I went to the New York City Oktoberfest said to be the best outside of Munich, and I was not disappointed

Ian Burke, October 11th 2019
Insider.com

Munich on the East River is known as the most authentic Oktoberfest this side of Bavaria. Organized by the owners of East Village biergarten Zum Schneider, the annual festival takes place by the river at the intersection of East 23rd St. and FDR Drive.

The festival runs from September 27 through October 6, and includes a fully decorated, traditional Oktoberfest tent with original furniture, food and drink tents, and a live band. This year, around 8,000 people walked through the doors over the course of the festival.

I showed up on the last day, at around 2:30 p.m., to see what it was all about.

When you walk in, it feels like you've been transported to southern Germany… (continue on Insider)

Mauerfall - Sylvester's personal account of the wall coming down

On Nov. 9th 1989 I worked in a sound recording studio in the West Berlin district called "Wedding", when members of the band stormed the mixing room and kidnapped me and the lead singer to go to the border checkpoint "Bornholmer Strasse" only 10 min. away, where we witnessed history and headed over the Boesebruecke against tens of thousends of citizens into their completely deserted East Berlin.

Easily one of the 5 most impressive and unforgettable moments in my life. It still moves me deeply thinking about it. 

In German:  http://www.berlin.de/mauer/grenzuebergaenge/bornholmer_strasse/index.de.php

Am Übergang Bornholmer Straße konnten die ersten DDR-Bürger nach West-Berlin ausreisen. Der Leiter der Passkontrolleinheiten ließ ihre Pässe allerdings ungültig stempeln und bürgerte damit die ahnungslosen Inhaber aus. Doch dem Ansturm der Massen konnte er so nicht begegnen. Zwei Stunden später hieß es: „Wir fluten jetzt.“ Der Schlagbaum wurde geöffnet. Ca. 20.000 Menschen konnten in der folgenden Stunde ohne Kontrolle die Bösebrücke passieren. Infolge der friedlichen Revolution in der DDR und der politischen Veränderungen in den Staaten Ost-Europas war in dieser Nacht die Berliner Mauer gefallen.

In English:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornholmer_Straße_border_crossing

Sylvester Schneider