Experiencing NYC

There is something magical about the theatre and to me, nothing more so than a musical. It transports you to another world where you feel the character’s emotions which are heightened by the songs. Two nights ago, I experienced watching Matilda on Broadway. I walked away with a spring in my step forgetting the troubles of this world, even if it was just for a moment. The entertainment continued in the Subway on the way home…buskers sharing their talent and hoping to be rewarded and a carriage-full of colourful characters.

Best way to see NYC is to put on a pair of comfortable shoes and walk. Here you get to see life happening on the streets. People walking into coffee shops empty handed and exiting with their cup of wake me up. Now, earphones deeply embedded in ears, they’re off. Mom’s walking in parks pushing prams, a homeless person collecting their valuables often talking to themselves. In a diner I watch as people sitting in booths share a conversation over breakfast, the waitress genuinely seems to know all the patrons by name…except me of course. In Williamsburg I see art on street walls, eclectic restaurants and cool looking New Yorkers. In Soho, the shops are beautiful and you can see the high price by how the windows and the people are dressed up.

There are brick walled buildings, wooden looking buildings and cast iron fronted buildings. And of course the typical fire escapes are a common sight on every street. There are even the laundromats I have seen in movies with people waiting for washing or pick up and go.

Each area is distinctly different, with invisible lines drawn yet they are penetrable. I see all races and cultures wherever I walk, I hear a multitude of languages and accents both foreign and local. People greet you, smile back if smiled at. 

Chinatown has Dim Sum and knock off bags. Little Italy has pasta and Canolis. I must dedicate an ode to the Canoli. It is bliss in a cylindrical form. Cream cheese seems to be a basic ingredient in all New York foods that give me a genuine food high. Perhaps it is the fat content and the creamy texture that makes me so happy. But that crust outer undid me.

I have a Brooklyn Brewery lager at a corner pub in Nolita with friends. An ice hockey game is being aired and the atmosphere is jovial. Outside spring has arrived in full force and everyone is starting to discard their thick jackets and scarves. I get to see the inside of a genuine midtown Manhattan apartment, just above the pub. Makes me think of sitcoms I’ve seen… apartment above, pub/coffee shop below… The experience of going on the roof is everything I hoped for…views of building tops, barbeque, plants, park and one times sagging roof. This area does have some of the oldest buildings afterall.

Push open the doors and step inside. The light at this late afternoon hour is dim but it is distinctly Grand Central station. Like entering a massive ballroom, light filtering from the gradiose windows facing the four directions that the trains converge from, I descend the staircase and raise my eyes to see the clock at the centre of the dance floor. The people do a foxtrot on their way to their various destinations, their dance is centred around time,  both literally and figuratively. And yet it is timeless as countless New Yorkers in years past and to come will continue this tradition of rushing from destination to destination. Complete with Michael Jordan restaurant and shopping, it is convenience for the city dweller on the clock.

New York does not lack in tall and powerful looking buildings desperately reaching for the open blue sky in an attempt to be the world’s tallest tower. Standing upright and with perfect posture, the Rockefeller Centre surrounds itself with statues of gods embossed in gold and temporary modern art statues. I saw the latest ‘statue’,  wondering what it was, my brain eventually recognised it and I exclaimed loudly ‘An upright swimming pool, odd’ which was met by laughter from an NYPD policeman who corrected my assumption… Apparently it is Van Gogh’s Ear. Look at the picture and tell me I’m crazy.

The Empire State, Chrysler and the Rock scream ‘look at me, look at me’, yet the afternoon sun illuminates St Patrick’s Cathedral. Surrounded by these glorious buildings, your eyes are drawn to the contrast between old and modern.

67 floors heavenward and the Rockefeller Centre provides a view of New York’s famous skyline like a map in 3D. To get a picture of the sunset is to fight an aggressive crowd of selfie stick wielding tourists. I choose life and avoid the west end of the deck. The city lights slowly come to life and fill my eyes with stars arranged in squares and spires of white, green and red against a backdrop of deep indigo. Breathe out, breathe in, savour the moment, the busy streets await you at the descent.