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Published: March 23rd 2007
15c, Fine
If someone had told me that one day I’d be arriving in New York on my own via the subway from a dodgy part of New Jersey and walking up Broadway through the busy Times Square.. well.. I’d tell em’ there dreamin’ (Aussies reading this will get that.. translation: crazy). But that’s what I did and I felt very safe. New York does that to you, it changes the way you look at things and yourself.
I’ve yet to find a city in the world that rivals New York as ‘the greatest’. Whatever you’ve read or seen on TV, nothing compares to spending time in Manhattan. I’d previously visited the big apple two years ago and spent close to ten days doing ‘touristy’ stuff. This time around I could cross off the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, museums etc.. For four days I was going to experience New York as a New Yorker and at my own pace. It was the best thing I could of done, the only thing better would have been my fiancée by my side (next time babe).
Guide books warn of surly behaviour and unfriendly New Yorkers, but I’ve
My Fav Pic
Looking out of the Lincoln Centre towards the southern end of Central Park... looks too good to be a picturenever experienced anything like that. I prepared for the worse, thinking that maybe last time I lucked out. Nope. Friendly locals offered me directions on the subway, started small talk, moved aside because I was wearing a backpack and greeted me with a warm smile at the hostel. Not that anything was going to dent my enthusiasm - I had tickets to the Knicks and the Late Show with David Letterman!!
After I threw down my bags I sprinted to the subway and caught the train to 52nd street. I was just in time to join the cue of one hundred people who were lined up for Letterman. Some were hoping to score tickets and some (like me) already had a golden ticket - literally. I was on the gold guest list and filled out a survey that was handed my way. All basic stuff except for the ‘why are you in New York’ questions and ‘where have you been within the last 6 months’. Mine looked like an essay and the woman collecting them took a second glance and asked some more questions. She circled my name and mentioned Dave likes to talk to ‘interesting people’ and gave
Late Show with David Letterman
Ed Sullivan theatre where the Late Show is filmed (note all the people lining up for the show.. I should be standing there!) me a blue ticket to present at the door. We were told to go away and come back later in the afternoon. On returning there were a lot of stressed out staff telling us we’d have to wait “longer than usual”. Waiting waiting waiting than finally the news we hadn’t expected. Dave Letterman was sick and had to go home, for only the second time in ten years there was a last minute change - guest Adam Sandler would now be hosting. Wow. I felt disappointed not to see Letterman but it was a special occasion. The only bad thing no audience interaction, which meant I couldn’t get my head on TV (probably a good thing!). The show was awesome and exactly like you see on tele, except during the breaks the band plays songs for the audience and everyone rushes around. It was obvious Adam Sandler was shitting himself and very nervous but he did a great job holding it together with a few hours notice. At the end he went through the audience shaking peoples hands (off air), which I thought was a nice gesture.
On a buzz leaving Letterman I was keen to enjoy a few
Seinfeld
Tom's Diner on the Upper West.. look familiar?!? beers and decided to discover who my room mates were at the hostel. Lisa & Dan (a couple from England) and Yuck (well.. that’s not how you spell his name, but that’s what his name sounded like and he responded to it - Yuck was from Japan). They were all awesome people, which is great in itself but good also because you can relax knowing ‘that freaky looking dude’ isn’t going to steal your laptop or cause problems. Lisa & Dan were just short of 21, but Yuck was keen and we headed out. Friendly New Yorkers made small talk at the bar and I even got offered a bar job if I wanted to stick around, “it’s illegal but we’ll pay good money”. Damn! Yuck video taped EVERYTHING that night (including the bartender pouring a beer), it might have been annoying if it wasn’t so damn fun watching all the reactions. Yuck summed it up “New York is not like Japan, it’s another world and I feel like an alien”… I understood that on so many levels!!
Video taping over and my second day was a write off. I woke up stupidly late because everyone else had slept
Dusk in NY
Sunset in a city isn't quite the same in NY in, damn them for being lazy like me. I had to change my airline ticket for the flights home which involved visiting Qantas, but noooo that was way too simple wasn’t it?!?! To illustrate just how bloody annoying traveling can be I’ll explain (bare with me for a sec please): Call Qantas and they say only office is at JFK airport, instead I should go to British airways office. I catch train uptown with ticket and attempt to find office.. it’s not at the address. Call Qantas again they say call British because that’s the address they had. Wait 20mins calling British airways, they give me the new address which is downtown. I catch train downtown and find office, wait an hour and get told American Airlines need to ticket it. They are unsure of their address. I use a payphone in the rain and wait 25mins on hold while a bum tries to scam money off me. Address is uptown, catch train uptown AGAIN. Wait 30mins in line and get told British could have done it for me, wait another hour and it’s DONE. It’s OVER, OVER. Woooo!
