New York Top Ten
I love New York. Not necessarily in August when the temperature can reach 100 degrees with 85 % humidity, and not necessarily in February when the slush both freezes and somehow still gets inside my shoes. But I would not live anywhere else, for a multitude of reasons. Here, in no particular order, are my Top Ten for 2017:
10) You don’t have to drive. I just returned from L.A., where you have to drive everywhere, mostly on congested freeways. In New York my first choice is to walk. And while I am perfectly comfortable taking a yellow cab or a dial car service like Lyft when I must, I am always grateful for our public transportation system. Even with the subway in its current parlous state, it still is more likely than not to be quick and efficient, while allowing me to read, listen to music, or just daydream. Same with the bus. I prefer to go UNDER the traffic but, if I can’t, I am delighted to have someone else do the driving.
9) New York embraces everyone, from everywhere. No matter where I go in our town, I interact with people of different backgrounds, skin colors, and economic circumstances. New York is a truly open city. It provides a chance to anyone, regardless of their origins, who has talent and a will to work hard.
8) The food is great and easy to get. Do you want gourmet French? Street food Indian? Burgers, fries, and a shake? Tapas? Nouvelle American or American cheese? You can find it all, most restaurants are open late, and you can usually call them and have it delivered.
7) Manhattan is vertical. I love the fact that Manhattan goes high rather than wide. Nowhere is ever that far from anywhere else. And that verticality also benefits our carbon footprint; we burn less oil per capita by living and working atop one another than we would if we were more spread out.
6) Central Park. What can I say? All cities have parks, and many of them are wonderful. But nothing compares to Central Park for size, diversity of habitat, and accessibility. After 150 years, it remains one of the city’s transformative jewels.
5) Nothing stays the same. Tenement buildings become spiffy. Empty lots turn into condos. Warehouses become lofts. The Bowery, former home to alcoholics and has-beens, now houses hipsters. Brownstones in Bed-Stuy cost $2 million. There’s always a new surprise: a neighborhood, a restaurant, a theater or concert venue, that I haven’t heard of or been to before.
4) The city offers never-ending diversions. No matter what you love, you can do it here, any night of the week. Broadway shows. Sporting events. Rock concerts. Opera. Movies. Serious theater. Dance. This week on June 21, for example, the Make Music New York will present free musical experiences all over the five boroughs, some participatory. Last week the Mets were in town, and Alan Gilbert conducted the New York Philharmonic in Central Park, with fireworks. The party never ends.
3) New York makes aging easier. Because of Nos. 10, 8, and 4, growing older here limits people far less than in other places. And because the majority of New Yorkers live in apartments, with elevators, stairs don’t tend to be an issue either inside or outside the home. You can still enjoy a full life here on your own without driving, cooking, or being able to walk too far.
2) Housing options abound. Sadly, fewer and fewer of them remain inexpensive. But from post collegiate shares to opulent multi-room prewar apartments in Manhattan, from flats in the Art Deco buildings on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, to the half-timbered mansions of Kew Gardens, to the water view apartments of Bay Ridge and Coney Island, there’s something for just about everyone.
1) New Yorkers don’t fear too much. Because we have seen so much, not so much scares us. We saw the towers come down. We’ve had bomb scares and bombs; we’ve had riots and blackouts and scandals. We are wise about what’s dangerous and what’s not. Still, we are friendly, busy people, often in a hurry but usually compassionate and generous. New Yorkers are proud to be the embodiment of the glorious mosaic that is America. We would not have it any other way.