Friday fun
I'm in New York City for a couple of days. The presenting excuse is that my younger son is here, participating in a jazz workshop at New York University. It's quite easy to come here by train from Virginia.
Like many people, I love New York. I lived and worked here for a few years after college. One thing I noticed almost as soon as I arrived... I still walk like a New Yorker, weaving and darting through the sidewalk traffic to get where I am going.
That said, I'm exploring parts of the city (as New Yorkers call Manhattan) with which I am less familiar or which did not exist when I lived here 30-odd years ago.
I've really enjoyed the esplanades along the Hudson and East Rivers in lower Manhattan. And those avenues call for strolling and occasional bench sitting to enjoy the views of the water full of all sorts of boats.
I also appreciate how much more green space there is, and how well kept most of them are. There are so many flowers (full of bees!) and shrubs and trees, offering visual respite and shade. There are still a million pigeons, and a fair amount of horn honking and such, and there are all the usual crowds everywhere, but there are many pockets in which to rest and recharge.
Of course, I worked here during the famous garbage strike followed by transit strike, and I lived across the river in New Jersey, but Manhattan seems to me to be a more livable place now.
Like many people, I love New York. I lived and worked here for a few years after college. One thing I noticed almost as soon as I arrived... I still walk like a New Yorker, weaving and darting through the sidewalk traffic to get where I am going.
That said, I'm exploring parts of the city (as New Yorkers call Manhattan) with which I am less familiar or which did not exist when I lived here 30-odd years ago.
I've really enjoyed the esplanades along the Hudson and East Rivers in lower Manhattan. And those avenues call for strolling and occasional bench sitting to enjoy the views of the water full of all sorts of boats.
I also appreciate how much more green space there is, and how well kept most of them are. There are so many flowers (full of bees!) and shrubs and trees, offering visual respite and shade. There are still a million pigeons, and a fair amount of horn honking and such, and there are all the usual crowds everywhere, but there are many pockets in which to rest and recharge.
Of course, I worked here during the famous garbage strike followed by transit strike, and I lived across the river in New Jersey, but Manhattan seems to me to be a more livable place now.
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