I crossed the road from the Lincoln Centre and enjoyed
Hoodoo Gurus
The big gig at BB King's Bar & Grill in Times Square Central Park as the sun set. It’s amazing place and so relaxing - business deals were being done, young mums were pushing the latest designer strollers and people everywhere were jogging with Ipods. I’ll come back tomorrow, because tonight I had a date with the Hoodoo Gurus at the legendary BB King’s Bar & Grill in Times Square. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a great Aussie band overseas and half expected a half empty venue with a few guys asking for VB’s at the bar. That’s not what I found. Instead the venue was packed full of New Yorkers keen to hear the band that made the Big Apple home in the late eighties. Apparently they had lived in Chelsea and were regulars - there were a few aussies like me but it was mainly New York music gurus seeing… well.. the Gurus. I was seated next to three girls from Sex & The City, I understand now why that TV show was so popular - it’s very relatable for single New Yorkers. There was the city da, lawyer and an artist rep for Universal Music’s head office. I had nothing in common with any of them
Times Square
Amazing view at night... too many places to look and blurted out that being a district attorney must be ‘like Law & Order every day and I liked that show’. They pretended to laugh at the stupid Australian and I thanked God that Marg would have laughed with me - as much as she’d want to be in Sex & The City I’d hope she wouldn’t want to be single at 39 (not that there’s anything wrong with that….). I did learn that Dan Akroyd lives in the same apartment block as one of them and Courtney Love passed out next to Record Reps car in the basement. Wow. How cool would it be to have a celebrity pass out next to your door - not very, apparently she’s an annoying neighbour and doesn’t take in her trash either. I got an insight to New York and the Hoodoo Gurus drowned out any annoying small talk. They went off and it was great to see an Aussie band doing us proud overseas.
As much as Marg would have enjoyed slowly strolling down Madison Avenue, I rushed quickly down the street past all the fancy stores and onto my own Mecca - Tom’s Diner. The inspiration behind Seinfeld and
Upper West
Trendy apartment buildings lining Central Park on the Upper West Side. the setting for almost every episode, the outside is very recognizable and apart from being famous the food is legendary with New Yorkers. It’s on the Upper West side in a cool residential area. The inside is very different to the scenes on the TV show but diner still retains it’s ‘New Yorkness’. I took a seat and ordered some pancakes, looking at the famous photos everywhere and celebrities smiling proudly chomping on a burger. This is no tacky tourist attraction, it’s a just a diner that is frequented by locals (including many celebrities) that live in surrounding Upper West Side. Suzzane Vega wrote a song about it called Tom’s Diner (duurrr), but who cares I was here now and I could die a happy man! While I was eating a familiar face came in and grabbed some take away. The owners got very excited and asked him how the film was going.. I barely noticed it was ‘that famous black dude who I’ve seen in films but don’t know his name’. I’m crap with names but I could point him out if I had too. I was excited enough about eating in such a lively place.
That afternoon
Central Park Horses
Upper East side of Central Park I strolled around Central Park and relaxed in sun with all the other New Yorkers. I checked out the trendy Upper West and took a trip to the (snooty or old school) Upper East, where names like Oprah and Woody Allen live. The Sex & The City girls lived on the Upper East close to Bloomingdales, I paid a visit to the store just so I could tell Marg I went. I almost bought a shirt that I saw ‘on sale’, until I saw it was a $150 D&G reduced from $370… Hmm I don’t think it would make friends in my backpack next to my faded cargo pants. Some people have way too much money. Instead I bought Marg some inexpensive (but don’t tell her that) shirts for well under $150 and headed to Madison Square Garden. The Knicks were playing Portland and it was a ‘must win’ game. I lucked out and scored promo seats pretty close to the action - my first basketball match and I gotta admit it was really cool. I’m not a basketball fan to any extend but the whole game was exciting from start to finish. During the time outs cheerleaders did backflips,
UN Building
World flags outside the UN Building... legally it's another country. Entering the building certainly felt like going thru immigration people shot out free merchandise from cannons into the crowd, music blared and the crowd went crazy. Also (unlike the Adelaide Crows) people brought around cheap beer and you bought it at your seat. G-O-O-O Knicks!!!
They lost but it was a fun night and great way to end my trip in the Big Apple. I woke up early and trotted down Times Square with my backpack while the sun rose over the Hudson River. Time to swap the jeans and jacket for some board shorts.. I was off to St Maarten.
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You big name-dropper you!! HA HA. In sad news. I need glasses....which I get in 10-15 days. Have some sort of progressive eye disease where my cornea's are thinning! fantastic....anyhow it's currently correctable with either glasses or contacts. Not big on sticking my fingers near my eyes...so opted for glasses first. NY sounds fab. Where's all your pics of 9/11?