There’s a NEW New York
It was a short visit, but as always it reminded me that I am a City girl. I spent all my growing up years, including college, in New York City. And the City is a marvelous place, with an unparalleled variety of things to do and see. Actually, there’s no need to plan your visit to NYC: wherever you go, there’s something happening!
I left Dick home with Bruce and joined up with my childhood friends Naomi and Evelyn to visit the Big Apple. It’s been a couple of years since I’d been downtown. What’s most noticeable is how much cleaner and apparently safer the City is. Forty-second street is no longer a mass of pornographic movie theaters, X-rated shops, prostitutes and sleazy-looking people. Indeed, Disney has taken over part of the street and is building up a storm. So are others. THE Millennium City, as the signs tout, is getting itself together. The buildings are getting power-washed—the Chrysler Building with its multi-arched art deco top was so dazzling in the sun that it seemed like a fairy-tale tower with a white-gold pinnacle. Many older buildings look like they have had a facelift. The inside of Grand Central Station looks new again. And the litter, which had pretty much sullied the scene for as long as I can remember, was practically gone. The current mayor, Ruddy Giuliani, is apparently a miracle worker. He’s running for governor, and my friend Evelyn would like to change her address from NJ to NY just so she can vote for him.
We were near Times Square around midnight Saturday night. The scene was reminiscent of Las Vegas, with a younger and more diverse crowd. There were lights and action and people everywhere. There were street artists, peddlers, horse drawn carriages and cars. It didn’t seem to matter in the slightest what time it was—it was always Fun Time.
On Sunday we strolled from our hotel to Madison Avenue, which was closed off for about 10 blocks for the New York Book Fair. It was a sunny day with temps around 80. There were lots of booths and even a few authors signing books. We saw Dr. Joy Brown, (advise/talk radio personality), and Naomi won a copy of her latest book, "It’s a Jungle Out There". I had my picture taken with Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame, and gave it to Dick as a 24th Anniversary present.
It was a good thing I’d done my people watching Saturday night. This Book Fair crowd looked like the same crowd we’d seen in Madison, Wisconsin at a street fair there--just a little older. The Fair stretched past St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This enormous church has wonderful, stained-glass windows with deep blue coloring rising high above its many alcoves. The fair also passed right in front of the Trump Tower, with its opulent golden lobby. For city lovers, this is a great place to live, right in the heart of Manhattan.
There is one thing about New York City that hasn’t changed: that’s the traffic. There are more cabs than cars, so obviously many people have stopped driving. But those who still drive seem to be in a BIG hurry; yet traffic is so congested they can’t go anywhere! Lots of horn honking and blocked intersections. There are signs reminding drivers of the fines for honking and blocking intersections, but still... So, do come to New York, but remember to bring your walking shoes.