This weeks travels brought me to Manahttan neighborhoods that I rarely spend time in Wall Street, NoLita and Chinatown.
I was in town for John Hancock Investments Bell Ringing Ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange for the launch of our exchange traded fund suite. There were a couple of pools to choose from in the area and I am sure glad I chose the Chinatown YMCA. The Y was a 1.5 mile walk from my hotel so I took a leisurely morning stroll up Bowery watching the city wake up and come to life. There was alot see but two highlights were great view of the Brooklyn Bridge and a restaurant with fun name as I made my way into Chinatown.
I didn’t have high expectations for the Y but as it turned out I really liked it. It was fairly good sized and very clean. They waived the $20 guest pass day fee for me as everyone gets 3 free visits to NYC YMCA’s before they have to pay-looks like I have two more to go.
The pool was a brightly lit subterranean six lane pool. It was fairly crowded at 8:00am and as expected there many elderly Asians swimming pretty slowly. I was able to find a lane with older gentlemen that seemed to move at quicker pace. It’s was a leisurely 2000 yard swim weaving between other swimmers and timing starts and stops off the wall. The funny thing is I was required to wear swim cap. Luckily I had one with me.
Post swim I stopped for tea and muffin at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop in NoLita and then walked back to the hotel people watching and checking out street art.
The day capped off with our Bell Ringing Ceremony at the NYSE. I couldn’t help but think that it may be the last time that I would be on the floor of the exchange during my career. Another great trip to NYC and certainly a place to continue to look for new pools.
Goggle Reflections 