The Woman New York

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Geo: 40.7528, -73.9853

New York. A beast. An enormous, fiery, uncontrollable, unpredictable beast. Much like a good woman. But perhaps more predictable and controllable. Actually, yes... definitely more predictable than a woman. But take a good woman and project her qualities onto a massive city and you have New York. Beautiful. Mysterious. Hypnotizing. Inspiring. Able to make one feel entirely like a king, yet completely capable of making one feel like an ant. Fierce - she know what she wants. Always with something more to offer, always with something more to show, to teach, to share. Impossible to know completely - there is always something more to learn. The Woman New York.

Just about halfway between Albany and New York City is Hyde Park - home of one of the Vanderbilt mansions. I was passing right by anyway, had no time agenda bogging me down, and thanks to Claire had a newfound interest in historical matters (everywhere we went she seemed to be able to point out buildings and go into their history, talk about fields and farms and their significance, rivers and lakes and how they came in to play during battles of our forefathers). I arrived just 10 minutes before one of the guided tours and figured why not. It was myself, about a dozen Asians, and a whole bunch of old couples. I was probably the youngest by a good decade, on average three or four decades the minor. The 45-minute tour took us across a small section of the grounds (600 acres at its peak), and through the bottom 2 stories of the mansion. The most modest of all the Vanderbilt mansions, it was the seasonal home of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt, who remained childless, and actually only lived in the mansion for a couple months in the spring (after the weather warmed but was not yet hot) and a couple months in the fall (after the weather had cooled but was not yet cold). Poor things. I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to take pictures of the inside... but oh well (you'll soon have a picture of me flipping off the White House, and I'm sure it doesn't get much worse than that). Though a good portion of the decor had been sold or distributed long ago, the the entry and rooms of the mansion were still richly decorated with statues and tapestries and rugs and gold. Just walking through made your nose rise up in the air a little bit. Marble walls and dark aged wood, tall ceilings of brushed gold European-styled checkerboard.

And what of New York City? None of my three nights there did I actually stay in the city - I was over the Hudson, in Hoboken, New Jersey (which, by the way, is a great city, and quite a surprise after driving down the Garden State Parkway through the cluttered and offensive Paramus and Hackensack, Ridgefield and North Bergen, where I decided to lock my door while driving). And I discovered a new trick of sorts. Parking is so limited there, and it is almost mandatory to resort to a parking garage. Further, even though Hoboken felt quite safe for a city of its size and congestion, I would not have felt comfortable sleeping in my truck on the street even if I could find a spot. So, we kill two birds with one stone - leave the truck in the garage overnight and just sleep in the truck there. Safe, warm, dry. Just back in to a spot against a cement wall and - unless a security guard happens to be observing the monitor at the exact moment of entering or exiting the truck - virtually undetectable. I was pretty happy with the discovery.

I haven't seen the whole world. I haven't seen the whole country. There is so much out there still to be seen and explored and experienced, but I feel confident saying that there is nothing else on earth like New York City. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, Buffalo, Boston... nothing compares. Nothing is even close, nothing is similar. New York City is truly one of a kind. Standing in the middle of an intersection in midtown Manhattan. Look north - towering buildings as far as the eye can see. Look east - towering buildings as far as the eye can see. Look south - the same. Look west - the same. Hundreds of people passing by every few seconds. Then hundreds more the new few seconds. Then hundreds more. The number of policemen in that city outnumber the population of most other towns I have been through along the way. And the taxis, taxis, taxis, and their honking, honking, honking!!! I swear the honking at someone in New York City is about as effective as blinking. It does nothing. It is so frequent and commonplace that after just a few minutes walking up Broadway I was already immune to the noise. 'What was that? Did somebody just blink? Oh well...'

I walked my ass off my one full day in the city. 20 blocks up Broadway to Central Park - something else that cannot be described but can only be experienced first hand. Within just a minute's walk into the park the world disappears, the sounds of traffic and honking and blinking muffle and disappear, and you are simply left lost in a forest, hundreds of miles from civilization. Lost, of course, with scores of other walkers and bikers and runners. The serenity of the park - of the tree, the rocks, moss, shrubs, and lakes - and the peace emanating from all of the other souls soaking it in - it almost becomes an independent kind of community hidden within the belly of the largest city in America. I felt like I went into a trance, like I was in another world, in a dream, simply enjoying people watching, exploring, wandering, listening to a variety of street performers, occasionally catching a glance of a huge skyscraper through the branches of the trees above. Nearing the edge of the park, I could see the city street directly in front of me, but was still mostly in this trance. Almost the instant my boot made contact with the sidewalk I was shaken out of the trance, became aware again of the city smells and sounds, the horns honking, the blinking, blinking, blinking of 10,000 taxi drivers. Senses that were restfully enjoying a temporary slumber were immediately ordered back to red alert to properly handle the beast surrounding.

