I arrived in Great Neck (Long Island) on Monday, and stayed the night with Arthur and Eileen, my cousins there. They're always so fun for me. They're like the Woody Allen version of my family -- we're clearly related, but they're fast-talking, witty, and neurotic. I've always felt a little bit more New York than my own Texan branch of the family, and seeing Arthur and Eileen is always a revelation that way. Anyway, I spent Monday night with them, and then went into New York City on Tuesday.
I had one of my favorite New York experiences right from the get-go: I took the train from Great Neck into Penn Station, then had to transfer to the subway to get to my friend's apartment in Brooklyn. I had packed my gear for the week into one suitcase, and it was heavy and awkward. I had to carry it up a decently large flight of stairs as I arrived at Penn Station. I had just started up the stairs, walking against a sea of NYC humanity coming down the same staircase. Suddenly, a man left the downward group, took two steps to reach my side, grabbed my suitcase, and gruffed, "Follow me". He literally ran up the stairs with my suitcase, me trying hard to keep up with him. When I reached the top, I thanked him profusely in some insanely overdone Southern way: "Ohmigosh, thank you SO much....that was SO nice of you....(blahblahblah)." He responded with a quick "No problem, Sweetheart", and then he was gone down the stairs once again. I laughed when I remembered how differently polite New Yorkers can be compared to what I'm used to in the South. New Yorkers are incredibly helpful, but they don't offer their help; they just provide it. Quickly. And then they move on to the next item on their agenda. I love New Yorkers for that.
Immediately afterward, I had another "I love NYC" experience, because I absolutely love the subway. I love how, for $2.25, anyone can get absolutely anywhere within the city easily and quickly. I love the diversity of people on the train. I love listening to the various languages spoken by all of the immigrants. And I love that crazy people, tourists, businessmen, and locals all collide in that one arena. It fascinates me.
Anyway, I finally made it out to Brooklyn, schlepped my suitcase for a couple of blocks, and then got to Yarden and Micah's apartment. Yarden is an old friend of mine from college, and unfortunately, he and his wife and their daughter Neve were away in Israel for a wedding. But they offered me their apartment for the week, which was incredibly kind of them. So I got settled into the apartment and relaxed a while, and then I took the subway into Manhattan to meet up with Rob, my cousin and Arthur and Eileen's son. We went for dinner that night to a cool Lebanese restaurant in West Midtown, and had some great conversation. Rob is always fun to hang out with, and this visit was no exception.
The next day, I stopped in to the corner market to buy some groceries for the week (yet another thing I love about New York is the accessibility of the markets), and then I wandered around Brooklyn for a while, since I don't know the area very well. I went to the Brooklyn Public Library and to the Brooklyn Museum. I also wandered around Prospect Park for a bit. And that night I went back to Manhattan and met up with David and Christie, two old friends of mine from high school. They've lived in New York for years and years, literally since graduating from college, and they're my idols in that respect. David is an entertainment lawyer who works exclusively with theater clients, and Christie works for the NFL. We met up at a restaurant near one of the theaters, and had drinks and dinner and caught up. As we left, we met a woman whom Christie knows, and turns out, she's worked with David before, too, because she's in the theater industry. Anyway, I listened to them talk shop for just a moment or too, but it reminded me how interesting people's careers are in New York, compared with the rest of the US, and I admit I felt a pang of jealousy while listening to them.
I felt another pang when I saw David's apartment. He has a new place in Hell's Kitchen, and it's really nice -- but the most spectacular part of it is his rooftop terrace, which overlooks midtown Manhattan, with its skyscrapers and lights. It was so amazing, and I was reminded of why I'd wanted to live in New York in the first place. We hung out at David's, chatting and looking over the city, until 1 am (not such a big deal for me, but late for David and Christie, who both had to be at work in the morning!).
On Thursday, I took Christie's recommendation and went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It's very cool. Basically, it's an apartment building from 1863 that had been condemned and vacant since 1935. The city donated it for a museum in the 198os. I took part in two separate tours while I was there. The first was a Garment Workers' tour; it looked into the lives of two separate families who worked in the garment industry. The first apartment, especially, was amazing -- the family also used the apartment as a clothing factory. So imagine: a 300 square foot apartment (bedroom, kitchen, and parlor room -- no bathroom, by the way) in which 8 people lived and 4 people worked EVERY DAY. The clothing factory produced 100 dresses per week. Since the factory operated 6 days per week, that means they produced between 16 and 17 handmade dresses every single day, or more than one per hour (work days were 12-14 hours long). It was unbelieveable. And the stove was heated with coal, so the dresses were constantly needing to be cleaned, as well, because of the soot produced in the apartment. And the wife had children in the apartment, as well -- all while the clothing workers were sewing like madmen.
The second tour dealt with families living through economic depressions: one family who was German Jewish, and another who was Italian. The first family was the more interesting to me, primarily because the husband disappeared at some point (no one knows what happened to him) and the wife ran the family. She must have been an amazing woman. She educated herself as a seamstress so that she could provide for her children after her husband disappeared, and made a decent living, apparently. She also found out that her husband's father had died, and left a small inheritance ($600) to his son. She initiated a campaign to find her husband, but when he was unable to be found, she then lobbied successfully to obtain the inheritance herself for her and her children. The money was equivalent to five years' rent. Instead of continuing to rent, she moved with the children to Brooklyn. When she died, she left her children $1000 inheritance. She must have been one tough cookie....
