New York: A Great City

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Having been to quite a few amazing places in the past sixteen years, I had long awaited to visit one place, New York City. As odd as it may seem to some, I do love the exotic islands and other locations of similar atmospheres but this great big city they call 'The Concrete Jungle' is all I had ever longed to visit.

US Airways had provided quite a pleasant flight and as I got off the plane, I did my best to observe and absorb carefully every detail at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. I remember seeing a massive US flag hanging over terminal one. To me this was a sign I was in the United States without a doubt, very exciting. I’m sure you’re sarcastically thinking, ‘Obviously, you’re in New York. There’s the national flag, you just arrived there. You’re in New York? Oh you don’t say’. Well, it was simply amazing to me. JFK Airport is a very busy place as one can imagine, catering to flight arrivals from a large number of other major cities; one which I had just come from, is in fact the busiest airport in the United States. Can you imagine how busy it must be? Considering how many airports and big cities the United States contains, it is overwhelming to even think about the daily process carried out in operating this airport. On this day, I saw it with my own eyes, behind my Ray Bans of course; which I wear everywhere but on this particular occasion I was attempting to look like everyone else in this airport, 'cool' and occupied, which I was to be honest.

I am not a big fan of airports as they are busy places and I on the other hand, am a lazy person, so they say. To me the sounds of planes taking off and a beeping sound here and there were gradually getting on my nerves, and my little brother was not helping at all. It had been interesting at first but like any other teenager, I get bored. I could not wait to finish the seemingly long signing out process and take in the sights and experiences that Queens Borough and the rest of the city has to offer. Television, music videos and song lyrics are all the insight I had ever known to inform me on New York. For the coming week, I had the privilege to witness everything with my own eyes and not through a television screen.

As I got out into the large car park, I could see many cars of course. The difference was that some of these cars, you only see in large numbers when you are in America. Dodge, Chevrolets, Lincolns, Jeeps and Cadillacs, all left hand drives. This may not be interesting to some of people but I was seeing these cars on their native land, straight from manufacturers in Michigan. I did not see them as imports like when I see them in England. If you love cars you will understand what I felt, if not then there will be something of interest to you as you read on.

As we drove through Queens Boulevard, it was just as I had imagined. I could see lively news-stands, wide main roads and high rise buildings. 'I sure could adjust to living here', I thought. Unfortunately I would be here for only a week. From a distance, I could see we were approaching a bridge. From my research, this was the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. The Queensboro Bridge as it is simply known is a wonderful sight to see. The water glimmering in the sunlight (something I had not seen for quite a while in England) was mesmerising. It took about ten minutes to drive through the bridge without any traffic to prolong the journey but those ten minutes seem like a few seconds when you are cherishing and enjoying every moment of it.

We took the subway to the shopping centre just for the experience, which is quite a thrilling one even at the busy time it was it slowly progressing into. Everyone is minding their own business, in and out the subway they go. I remember hearing a loud racket from a distance in the underground. Bizarrely, it had a rhythm to it and was quite enjoyable. After pondering on the matter for a while, it occurred to me that this was probably a bucket drummer. I had seen a few of them on television and documentaries. They are buskers, performing usually in the underground by skilfully drumming using a set of buckets. What I found out a while after when we saw him is that this was not just any drummer, it was Larry Wright! He is one of the most credited underground drummers in New York, a celebrity in fact. He has appeared in television commercials, films and a music video. Obviously, I had to be photographed with him. I was ecstatic from meeting him and just as I expected, he seemed like a nice, easy going and humble person. This was with no doubt the highlight of my day, meeting a celebrity. 'Hopefully I meet more celebrities', I said to my mother.

The city centre is remarkable in both its appearance and business. Even when you know that the population of Queens is approximately two and a half million, it is still a great deal to take in when you see all those people going about what seemed to be their daily activities. Businessmen and women talking on their headsets, mothers were pushing their babies on prams and teenagers shopping, skating and just dallying about. This does sound like the typical sight to see in any city centre in most parts of the world but it is five times what I usually see in Southend-on-Sea.

We finally reached a place I find extremely fascinating, the mall. The Queens Centre Mall was quite impressive, a good thing considering my long wait to visit a main mall in Queens. It is located in Elmhurst, a short walk from the Woodhaven Boulevard stop for three of the trains. It is in fact the largest mall in Queens and New York City and contains four floors of over seventy shops. My jaw dropped as we arrived at the entrance. As I looked up, I saw the roof and the sunlight coming through from its atriums. The balconies, floors, shops and stalls looking ever so glamorous. This was indeed everything I expected and more. I knew some of the shops as they are international but there were even more that I had never heard of and this was definitely something to explore. The Worlds Fare Cafe is the first structure to be seen when you enter from the ground floor. It is designed in a circular manor and has four metal wires it is connected to. These thick wires are connected to four corners of the first floor, giving the impression that it is somehow holding up the Cafe.

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