My last two posts have been about living the Californian dream - the
glitz of LA and the beauty of San Francisco. In this post, I deep dive into the origin and reasons behind my love for the great city of New York. I try to pen down what it truly felt like finally visiting the city
and spending four days there. The blog
concludes with pictures and as it is rightly said – they indeed are worth a
thousand words.
Setting your foot on its soil for the first time and yet having a feeling
of familiarity. That’s New York for you. I guess very few cities in the world
can make you experience this strong sense of déjà vu. You don’t need to be in
New York to know that it’s the greatest city in the world. You already know it.
For most people, New York is the city they've read, seen and heard the most
about without actually having been there. You've seen the city and its landmarks
in countless number of films & TV shows, you've read about the city in
acclaimed literary works of fiction and non-fiction, you've seen the most
ghastly act of terrorism in the 21st century take place here, you've received gifts and post cards by your relatives settled here and perhaps like
Michael Moore you've cursed Wall Street for all that is wrong with the world.
The city makes global news headlines almost every day. The New Year truly
sets in when Times Square has ushered it in.
Nothing
captures the magic of New York City better than films. Through different genres,
the cinematic medium has effectively introduced and showcased the city to the
entire world. Hollywood Studios love to destroy the city in its apocalyptic blockbuster
productions – reducing it to rubble. Martin Scorsese has dissected its
criminal underbelly in films like ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Goodfellas’. Woody Allen
has relentlessly romanced the city and made you fall in love with it in
‘Manhattan’ & ‘Annie Hall’. You've seen great love stories begin and end in
Central Park. Lovers have vowed to meet at the top of the iconic Empire State
Building in ‘An Affair to Remember’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’. Bollywood, on
its part has played a pivotal part in making the city look like a magical
dreamland where all worries can be laid to rest and a happy ending is a
foregone conclusion. Gordon Gecko has symbolized the greed of the city in ‘Wall
Street’. Television too, albeit through TV series filmed at NY sets in LA, has
played its part. New York is the city where Ted Mosby of ‘How I Met Your
Mother’ meets the mother of his kids. It
is the city where the suave but mysterious Don Draper conquers the advertising
scene in 1960s Madison Avenue in ‘Mad Men’. How many more reasons does an
outsider reasonably need to be enamored by this city?
My
love for New York City sparked off 10 years back in 2003 when the film ‘Kal Ho
Naa Ho’ starring my favorite actor Shah Rukh Khan had been released. SRK played
this happy go lucky, larger than life guy who lived life to the fullest and
spread happiness all around. Indian Cinema’s most charismatic actor stood tall
with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline in the backdrop as he did
the trademark ‘arms wide open’ pose with the evergreen title track of the film playing in the background. The
city was a character in itself in this three hour long film which made you
laugh and cry in equal measure. That was the beginning of my love for New York.
During
the past 10 years, if I was ever given a chance to go to any one city in the
world, it would have undoubtedly been New York. Therefore, as my first trip to
the US materialized out of the blue, here’s what I ecstatically said to myself
a) “I am going to LA and going to attend the Oscars. Yay!” And b) “Because I will be in LA, I will be in
the States and the closest to New York I have ever been. I will finally be visiting
the city!”
A red eye flight from
SFO got me into JFK on a Thursday morning. For all the excitement and buildup, the cab ride from JFK into Manhattan was rather underwhelming.
The scenes from Queens to Manhattan consisted of jammed roads and unremarkable architecture
as reflected in small houses and not so grand hotels along the highway. The
feeling of being in ‘NEW YORK’ was missing until I actually began to see the Utopian Manhattan skyline and was driven into the island some minutes later.
Despite all the
excitement, there was hardly any energy left after the overnight flight. Jet
lag had set in. My hotel, Courtyard by Marriott was very strategically located
in South Times Square (40th W Street) as I could easily walk to most
attractions in Midtown Manhattan. The Google Map app on my iPad was of the
greatest utility to navigate around the city. After checking in, the agenda for
the first day was to catch up on some sleep and firm up on my itinerary for the
four days ahead. Overall, my New York itinerary was very well planned thanks to my father who knows every nook and corner of the city owing to his multiple trips
over the years. In addition to giving me a list of things to do in NYC, he made
sure that I included watching a Broadway Musical on it. I purchased the same day
half-price ticket for the long running ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at the
Majestic Theatre.
My first day in New
York was spent simply walking the streets of this great city with an observant
eye. The best way to describe my New York experience would be to answer some
questions - What and who makes this city? And how does it come to life?
There is the imposing
and towering architecture having a life of its own. There are the brightly lit
billboards screaming at you. The roads are well planned but chaotic and have a sea
of humanity walking on them. New York is made in
equal measure by the rich, the middle class, the struggling class and the
tourists. At the top of the pyramid, are the millionaires who are driven in
their limousine from their office in downtown Manhattan to an exquisite
restaurant where there is a two month waiting to get a table. Next is the typical
white collar New Yorker dressed in a dapper overcoat, walking briskly on the
streets and sipping coffee from a big cup as he makes his way to work. He
probably lives in Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx or New Jersey and takes the Metro to
come into Manhattan – the island which gives wings to his ambition and life to
his dreams. Then there are the set of
people who earn their livelihood off the streets – the hot dog and newspaper
vendor, the painter, the street musician, the costumed guy in Times Square, the
merchandise & memorabilia seller and the tour guides wanting to sell you a
city tour. At the bottom of the pyramid are the beggars often with a placard in
hand with a funny message like “$1 for a hug”. The last two groups keep this
great city grounded and give it a human face. To complete NYC are the tourists
who flock in great numbers and with a DSLR in their hand, click their way
through the city.
