For a Westerner like me, New York City has been a "scary" place. It's the big city, and back in the 1970's, it was, in my mind, a dirty crime-ridden city. When applying to colleges, I essentially put a big X through the New York Metropolitan Area. While living in Ithaca, my first significant visit to "the City" was with friends as we travelled and stayed with my New York City native friend Nora B. I was so petrified that I memorized her home phone number, which I still can recite to this day.
Over the course of these many years, I would visit New York City many times, but never for more than a couple days and always running around trying to meet up with the friends who were putting me up or when I was at Lawrenceville, making sure I didn't miss the last train back to New Jersey.
I would hear everyone around me rave about New York and there is that rabid core who could never imagine living anywhere else. But, I never really got it. I enjoyed visiting New York, but it wasn't yet in my soul.
Well, things changed during this last visit. I spent four full days in New York, staying two nights at my friend Jennifer C. studio in Murray Hill and then two nights with Peter S. who lives in Brooklyn Heights. Having only to move once changed my entire visit. I arrived on Saturday August 5th in the early evening after a long Greyhound ride from Ithaca. That night, I saw "The Producers". It was great, although I spent a great deal of time thinking about how great it would have been to see Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane doing the two lead roles.
Sunday morning, I awoke and stepped out in search of Bagels, which I found a mere block and a half from where I was staying. I spent the morning reading the Sunday New York Times in New York City. This leisurely morning was the first I had ever spent in New York. I walked to visit my friends Gayle A and Rob M for lunch and then we all strolled over to Columbus Circle where I bid farewell to them and spent the afternoon in Central Park. That evening, I took the subway to Queens to have family dinner with Jennifer C.'s family.
Monday the 7th had me arise and pop on over to take a tour of the United Nations. After that I packed myself up and moved myself to Brooklyn Heights to meet Peter. He gave me a tour of Park Slope, after which we ate lunch and walked through Prospect Park. In the late afternoon, we walked around the waterfront of the Red Hook neighborhood. I have to give credit to New York for having invested a great deal of money developing and maintaining great parks and green spaces.
Tuesday the 8th was my last day and I started out with a walk along the Brooklyn Promenade and then did a bit of shopping on Broadway in SOHO. Peter met me for lunch at Katz's Deli. This Deli is where they filmed the famous "I'll have what she's having scene" from the movie, "When Harry Met Sally". Afterwards, Peter and I took a tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. I then took a bus down to the South Street Seaport to meet Ian M. to take in The Bodies Exhibition. I then took the subway back to Park Slope to meet up with Peter, Simeon S. and Mary Bentley H. (a shout out to all three for putting up with my surly behavior) at The Applewood Restaurant which was holding a fundraiser for an Upstate New York farm that was devastated by the floods in July.
As you can see, I packed in quite a lot in my four days, but it felt leisurely. I guess what I came to understand and really love about New York City, is that everything is at your fingertips, seemingly 24 hours a day, and usually you are getting the best in the nation, if not world, of what you desire. But mostly, what I came to find fascinating and amazing is the juxtaposition of two things that are completely unrelated. The Tenement Museum is located at 97 Orchard St and right next door, at 95 Orchard St., is the Il Laboratorio De Gelato. How cool is that?
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