New York, New…Did I Really Just See That?
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007Ok, so Steve and I met up in NYC last Thursday. Steve was there on business so we were able to spend Thursday night and Friday together. I made it to Penn Station about 40 minutes before Steve so as I waited I enjoyed one of my favorite pastimes, people-watching. Of the 40 minutes I spent about half on the street level and the other half in Penn Station. So these are some observations:
I love the winter!!
I have long thought that women always look better in the cold weather. Some of my favorite pictures of my wife are when she is bundled up and in the snow. Well, there was no shortage of good looking, bundled up women in NYC!! I don’t know what it is. Steve surmised that maybe it is because many of the more evident flaws are covered up but winter dress (but of course my wife has no flaws).
Maybe They Should Pass That Law
Most of you heard of that senator in NY that wants to pass a law banning the use of PDA’s, mp3 players, and cell phones while crossing the street. I think I now understand his angle. No exaggeration, just about every person I saw in the 15-30 (male and female) age group was walking around with headphones in. They weren’t all the white phones (death to the iPod!) but they were there nonetheless. In addition, I have never seen so many Blackberry’s and smart phones anywhere. Practically everyone on the subway had one (well the ones that didn’t creep me out).
Life Models Art?
Ok, I have never understood the fascination with japanimation cartoons. I think they are bizarre and of poor intrinsic value. That said, while in Penn Station many Asian men walked by looking like they came directly from a comic book page. In fact, it reminded me of this Strongbad Email. Granted I used to bleach my hair blond but I never went that far…
Tourists Stick Out…BAD
I think the key to NYC is to look like you know what you are doing! Steve and I did a fair job of blending in once we figured out how to use the subway system. I could fairly easily pick out the tourists as they left Penn Station. They were either marked by the oddly large camera around their neck or the fact that when they exited Penn they immediately stopped in their tracks (blocking foot traffic) and stared up at the skyline…I did it my first time too.
Our childhood was marked with touristy antics provided by our father (we love you dad) and we were reminded of this while in the security line to board the Circle Line Ferry to Liberty Island. There was a man and his wife, probably in their 60’s in line in front of us. Instruction’s were simple. Remove your coat and your belt, empty your pockets, walk through metal detector. This guy had on cargo pants and every pocket had something in it in addition to his shirt and coat pockets which also were full. He tried to walk through with his money clip and it set off the alarm. He was paranoid to part with his cash and cards for 30 seconds and proceeded to remove said cash and cards from the money clip. It was quite the scene.
There are far too many Starbucks
There were at least 2 in our hotel alone. From one vantage point we could see five Starbucks. Erin tells me of an intersection somewhere that has a Starbucks in 3 of the 4 corners. The same goes for Sbarro Pizza (but we actually ate there).
Don’t Make Eye Contact
I learned this the last time I was in NYC. In the subway and train stations there are many performers. Some set up shop on the platforms and open their cases to accept donations. Others actually roam the trains singing and hoping for payouts. The trick is to ignore them, even if their music is good (it was decent). If they catch your eye they will stare you down and maybe even move a little closer. Its better just to be invisible.
I Can’t Find One
We saw a bank of Wachovia ATMs while walking around Thursday night. The plan was for me to stop by there the next day on our way out. The problem is, we couldn’t find them. We tried to retrace our steps and even asked a Times Square cop and still couldn’t find them. We ended up looking for one for several more hours (while we were doing other stuff) only to discover that at several points during our adventures we were as close as 20 feet from them but never saw them. In hindsight its pretty funny.
Did I leave anything out Steve? Feel free to add to this post. All you readers out there feel free to leave comments with any funny stories or unique observations about NYC or any other big city.