Everything in New York is big. Take the pastrami, onion, corned beef and chopped livah (no livah? I’ll put it on the side, hon, you’re payin’ for it anyway) sandwich my son ordered at Stage Deli from the carrot-topped 90-year old waitress. It was not unlike the unkosher yet zaftig BLT no T my daughter ordered, the obscenely long hotdog and salad the size of Jupiter ordered by my aunts, or the platter they should’ve called “Pound o’ Lox ‘n Bagel” ordered by me. I would say that Stage Deli is the original home of the whopper.
The buildings, too, are super-sized. Some soar right to the clouds and others are as wide as they are high. The billboards, which are everywhere, are also massive, though not always where you expect them to be like one after another on the sides of buildings — including the one sporting my daughter’s name* and a stack of thousand-dollar purses (oops, pocketbooks, this is New York). The chachky stores are huge as well, but they are full of little things. That in itself which would have been an oxymoron had we not been in New York.
And in New York if it’s not big , it’s plentiful — like cabs and street vendors. Oh, and people. Lots and lots o’ people.
It’s all accompanied by a hum of sorts that serves as white noise for everything going on around you. It’s either one big picture or a million little ones, depending on your senses and your ability to decipher live puzzles.
In New York you can walk and walk and go and go, or stay in one place all day long. Either way, the world moves with you, and past you, at an amazing pace.
I never posted about our trip to New York. Perhaps I wanted to keep it under wraps. Maybe I thought you’d find it boring. We ate, we walked, we shopped, we looked. Kids aren’t much on people-watching and the naked cowboy was nowhere to be found in Times Square. Although both kids were eager to get a look at this:
Yes, it’s their MTV. In the flesh, so to speak. The vehicle through which the Kvetches (myself included) watch countless hours of inappropriate television. Adolescent nirvana just one floor up.
What I found most fascinating about our day, after the fact that we were all indeed hungry for dinner, was that my kids were actually got it. It take a lot these days to make an impression on kids and teens. No one shrugged their shoulders, rolled their eyes or asked what time it was. They walked at a clip and noticed the details. Everything is at their fingertips through television, movies and the internet, so while they’ve seen it, they haven’t experienced it. They realized that being in New York is not like seeing it on tv. They learned in the first-person, that they too, heart New York.
After discussions and shared observations amidst plans to go back sometime soon, I suggested they should really start spreading the news about New York to their friends back in Mayberry. Then, after my heartfelt rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic, they rolled their eyes, and smiled.
I’m hoping its comforting to know that Mom still can be weird, even in the coolest city on the planet.
* Live in NY? Been there lately? If you know the name of my daughter based on the clue, you win! You’re now the proud owner of knowledge had by no one else in the blogosphere. That and $4.00 will get you a cup of coffee.
July 8th, 2006How awesome that your kids got it! Must have made the whole trip that much more amazing!
July 8th, 2006Ok, thanks for getting me thinking about Stage Deli cheesecake. Unbeatable.
Now doing my best Homer Simpson impression, “Mmmmmm, cheeeeeesecaaaaaaake…”
July 8th, 2006Chrysler! Her name is Chrysler!
No? Okay, Citicorp. Zeckendorf. Trump. AOL Time-Warner.
Dakota?
I’m glad you had a great trip. It seems like NY hearts you right back. But from the sounds of it, you were only around Times Square. Please tell me you got out of Times Square!
July 8th, 2006Yeah, it’s impossible to be there and not be immersed, isn’t it? I love that about it. I haven’t been back in far too long now - a couple of years, in fact - so I am thinking of going for a weekend this fall with a friend if I can swing it. Suck in some of the energy again.
It’s funny - I remember lying in bed with the windows open and falling asleep to the constant shhhhh of the city. Moving back here felt like moving to the country. Grass! When it rained, it smelled like dirt, not reconstituted urine! When a jackhammer or siren went off near my house - I actually noticed! Bizarre.
July 8th, 2006I don’t have a clue what her name is, but you’ll tell me in a few weeks, right
You’re making me nostalgic. I go in less than a month, but don’t know how much time I’ll spend in the city.
July 9th, 2006I heart NY, too. I was there a few years ago and I’m itchin’ to go back. Sounds like a great trip. And no eye rolling? That’s priceless!
July 9th, 2006It is really not fair of you to post such a yummy looking pastrami sandwich on your blog. As a vegetarian, you are tempting me, reeeaaaaly tempting me to run out and get a pastrami sandwich right this second.
P.S. I’ve never been to NY, but I must get there once before I die.
July 9th, 2006Stage Deli. My knee-jerk New Yorker instinct wants me to shreik “Tourist Trap.” I don’t want to think what you paid for that sandwich. Next time, drag the kids downtown to Houston Street and Katz’s Deli for a REAL sandwich. At a real price. Not to say you didn’t have a good sandwich. I’m just sayin’.
Great blog.
July 10th, 2006I also heart NY. Have only been 5 or 6 times, but it is its own city, none other like it. Love the museums, the pace, the everything. Maybe I could live there for awhile…not sure. Yeah, I think I could.
July 10th, 2006
July 11th, 2006New York is my favorite city in the world. I can’t wait until my boys are old enough to go.
Can’t. Wait.
July 12th, 2006You know, that sandwich really does look yummy.
And it sounds like you had a lovely trip. Like Michele, I look forward to the day when my girls are old enough to really *get* New York.