The Flatiron Hotel, New York City


     I recently spent a week in the Big Apple, my daughter Hannah's new home.  This was only my second visit to New York City.  My first visit was 47 years ago.  Big changes!  This city is always changing, in a perpetual flux.  Whereas Charleston's peninsula is covered with scaffolding during the off season (January), NYC's buildings and streets live in a constant state of urban renewal.  The traffic cone, Jersey barrier and covered sidewalk below scaffolding are de rigueur.  That being said, the constant change in the landcape of NYC only makes the city more of a living, breathing entity.   As you walk the city streets, you hear a deep background rumble at all times, a hum of conversation, transportation and escalation.   New York City is always on the move.  Like a shark, it is constantly moving.  If it stops, it dies.  Step off the sidewalk only when the traffic signals tell you to and do so at your own peril.  Step carefully through the bike lanes because New Yorkers tavel on two wheels as well as four.  Buses, taxis, bikes and even horse drawn carriages in Central Park share the streets with a steady stream of humanity.  The sidewalks are crowded with people from sunup to long after sundown.  The only time I did not see pedestrians on the sidewalk below my room at the Flatiron Hotel (a great place to stay, by the way), was at 3:30a.m.  (New Yorkers have to sleep sometimes!)

     Another observation about NYC is that the people there are extremely friendly.  I encountered lovely, helpful people at my hotel, on the street, in the stores at Columbus Circle, at the table next to us at Tavern on the Green, and in the front seat of the Uber cabs I traveled around the city in.  Whether native New Yorker, transplants from Georgia, South Carolina or New Jersey or immigrants from Nepal, everyone I encountered was more than happy to chat, be helpful or to offer a handshake and a NYC-style speedy smile.  Now, that's not to say I didn't see all types of humanity, good, bad and indifferent, in all stages and situations of life: the naked girl on the steps of the public library, the sleeping man resting on a stairway beside his briefcase, homeless men carrying signs telling their story and explaining their current situations, elderly women spouting the "F" word as they traveled down the sidewalk shaking their sage heads, glassy eyed psychiatric patients carrying on conversations with invisible companions, a matter-of-fact executive announcing his divorce into his cell phone as he sprinted across a busy street.  The city is like the Tower of Babel, with all languages swirling up and down incomprehensibly in your ear.

     I did miss the pastel colors of Charleston, both on building exteriors and the clothing of Charlestonians.  NYC buildings are arrayed in shades of brown, gray and silver and New Yorkers themselves are arrayed in all types and shades of black.  Watching from the window of a restaurant,   I saw sidewalks full of black suits, dresses, boots and jeans on folks who streamed by with their heads down or stood waiting to cross the street by subway grates with their skirts and ties billowing up in slow motion around briefly still legs and bodies.  The week I visited was the hottest in NYC in the past year.  So with the sun blazing down on the multitudes,  everyone was wearing black sunglasses, like a huge Men in Black flash mob 

     The skyline view of New York City was breathtaking, each building a work of art in its own way.  Each neighborhood has its own flavor and feel. 

 The food was fun, varied and not always expensive.  (Thankfully for me, there was a Starbucks on every corner in every section of NYC that I visited.)  After attending a terrific Broadway show, If/Then with Idina Menzel (her voice so amazing that she gave me goose bumps), my daughter and I enjoyed a classic dollar slice of pizza just a short walk from our hotel in the Flatiron district.  Four large pieces of pizza and two sodas in NYC for $7.00 ~ pretty amazing!

     We enjoyed an elegant girls lunch at Tavern on the Green, the iconic Central Park restaurant with it's wall of glass, white tablecloths and patio dining.  We drank tall iced lattes and watched the world go by as we ate thick sandwiches and lemon dressed salads.  As fans of French cuisine and Anthony Bourdain, we ate perfect Steak Frites and profiteroles at his home base, Brasserie les Halles on Park.  

       Since we were busy with my daughter Hannah's move into her new apartment in Chelsea, we didn't have time for visits to the typical tourist destinations.  We leave that to my many future visits to NYC.  One place I did insist on visiting was the New York Public Library at Bryant Park.   Their large public reading room was closed for renovations but I found a peaceful spot at a table in their third floor reading room where I read, wrote and enjoyed the silent company of NYC's studious library patrons.  Their gift shop was fantastic, full of books, maps, journals and note cards.  The chairs behind the library, at the edge of Bryant Park, were a great place to eat my bag lunch and people watch.  (My lunch consisted of an apple, a dark chocolate and sea salt bar and a bottled water from Pret A Manger, the fast food bistro across the street from the park, for only $4.50.)

Humanity seeking knowledge.. New York Public Library.

Bryant Park and NYPL

Nice Kitty...on NY Public Library steps.

    My final comment is that, after my trip to New York City, I have two new favorites: Uber and JetBlue.  For ease of travel and price, you can't beat them!  Get an Uber cab account on your smart phone, call them and they arrive within minutes and you can track them on a little map on your phone.  JetBlue is my favorite airline now because they have direct, non-stop flights from Charleston to New York on large jets with lots of leg room and yummy snacks!

 Ok, I'll say it. 

 I love New York. 

 See you again soon!