I moved to NYC a few weeks ago, and I’m currently in an acclimation period. Here are a few initial observations:
- The new World Trade Center tower, 1 WTC, is stunning. Here’s a photo of me a few blocks away, with 1 WTC looking ghostly and surreal in the background.
- Bryant Park — I’ve been here a few times, and I plan many more visits. It’s a people-watcher’s paradise. You see random things such as this guy with a typewriter, experiencing public writer’s block:
- The Bank of America tower, finished in 2009, is right next to the park:
- Bryant Park is a true urban density park — there are many, many things going on in a small space, and thousands of people doing them all at the same time. One example, in one corner of the park, is petanque — basically, bocce ball, with the requisite quibbling and measuring of distances:
- My favorite section of the park is the Reading Room — an open-air collection of books and current periodicals (updated daily) for anyone to browse as they enjoy the park. Mostly older folks to be seen there, such as this fellow.
- The Bank of America tower, finished in 2009, is right next to the park:
- Life in New York City presents a constant stream of odd and surprising moments:
- I was on the subway with a guy with a ring-tailed lemur. I had no idea what animal it was, so I had to ask him. Everyone had their phones out, taking photos of it. The lemur was honestly kind of enchanting — it seemed like an unreal caricatu
re, like from a Disney cartoon. At one point it stretched and yawned, and everyone on the subway car loved that — even the frowning guy couldn’t help but crack a bit of a smile.
- Hare Krishnas are usually hanging out at Union Square — sometimes they play trumpet. And that makes other people dance.
- Sometimes the Union Square Trader Joe’s gets so busy that it reaches capacity, and people must wait outside to enter. Difficult to see in this pic, but a TJ’s employee is playing the role of gatekeeper. Several other employees inside are tasked solely with queue management. I try and avoid shopping there in those crazy times.
- I was on the subway with a guy with a ring-tailed lemur. I had no idea what animal it was, so I had to ask him. Everyone had their phones out, taking photos of it. The lemur was honestly kind of enchanting — it seemed like an unreal caricatu
- A few other observations:
- There are basement storage areas everywhere (generally in front of restaurants and bars), and these are a strange sight to a native west-coaster like myself. Sometimes I’ll see an active conveyer belt, on which workers are loading boxes from the sidewalk and the boxes travel down to the basement area. Other times you see workers throwing bags of trash down there.
- I just discovered Pier 15 the other day, relatively new park on the East River. It’s quite nice.
- There are basement storage areas everywhere (generally in front of restaurants and bars), and these are a strange sight to a native west-coaster like myself. Sometimes I’ll see an active conveyer belt, on which workers are loading boxes from the sidewalk and the boxes travel down to the basement area. Other times you see workers throwing bags of trash down there.
- A last note, for this entry — audio tours are a wonderful way to experience this city. If you find yourself in NYC for a few days, check out the New York Times treasure trove of audio tours. I did the Hell’s Kitchen circuit today and absolutely loved it.
foiblish 