Atop the Arch at Grand Army Plaza

Day 2 of Open House New York was just as good as day one. I walked over to the Grand Army Plaza traffic circle of death to wait on line to head up to the top of the great arch (formally known as the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch). After an extensive 45 minute wait, I climbed the winding metal stairs up the eastern side.We then crossed over inside the top of the arch to the opposite (western) side before continuing up another small flight of stairs to roof. So what's actually inside the top of the monument? Some nice ironwork and a bunch of peeling white paint but that's about it:
The view from the top was great- you can see most of the Manhattan skyline. The park ranger gave a brief history of Brooklyn's 100+ year old arch, including the story of how one of the statues broke off and was dangling by one leg from the top in the '70's.
Lower Manhattan seen below.. the building in the foreground with the tiled roof is the Montauk Club which I'll cover in a future post. The arch is about 75 feet tall.
Of course the top allowed for a great closeup of the statues on the top: