Big Apple

So, it's officially Spring even if the weather doesn't cooperate. Last week I was in New York City for the first time, ever. I went by myself, rather spur-of-the-moment, but it wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be! I feel pretty happy about the entire experience and saw lots of stuff and met with people who were not nearly as scary as I thought they would be. All-in-all, I feel like it was a great learning experience. Also, I feel like New Yorkers should be given a bit more credit for their friendliness than their reputation allows.

I managed to do a little sightseeing on the trip and went to WTC memorial and Freedom Tower, which was really something to see. You have to get reservations to see the 9/11 memorial, and since I wasn't actually planning on this trip, I wasn't prepared. However, if you go down to the site and go in St. Paul's Church, which is directly across the street from the site, there's plenty to read and see there as far as memorials go. The church was known as the Miracle Church because it was undamaged, despite being directly across the street from the twin towers. It turned into the sanctuary for the first responders to get some rest and some food during the search for survivors. If you go to NYC, I recommend checking out St. Paul's.

I also saw the Statue of Liberty (from Manhattan, I didn't take a boat out on the water), Central Park, saw the Chrysler Building, the arch in Washington Square Park, went up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building a la Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle", Times Square, Radio City Music Hall (which is supposed to have a fantastic tour for $20.00 a pop, but I didn't have time to do it. Next time I will...), the first Macy's on 34th Street (a la "Miracle on 34th Street") was totally overwhelming and I wandered in and up a few escalators before just trying to get the hell out, NYPL (the reason I was there, actually was for a job interview with NYPL) with the famous lions out front, 5th Avenue shops, Herald Square, etc. It was a great time, although I'm fairly positive there is no way I would ever actually live in NYC. Bob Dylan was right when he said "New York was a city where you could be frozen to death in the midst of a busy street and nobody would notice." I'm not an overly social person, but I think NYC could be one of the most lonely places on Earth, despite there being so many people in such a small space. Nobody talks to each other, nobody looks at others like they are humans. They basically racewalk down the sidewalks and I actually found myself forgetting there's actually anything outside of these looming buildings and skylines. It's like when you are on the streets of NYC, you're surrounded by robots running from one place to the next. Nobody stopping to chat, nobody smiling at anybody, nobody nodding in recognition... Of the few times I actually talked to people, they were really nice, but it's like you have to break down this wall to get people to talk to one another. It was pretty crazy... I know the midwest is reputed to be overly friendly and welcoming, but I didn't expect the difference to be so extreme. Still, I loved my visit. NYC is a great place to visit and I really look forward to returning sometime, but I need a better sense of humanity in where I live.

A few photos? Of course:

Central Park on the First Day of Spring, still looking very Winter-ish.

Midtown Manhattan

My pigeon buddy at the top of the Empire State Building. He was so into my camera phone it was ridiculous.
Cheese!