On Friday, I spent the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed the walk up Fifth Avenue to the museum. I wandered through many areas of the museum, but made sure to spend time in my favorite section, the Modern Art collection. After I left the museum, I sat in Central Park for a couple of hours and read. I also stopped to eat a street hot dog, one of my favorite NYC food items. That night, I was supposed to meet my friend Michelle for dinner in Brooklyn, but she had to cancel at the last minute. So instead, I ordered Thai food and watched The Big Lebowski. Not "fabulous", maybe, but a pretty great night, nonetheless.
Saturday I had plans with Nimmi and a couple of her friends out on the North Fork of Long Island. I got up very early and took the subway and then the train out to Long Island. I met Nimmi and her friends Regina and Anne Marie there. I had originally thought the day was to visit the North Fork and go to the wineries up there; I also assumed we'd see the coast, which I heard is beautiful on the North Fork. The day did turn out to be nice, but it was not what I expected: Anne Marie has two little kids, and so we spent the first part of the day going to a petting zoo/pumpkin patch, which was cute. After we left there, we went to a vineyard for a tasting; and then we went to another place for lunch and to listen to music. Then we went back to Anne Marie's house to put the kids down for a nap, and Regina and I went to do a little outlet shopping. Finally, that night we went to Southampton for dinner at a local pub, and then to a club for a drink and some people watching (but not in a good way).
On Sunday, I went back into the city. Yarden and Micah had arrived back in New York early that morning, and so they were essentially napping when I got to their apartment around 11am. I quickly changed clothes and left again, to meet David back on the west side for brunch with Trent, a friend of his and Christie's (she was unable to join us). We had a fabulous Middle Eastern brunch at a restaurant called Taboon. Later that afternoon, I went to the Upper East Side to see my friend and former med school classmate Chap, along with his wife Elizabeth, and their two children, Nathaniel and Jandi (Alexandra). We had so much fun! His kids are super-cute and funny. I stayed for dinner, and it was wonderful catching up with Chap and Elizabeth....I'd always really liked Chap, and this visit was no exception. There was only one big surprise: after years and years of living in New York City, they are finally seeking a yard, a bigger home, and a smaller mortgage in Westchester. Unbelieveable. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!....
After an early dinner, I went back to Brooklyn, hoping to see Yarden and Micah -- unfortunately, they had gone back to bed before I got to see them, and so I headed out once more. This time, I stayed in Brooklyn, and I went to visit Karen, another friend from that seminar in Tucson last year. Karen is so fabulous -- she's an artist and waitress in New York, super-creative and just generally amazing to talk to. She also lives right now in a coop, with 8 other people. I think I met most of them....they were all really nice. I arrived at 9pm, and Karen and I got to talking....I didn't leave until after 2am. It was a great day.
Monday, the weather was lousy, rainy and windy. I got to see Yarden and Micah when they got up for work around 7:30 (ugh, after my super-late night), and I finally got to meet Neve, as well! After they went to work, I got dressed and spend the day in Brooklyn. I got a pedicure (desperately needed, after all of my traveling and hiking), had a nice long lunch, read at a coffee shop, and wandered around during the few episodes between rainstorms. I also played with Neve in the afternoon. Then that evening, I finally was able to catch up with Yarden and Micah, which was really nice.
On Tuesday, I left the city the way I'd arrived: subway to Penn Station, and then train to Great Neck. Arthur picked me up at the train station, and I spend the afternoon repacking all of my gear into my car, and getting ready to head out the following day. That night, Arthur and Eileen took me to a piano concert at the local high school....the school had a 1928 Steinway which they'd had restored, and so several professional musicians came to celebrate its "rebirth". It was a nice evening, actually. After the concert, I had a long conversation with Eileen, before we all finally fell into bed, and it was really nice -- she is very supportive of my cutting back at work, having more of a routine, and trying to incorporate more "extracurricular" activities into my life. It was great. I felt like she truly heard me.
Anyway, yesterday morning, I took Arthur out to breakfast, and then I headed out of town. It was an interesting trip to New York. I'd expected to eat at some of my favorite places (Lupa, Tomoe, Le Pain Quotidien, and lots of places on the Lower East Side), but didn't. I'd expected to watch the sunset over Central Park from the rooftop garden at the Met, but didn't. I'd also expected to visit my favorite doorman from when I lived in Gramercy, to troll through the West Village, to visit the hospital where I'd worked, to see a Broadway show...but I didn't do any of these things.
Most importantly, I didn't feel like I instantly needed to move back. I realize that for everything I love about New York (its walkability, its incredible diversity, the subway, the amazing food choices, the architecture and the beauty of all those lights, the theater, the corner markets, and the best of the best of everything imaginable), there are some real issues with living there: ostentatious housing prices, outrageous taxes (including city income taxes), a general dirtiness of the city streets, the lack of natural beauty, and an ER-like frenzy to the pace of life there. New York was the opposite of relaxing for me -- in fact, I felt it stress me out a bit. Now, don't get me wrong -- I still love it there. But I realize now that, on my days off from work, I may very well need something slower and calmer than what I can find in New York. It was eye-opening....and more than a little sad.
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