central Park, right across the street from the building. There was a nice vibe going on there. There was a kid singing and playing John Lennon songs on his guitar.
Central Park was just a nice place to be too. It was very family friendly, and, like most of New York, we felt very comfortable as we explored.Victor, one of our tour bus guides on this trip, told us a lot about how Central Park was simply not the place to go to a decade or two ago. The crime stats were very high, but they have been greatly reduced. I forget the exact statistics he gave us, but Central Park went from the place you never went to to being the place that is very family friendly now. We saw it. Old men and ladies were here and there, pushing strollers. Kids played. Young people walked dogs.
We did see some great street performers here too, and I wanted to mention one in particular. We heard some flawless classical style singing coming from somewhere. We followed it and found the amazing Shigemasa Nakano.
As we followed the music, I assumed we were hearing a physically large Italian opera singer. When we found Mr. Nakano, he is a smaller man originally from Japan. He simply did not look the part! There was a LOT of incredible sound coming from this smaller fellow! I eagerly bought one of his CDs, and he gave me a business card. Check out his site! he has had a diverse career!We spent a lot of time just casually walking around the park. Check out my photos!
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