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August 30, 2007
NYC Affirmations
When my Chicago friends hear about how much I paid for a small walk-up apartment on the Upper East Side, many gasp. Since associate pay is the same in New York and Chicago and that salary will get you more than a hovel out here, why on Earth would I ever go back? Over the summer, during quiet weekend moments, I made a list.
1. Square-cut thin pizza. Cutting a round pizza into little squares is unthinkable for practical, aesthetic and traditional reasons.
2. Central Park. From the lawn to the Ramble, the musicians to the disco rollerskate circle, it's a three-season outdoor experience.
3. I like to think that I'm too cool to be excited at the sight of a celebrity, but I'm not.
4. Proximity. Nowhere else in American can you overhear so many fascinating and bizarre conversations without really trying.
5. No parking. Driving around and looking for parking after a long trip must be some special hellish form of Karmic punishment. No car = no parking mess = one less step between you and home.
6. Entertainment is everywhere. Yesterday, I was on a downtown A train when four boys, none looking older than 17, did a breakdancing routine. As they did their individual routines, I was unimpressed, but we were on a semi-crowded moving train, after all. Then, all four did a finale that blew my mind. Two of the kinds picked up the third by the lands and legs and swung him around and around like a jumprope. Then the fourth kid did a backflip over the human jumprope, followed by a handspring in the reverse direction, then a backflip again. All I was expecting was a trip downtown.
7. Catching the fleeting sound of a baseball game on AM radio as you walk down the street, usually attributable to an old man in a sleeveless shirt on a folding chair.
(not applicable on the Upper East Side)
8. For a place with so many velvet ropes, it's surprising how easy it is to step uninvited into someone else's world. I'm reminded of the summer after my senior year in high school, when a solo amble through Central Park on a particularly hot Sunday afternoon was interrupted by a thumping bassline. I followed it to a free rave organized by Body & Soul, a weekly event downtown. By myself in a crowd of thousands, I danced for two hours. Would I have ever thought of going to the club where Body & Soul was a weekly event? Absolutely not. But there I was, surrounded by adults with pacifiers, teenagers with strap-on wings and other '90s raver ephemera.
Posted by rj3 at August 30, 2007 6:07 PM
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Comments
Seriously. I do NOT get square pizza slices. What is the point?
Posted by: k at August 30, 2007 8:04 PM
