New York City: first impressions

[vakkotaur]

This past weekend... and not even including the wedding. Be forewarned, this is from the perspective of someone who is certainly not a New Yorker, but of someone who grew up in the country (no, not on a farm) and liked it that way.

Friday

Got up at about the usual time, but instead of going to work, headed to Minneapolis. Breakfast/early lunch was at the Split Rock in the airport. The flight was nicely uneventful (and covered in an earlier post anyway). Jay realized, just before we got to the ground, that he had somehow managed to forget to pack his Hagstrom's. [Hagstrom's is sort of the Hitchhiker's Guide to New York City - it shows where the streets are and how the number is - and in NYC, some numbering was done before the concept of block numbers, so navigation can get bad values of interesting. This is why directions are not something like "607 Liberty Street" as in other places, but "75th and Lex" or "75th, between Lex and ..."] Landing at La Guardia was interesting in that the approach is over water. It was also interesting to, from the air, pockets of trees and greenery and not simply one vast expanse of untamed concrete.

Once on the ground, we navigated our way to baggage claim, and then to the ground transport area where arrangements were made for a shuttle to the hotel. After a while, we were on the shuttle bus, listening to others, including a fellow from eastern Australia who claimed that Queensland was rather like Florida. This was also my first close up view of New York City traffic. The more I saw of it, the more glad I was that we did not have a car there. I cannot imagine driving in that. Even after seeing people do it. I also saw part of Park Avenue and the central median which gives it its name. Calling that a park seems delusional, but I suppose it's a matter of taking what you can get in such a crowded space.

The hotel room was nice, if small. I know it had to be, and it did was big enough (and no bigger) to serve its purpose. jmaynard asked what the most useless thing in a room that size might be and then pointed out the phone. It was cordless. Another thing that went wrong also happened there. Fortunately it happened there. The button popped off of the pants I was wearing. Or that might another two things. The room air conditioner was not conditioning the air. We turned it off for a while, then back on, and left to find something to eat.

We made our way to Katz's deli. I was struck by how in Manhattan it seemed all the buildings were fairly tall. Other large cities tend to be fairly low, with a high central core of buildings, if that. Also, it seemed nothing was clean. Well, it was obvious that it was trash day the next morning, so I tried to ignore that. At Katz's it was another bit of culture shock. I don't recall having encountered a place with a ticket system before, though with the size of the crowd with which they deal it makes sense. Finding the right place to order took a few moments - and we weren't the only ones bewildered. We both opted for the pastrami on rye and an egg cream. Neither of us knew what an egg cream really was, but we decided we should try it. My impression of it was that an egg cream was a root beer float that had gone to seed. I was later informed of the actual ingredients. The sandwiches were huge. We could have split one. Jay couldn't finish his. I was hungry (or was it just gluttonous?) enough to finish mine.

We got back to the hotel to find a warm room. Jay called about it. Just as I was wondering if anything was going to happen, a fellow showed up and confirmed that the air conditioner wasn't working right. A few minutes later he reappeared with the guts of another unit and swapped them, leaving us with a working model. I also noticed the rumble of the subway. It could be felt and heard. But it didn't really affect my sleep any. There was plenty of other sound around and one more really didn't make much difference.

Also, the claims of NYC water being good are indeed true. Right from the hotel tap it was a bit warm (or at least less cool than I'm used to) and slight chloramine odor, but nothing really pungent. Once iced, it was as good any and better than quite a lot.

Saturday

Breakfast was at the Midnight Cafe (I think). We were going to go look at some sights but didn't have all that much time. I had told Jay earlier that I did not have to see "ground zero" (isn't that in Hiroshima or Nagasaki?) but it seemed to be close enough and Jay said he hadn't seen it, so after checking location we made our way to the Canal Street (subway) station. And I encountered the MetroCard. The $4, whoops it's now $7 MetroCard. And the turnstile. Which together refused to work for me, until Jay moved it before I was ready and so I didn't get through. "There's a light." "No, there isn't." That went on a bit, a few card swipes. Jay comes back out (his card & turnstile worked right off...) and notices the hard to spot error message. Eventually we discover that the security system is keeping it from working as it thinks we are on the other side and passed to cards to co-conspirators or something. Jay finds a number to call and calls it. We have to wait 20 minutes for the thing to time out and let us do what we set out to do. We wait more than 20 minutes. I make a point of this. 'JUST USED' I give up. We can't wait another twenty minutes and still get back in time for whoever is seeing that we get to the wedding. It in this region of time that I have some very Very Unkind Thoughts about NYC. Thoughts that involved my cursing the Soviets for never having done the world the favor of nuking the place flat. I started to think better of Chicago. Hell, I was even reevaluating my opinion of Los Angeles. The situation seemed to be the sort of thing Douglas Adams would write about the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. It only missed by the little error sign not lighting up with "Go stick your head in a pig" or something similar. I was really missing the plains.

We went back to the hotel. Jay was Not Happy, and not with my lousy attitude. How unhappy? The tourist guide flew across the room... He was as irked as I was, if not more so, that we had been lied to... and there wasn't damned thing that could be done anything. That's a problem with a large system: no accountability. (Once, several years ago now, someone gave me some great advice. It was for choosing an ISP. He said "Stick to places you could firebomb." The meaning being, that a small place values its customers/users while a larger one can just get the next guy and to hell with you.) Later, when back home, I found that my experience was not unique. As I was describing it to pharwarner he replied that he had the exact same experience.

