On Sunday I drove to Manhattan with my parents. We left at 5:00 AM, and I slept off any if the drive when not behind the wheel. The day passed quickly, and by early afternoon we were in The City.
Although I live in a city, and may go downtown, to me The City will always be Manhattan. Somehow, for New Yorkers "The City" refers to only one borough, although New York City has three (Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island). Every other borough is known by name. [By the way, The Island will always refer to Long Island. I don't care how many islands exist where I live.]
There's a feeling I get whenever I enter NY (the city, not the state). It's a feeling of comfort and belonging. This may seem strange in a city of over 1,500,000 people, but it's there. I get the warm fuzzies when I see the skyline, and there's a calmness in entering the borders. [Don't get me wrong, I love living in Toronto. I have the most amazing chevra here. We've been lucky to make special friends in many places, but to have such a special group all in one place that supports each other unconditionally is unique and amazing. There is a great Jewish infrastructure, good kosher restaurants, museums, culture, and more.]
Sunday afternoon we headed to my brother's apartment on the Upper West Side, and ate bagels and lox for lunch. I love the doughy, chewy toughness of a NY bagel (and I've made my kids into NY bagel snobs, God bless 'em). For dinner Russ & I walked to a nearby steakhouse. Being in NY is great. I asked Russ what he wanted for dinner. He didn't care, and listed about a dozen kosher restaurants within walking distance. We walked up about four blocks to the steakhouse, where I saw a bunch of people I knew. Oddly, walking around the Upper West Side I kept seeing people who seemed to be doppelgangers for people I knew. It must have been that Jewish look that just seemed so familiar.
Russell is moving soon. His company is transferring their whole operation to Greensboro, North Carolina (Anyone know a nice Jewish girl there who owns her own tools and wants a great catch?). Knowing this was the last time I was going to be in Russell's apartment had me thinking of the times I had left NY.
The first time I left NY I was leaving for college at Brandeis University. It was an exciting time of life. I'd had my heart set on a Boston area school since I was ten, and Brandeis since I was 15. I couldn't wait to go, but knew I'd be back in NY before long.
The second time I left NY was post-JTS. Sean & I headed to Hawaii for three years. Although I didn't know how long we'd be connected to the Navy, but again, I assumed I'd be back in NY.
Strangely, when Sean left the Navy, we headed back to Long Island. For two and a half years we were back to being real New Yorkers, living just two miles from where I grew up. Everything was familiar. Yet, time doesn't stand still, and while we loved taking advantage of everything NY had to offer, Long Island wasn't the place for us.
Now, knowing my brother was leaving the city, and with my parents and aunts and uncles in New Jersey (A place to which no New Yorker admits s/he could ever move), and my cousins in Westchester (which somehow isn't really NY), Russ is the last tangible connection to NY. Sean has family there still, and we have friends there, but somehow they don't represent my connection to NY in the same way. So, I was philosophical as we drove into Manhattan. I realized that I didn't miss NY as much as the feeling and idea of NY. This became clearer as I headed to my meetings on Monday morning. I locked up Russell's apartment, and headed towards Broadway. I walked about seven blocks when I realized I didn't have the time to walk all the way to my destination. I walked two more blocks, west this time to hop on the Riverside bus.
An amazing thing the MTA. Form 106th Street and Broadway to 119th and Riverside I had three choices of how to get there vis mass transit, all sensible. The bus moves smoothly up the street, and I arrived at my destination (from 106th to 119th) in minutes. I took the extra time to sit on a bench in Riverside Park, eat my corn muffin (bought in lieu of the black and white cookie I REALLY wanted, but the bagel place was out), and read. Children from a nearby daycare were running through the part. People were jogging, and a Parks Service worker was mowing the grass.
I smile a lot in New York. Walking the streets of the City, looking around, smiling at people, especially around my old stomping grounds, is wonderful. I love that almost all the museums ask for a "suggested donation" for entrance so anyone can go. I love Broadway and off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. I love TKTS and twofers, so you can get discounted tickets to almost any show in NY. I love opera, and Shakespeare, and music in the Park, the Central Park Zoo and all its statues. I love free concerts at the MET with picnic blankets, wine, kids, and dogs. I love the MTA, and how wonderfully it works. I love that at all hours I can get almost any kind of food I want, all kosher. I love Fairway, and Zabars, and that Westside Market has no doors (open 24 hours/ 7 days a week). I love the speed at which the city moves, but that people are really very friendly if you simply smile and say, "Hi." I love the modern buildings built to enhance the old instead of dwarf them. I love that New Yorkers just know in their heart of hearts that the Big Apple is the absolute best city on earth no matter where they live or how much they love the place they live. I love that somehow, through no intention of ours, our kids became real New Yorkers, even though they lived there for only a few years.
I LOVE NEW YORK.
