Yesterday I returned from yet another trip to Edison New Jersey. One of the nights I decided to take a trip into the city. Having never been to New York it was a new experience for a mid-western boy to say the least. Up until this trip, my only experience with public transportation had been the million or so miles I have logged in the air, a few times in a taxi, and even fewer times on the light rail system here in Minneapolis between the Mall of the Universe and the Metrodome. I have to say it is a very convenient way to get around, and it will take you anywhere. Granted there are some interesting people that take advantage of the subway systems in New York, but the thing that really hit me is how little they interact. I saw nothing but blank stares and very little in the form of personality. It was kind of depressing when I thought about it. People driven underground where it could be the middle of the day and you would never know it short of looking at a watch or a clock.
The city itself is very much alive at all hours of the day and night. Time Square was amazing...it was 9:30 at night and it looked like it was noon with all the lights. And the TV's...I would kill for the 150 foot widescreen TV I was watching CNN on. A short stop at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and I was dining on a variety of shrimp (my faves of the seafood genre). After dinner it was a long walk to Ground Zero. It looked like any other construction site, however there was a certain heaviness in the air. There is a small memorial that is a record of the events as they happened the morning of September 11th as well as a wall much like the Vietnam Wall that lists all the heroes who lost there lives that day. For me, it was a very humbling experience as well as one that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. After spending some time at WTC, I head uptown towards Rockefeller Plaza. I saw where they shoot the NBC TODAY show and watched the people skating on the rink. It was getting late so I headed back to the Subway and took it out of the city.
Sorry for the lousy comentating on a trip to New York, I am going to have to go back when I have the time to see everything cuz I missed a shit load.
Later...
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4 comments:
Welcome back Mike!! I missed you!
Thank you...anonymous...good to be back.
I was in NYC (with my crazy ass ex girlfriend) in Nov 1997. We skated at Rockefeller Center, at a huge piece of cheesecake at Carnegie Deli and took at horse buggy ride around Central park, but I never made it south of 34th street that weekend so I never saw the WTC when it was still there, or the Statue of Liberty (thank god its still there). I guess that gives me something to see with Kim and my son someday.
If it makes you feel any better, public trans is no more interactive in Wash. DC than it was for you in NYC (though its a hell of a lot cleaner in DC). People just want to get where they are going without being bothered. I envy people that get to read the paper on the way to and from work. I would take that over driving my car any day.
For something more interesting, try Romes subway, which was literally packed body to body. One Roman man was generous enough to open my wife's jacket pocket without her knowing it and retrieve the bag of granola that was in it (fortunately the money was all strapped to my chest on a money belt). I think that she felt very "creepy" when she got out of the subway car and realized that her previously unopened pocket was now wide open. The other interesting part of the Rome subway was that the A line (which ran through downtown) was spotless and the B line (that ran out to the suburbs) was graffiti city. Such a contrast. Anyway, Mike. I hope that you get back to NYC with your wife and kids. It really is a very interesting place, and us midwesterners should get out of the bread basket on occasion.
If you are in the mood for the exact opposite experience go ride the trolley system in San Diego. I think I met a new person/group every time I got on there. I kept thinking that the folks down there made Minnesotans look downright hostile.
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