The highlight of my
first day in the city was watching the Broadway musical ‘The Phantom of the
Opera’. Great performances and excellent production values comprising of a
mesmerizing musical score, jaw dropping sets, brilliant special effects
breathes life into this rather tragic love story. No wonder that ‘The Phantom
of the Opera’ is Broadway’s longest running musical. Watching this play was a
brilliant experience indeed!
The touristy
sightseeing really started on my second day in New York after I had had a much
needed eight hours sleep which helped me recover somewhat from the jetlag which I got from the West Coast – East Coast overnight flight. The day included
visiting SoHo, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy and the rest of
downtown Manhattan. SoHo and Greenwich Village are known to be the hub of the
artists in the city. This place is also characterized by the presence of a lot
of fashion boutiques. The cast iron
buildings in SoHo are another distinguishable feature of the area. I loved
spending time at the Washington Square Park where the arch made for some great
pictures. In Downtown Manhattan, the highlights were visiting the 9/11
memorial, the Freedom Tower and the bull at Wall Street. Later in the evening,
back in Midtown Manhattan, I went to the Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. After
seeing the who’s who of Hollywood, live at the Oscars, it was a little amusing
to see their wax statues. Nevertheless, it was great fun to get pictures
clicked with wax statues of famous people – both alive and dead.
With an overview of
Downtown Manhattan on the previous day, the third day’s agenda was to go to
Brooklyn. Instead of taking a cab or a bus we decided to walk the Brooklyn
Bridge to get into Brooklyn. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, being on the Brooklyn
Bridge was an item on the Bucket List and the long walk was not a deterrent for
me or my mother. It was a slow and leisurely walk with the Brooklyn Bridge
making for some breathtaking pictures of the Manhattan skyline. In Brooklyn, on
the recommendation of a friend, we went to dine at the famous
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Front Street. The pizzas here are famous because they
are made using a coal-fired brick oven. 30 minutes wait to get a table at Grimaldi’s and another 20 minutes wait for the
pizza to be served was well worth it. To put it quite simply – it was the best
pizza I had ever had! Brooklyn consumed more than half a day which meant that
we missed the ferry to the Staten Island. Because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy,
Liberty Island was closed which meant that going to see Lady Liberty was not on
the cards – a huge disappointment. After spending some time in Battery Park, we
took a bus back to Times Square.
In the bus, a
gentleman in his late-thirties overheard my mother and me speaking in Hindi and
he asked “Aap India se hai?” The man
was a Pakistani who like us was visiting the city for the first time. As
expected, it took only 10 minutes for us to start discussing Cricket and
Bollywood. Indians and Pakistanis are indeed everywhere! The last attraction of
the day was going to the top of the Empire State Building. Heavy sleet (unheard
phenomenon in Delhi) and icy cold winds meant that the Empire State experience couldn't really be savored as we made our way back down quickly. After shopping
for something for a friend at Macy’s on 34th W Street, I called it a
day.
It was 3rd
March, 2013 which meant it was my last day in the Big Apple and the US. Unlike
the previous three days, this was a bright and sunny day. The day was spent
taking a guided tour of Uptown Manhattan passing by Lincoln Center, St. John’s
Cathedral, Apollo Theatre and Harlem. Paucity of time meant that we could only
do a quick stop at Central Park. The last attraction visited in New York was
the ‘Top of the Rock Observation Deck’ at Rockefeller Center. With a perfect
panoramic view of the city including the Empire State Building and the Central
Park, I personally found the Top of the Rock Observation Deck a better
experience than Empire State.
Many cities lay their
claim to be the capital of the world. But perhaps, New York wins hands down
with its perfect blend of a rich history, multi-cultural identity, cosmopolitan
& diverse nature and the golden opportunities it presents to people.
There’s a magical energy in the New York air which makes you feel taller than
its sky scrapers. Yes, anything is possible in a New York minute!
Later in the night,
as I was seated on the plane departing for New Delhi, I reflected on the days
spent in the US and realized that they were full of so many highlights - I had
seen legends walk the Red Carpet at the Oscars in LA, I had been to beautiful
San Francisco and with New York I had achieved my 10 year old dream. It is
indeed difficult to pick one out of these. Perhaps what gives me the greatest
satisfaction is that I could take my mother for what she describes as her most
memorable trip ever. To my surprise, what an enthusiastic and energetic travel partner she
turned out to be!
Two months on, I long
to be back and relive this experience…
______________________________________________________________________________
Day 1: Times Square / Broadway District
Day 2: Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Downtown Manhattan
Day 3: Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Battery Park, Empire State Building
Day 4: Uptown Manhattan, Central Park, Rockefeller Center
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| Times Square |
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| Broadway Musicals on Times Square |
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| Times Square |
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| Times Square |
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| Mom at Times Square |
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| 47th Street W |
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| Courtyard By Marriott, 40th W St |
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| The Phantom of the Opera at Times Square |
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| Day 2: Washington Square Park |
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| Mom at Washington Square Park |
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| Washington Square Park |
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| Downtown Manhattan |
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| Wall Street Station |
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| The famous Bull at Wall Street |
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| Freedom Tower |
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| The iron cast buildings at SoHo |
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| Fashion Boutique in SoHo |
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| Washington Square Park Panorama |
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| Macy's on 34th St : The largest store in New York |
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| Empire State Building standing tall |
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| Dhakka maar! |
