No wonder after I started this blog in November of last year I didn't really get down to writing until January. The holidays are killing me! I had visitors last week so get off my back about the lack of posts (you know who you are).
Last week my sister and her lovely girlfriend were in town and we spent the vast majority of our time in New York City. C, K's girlfriend, is from California, and having only been out east once, we made it our job to show her a good time to ensure many visits to come and in doing so I realized how very, very much I love New York City.
We took the easiest way possible to endear the big apple to anyone's heart and started with the food. Pizza, dirty water street hot dogs (they are amazing and I don't care how many studies they do about E. coli in that water, it only makes them more delicious), sandwiches (apparently everything in California comes with sprouts on it so the Italian combo we seduced her with was an entirely new experience), street cart kebabs, soft pretzels - no place has such diverse and amazing gustatory options in such a small land mass. Ellis Island was the best thing to ever happen to the stomachs of New Yorkers because I don't think Dutch food is all that tasty.
This melting pot of cuisine is the result of all the different people who call New York and its boroughs home. And all of this difference, packed onto one small island with few exit points has created the "Eh. Whatyougonnado?" attitude that radiates from its inhabitants. Nothing phases them - traffic, slow subways, the bum on the corner pissing on his own shoes - New Yorkers have made acceptance, and even generalized ennui, when faced with the bizarre, an art form.
This acceptance is what I think makes NYC one of the friendliest places on earth. Not that that's the general reputation. Most people think New Yorkers are mean, until you meet one. I have met several people who, after having visited, were pleasantly surprised at how affable Big Applites were. I suppose it's like the Parisians, except in their case the assholic rumors are true. But nothing makes me happier than chatting with the Pakistani kebab guy while he takes my order or being asked "Yo! Where you goin', honey?" by the construction worker I'm walking past. The latter gets the "fuck you"stare, but I'm smiling on the inside.
And speaking of "fuck you", this accepting attitude also comes with a side of brutal honesty. If you truly piss a New Yorker off, they will tell you. When it's bad, it's really bad, but at least you know here you stand.* Which should be a few feet back when voices are being raised by people near you on a subway car.
It's the general energy of the city that I love. We were in midtown with all the holiday goodness that entails - the tree at Rock Center, the windows at Saks, the crowds of tourists. It was hectic and crazy and wonderful. I actually enjoy the tourists, they are just so damn impressed with the city and excited to be there. It gives you perspective on what a wonder you have right in your back yard. Some folks dislike the commercial, mainstream, hub-bub and prefer areas downtown with a hipper vibe. I, personally, am an Upper East Side gal. Shocking, I know, but having worked there my entire professional life I feel comfortable with its pace and aesthetic. My affinity for a neighborhood is inversely proportional to the number of vintage shops. Vintage, translates for me to "other people's used shit" and no, thank you.
Regardless of which neighborhood you love, New York has something for everyone. I may not have been lucky enough to have lived in Manhattan proper, but having worked there and been born in the Bronx, my love of NYC runs deep in my veins. It is a part of me and I am even more convinced than I ever was that I can never be too far away. New York City is like the beating heart of the tri-state area and I feel lucky to be so close to such an amazing place.
I Heart New York.
*My apologies to Hubby for almost causing that fight on the 4 train, but that guy was blatantly taking up two seats balancing his check book on a crowded train to Yankee Stadium, for Christ's sake, and he needed to be told.
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