Lunch at Bryant Park, citizens moving and fluttering about like butterflies under the gray city skies. The New York Public Library - HUGE!!! Put the previously mentioned Vanderbilt Mansion to shame. Down into the subway, through and underground labyrinth of tunnels and rails, up the escalator and emerging into an entirely new feel and neighborhood near Washington Park. A latte at Cafe Reggio, per recommendation from my dear friend Tracy, who used to live in Manhattan. Another subway ride to downtown New York, passing by City Hall and a group of demonstrators, the bull on Wall Street, historic St Paul's Churchyard and the developing Freedom Tower on the grounds of the late World Trade Towers. More walking, down to the southern tip of Manhattan Island, from where I peeked a view of the far off Lady of Liberty (which, according to Googlemaps, actually lies within New Jersey's boundaries - surely a point of contention between the two states). I also came across a random turkey. True story. Just chillin in a parking lot. Not something you see every day... especially in a city of 8 million people! Another short walk, another subway ride, and another walk to the Ear Inn - the self-proclaimed "oldest working bar in New York". Of course, three or four bars seem to claim this title... either way, it's old! The sign outside used to just display "BAR" in orange neon. Since then, the right edge of the B was painted over, thus converting it into an E, hence the Ear Inn. I enjoyed some Yuengling - America's oldest beer, and chatted with my neighbor about the city and history and women. I sent a picture of the sign to Claire, who recommended it, and she informed me that the bar used to be just a stone's throw from the Mighty Hudson River. The banks had long been filled in, likely to help maintain a lovely grid system for the city. My neighbor, a diver and underwater welder, told me that the bar used to be (and sometimes still is) a diver bar - a fine distinction from a dive bar. Thinking about the history of the place, the tens of thousands of people who enjoyed a beverage there over the decades, the dozens of bartenders, hundreds of bar fights, the numbers of relationships kindled or broken by the Ear... oh, what history!

Walking out, cigarette in hand but with no lighter. A group of four young men was gathered outside, smoking and talking of "hipsters". I turned to them, "Speaking of hipsters... can I get a light?" For some reason they thought that was funny and laughed, handing over a lighter. "So, we are trying to explain to our friend here - he's from Brazil - what a hipster is. Do you have any insight." My lips tightened and shifted in thought and my eyes looked up towards the rooftop while searching for an answer. "A hipster is someone who thinks they are way cooler than they really are." Laughter and approval all around!

I thanked them for the light and started the 10-block walk to meet Amber - one of my neighbors from Burning Man! She and her friends were there that delectably debaucherous day in the tent that got me so intoxicated I slept through the actual event of the man burning. I was looking for her at the subway exit when I heard my name. "Brett!!!" I turned and there she was - all smiles and pure joy. Something about seeing someone thousand of miles from the last place you saw them makes the world seem so wonderful and small and kind. My friend Jacob, whom I stayed with near Yosemite way back in June (Flame and Laughter), had the same sentiment and was thrilled when I was able to make it there, far from the Colorado context of which our prior relationship had taken place. Amber and I went to one of her favorite haunts - the Cowgirl, for delicious food (pulled pork sandwich!). We talked and laughed about Burning Man, reminiscing on shared memories and telling stories of our own experiences. Like myself, she had just arrived back in the city the night before, after taking her own loop home from Reno through California, the midwest, Texas, Florida...

I have never considered myself a city person. I thought that I would have hated New York City, but quite the contrary - I loved it! The more time I spend in cities, the more I understand why people live there. Culture, community... community, community, community. So much to see, so much to do, especially in the city that never sleeps.

The following day I actually didn't make it back across the Hudson into New York. I didn't get back to my parking garage home until sometime after 3, and was only up by 10 because my bladder was about to explode (and I hate to admit that I did not make it out of the garage before relieving myself behind my truck, creating an impressive stream that flowed beyond my truck and quite a few spots down). Much of the afternoon was spent reading and blogging (I hate that word), and quite some time was spent at the edge of the Hudson, the edge of Hoboken, the edge of New Jersey, playing my guitar on a park bench watching the late afternoon sun work its way across the river and up the sides of the city across the waters. I treated myself to a bit of sushi that night, made friends with a couple law school students playing one of those silly bar games (you know, the trivia ones where you buzz in - I played as well and it was actually quite fun and amusing, and I kicked ass at the lightning round!), and ended the night singing karaoke and playing some drunken pool. Actually, I only sang one song (Rock'n Me by Steve Miller Band, where I cleverly substituted the phrase "Hoboken, New Jersey, where the girls are warm"😉, but signed my new friends up for one or two while they weren't paying attention.

As has been much of this trip, it was a whirlwind of a few days. And, as with almost everywhere I have been on this trip, it is somewhere I would like to visit again. Since I made only one trip to the city herself, spent just one day and night seeing her and getting to know her, I suppose I had a one night stand with her, with the Woman New York, and that just won't do.

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Comments

[Mom]

I am so glad you were able to see The City. Like you said, there is no way to describe it. You gotta BE there!