Eventually we get a call and go to meet the folks will guide us to the wedding. Though we were introduced, and I think I asked again, I'm still not sure who they all were. I know they all were involved with faire(s) in one way or another. They asked what we did. We told them, we just go, no act or vending. A couple folks took the subway, and Jay and I, to my slight relief, had a ride in someone's car. This meant that while we were exposed to more NYC traffic, at least I didn't have fight with the damned metrocard again. On our way we saw a sign 'Soloft' for some business. Someone commented that in that traffic, Zoloft might be the thing needed by the time we got there.

[wedding and reception: this will be covered in another post]

After the reception was over, or at least in severe wind-down, a few of us were gathered and someone guided us some several blocks to another subway station. I told Jay he'd go through the turnstile after me this time, if it worked. To my utter astonishment, the thing actually worked that time. That was the first and only time I was on the Subway. Once on, it wasn't bad, though the automated messages about avoiding the closing doors got tiresome in awful hurry. Someone, perhaps Dr. Matt, remarked that looking over the city (if you can find a spot to do so) one sees that NYC has fifty layers and the ground is the common interface. No wonder it's so crowded at the street level.

We got back to the Canal Street Station. Walking along in the tunnel it reminded me a bit of the motor shop at L&S Electric when I was there one summer. It too was hot and had the distinctive smell of high power electric motors. And it was easier to escape, er, leave the station than to get into. Once back at the hotel, we pretty much collapsed... after getting more ice.

Sunday

We slept a bit late and Jay was watching an ebay auction (which he won: an Animaniacs teapot). We checked out, and took a taxi to michaelmink's place. His place was surprising in it's (lack of) size. It's about the size of our living room, and costs about twice what our house did. He owns the place, but not really, to my mind. It's like one of those gated communities, only built upward and wrapped in a single building. He has to deal management which isn't simply himself.

I gave him the Vegemite that Phar had sent, and got a large tin of cinnamon Altiods in return. (Yes, Phar, I expect I'll ship them to you.) We went out to a relatively nearby diner for late breakfast/early lunch. I asked Michael if I ordered a bagel there if I'd get the "real" thing. He suggested we find a bagel place, just to be sure. We did, or rather, he did. He also advised as to what variety was considered standard and what topping were acceptable. So I got a plain bagel with cream cheese. This was nearly another meal in itself. I can't quite describe it, but I can see how a New Yorker would be disappointed with what other places call bagels. They're not the same.

I listened to a couple Eddie Cantor tunes on Michael's iPod and we all watched bits of old (semi-)restored movies. Mac stuff was discussed. Some PC stuff. And the curiosity of Colgate's herbal toothpaste. No mint. I know a couple people who might want that, as they do not care for mint.

We used a car service to get to the airport. (In case anyone is wondering about the various methods of transport, Jay was seeing to it that I was exposed to as many variations as reasonably possible.) We spent some time in the President's Club (World Club thing but with another airline. Main difference seems to be that the World Club has you serve yourself drinks, the President's Club has a bartender). We had one more meal in NYC, at a deli type place in the airport.

The airport wait and flight is summed up in Seriously, what the hell?.

Once back in Minneapolis, we made our way to a hotel. We knew we'd be arriving too late to drive home, so we'd planned to stay overnight. I-494 never looked so... civilized.. to me. And the hotel room was the wide open spaces compared to where we had been the previous couple nights.

Monday

Woke up later than expected, but then we got in rather late. Checked out of the hotel. Later I realized I forgot a couple small items, but they were replaceable items (soap, shampoo - I don't care for some hotel supplied versions). Again, I-494 seemed oddly civilized. Granted, it wasn't the (anti-)rush hour. Still, while it wasn't "open road" it was open enough. We stopped at Emma Krumbee's (a rather bakery-ish kind of place) for breakfast on the way home.

We got back just in time for me to check the mail and drive to work for the afternoon.

Observations

The "New York Minute" seems to only apply to food service, where things are hurried due to the volume of customers - and that they need it to be fast, because any spare time they might have had gets spent trying going from point A to point B. Fast & slow are reversed. You can't get anywhere quickly, but once there you have to be quick.

You don't go anywhere directly. There is always a stop of some kind between where you are and where want to be. You can't just go someplace, you have to always go somewhere else first.

There is no such thing as a clean street.

There is no such thing as an empty or deserted street. Crowded is the default condition. At times, it gets more crowded.

Everything is expensive. Getting from to or from the airport, and around any distance, seems to cost $30+ unless by private car. And you will NOT want a private car. Where the hell would you put it? The subway is probably the cheapest, aside from walking (and expect to walk a LOT. If you need nice shoes, carry them and change when you get to where you're going if you are walking very far), if system works for you.

NYC traffic is a study in slow-motion turbulence. Someone who analyzes the flow patterns and comes up with the equations to describe them might have a good shot at the Nobel in mathematics or physics.

There is no quick way to escape. At least I didn't notice anything that even suggested the possibility of speedy access to civilization. (Many agree that civilization starts at city limits. There is disagreement as to which side of the line is what.)

NYC is very cosmopolitan. Cosmopolitan means that you rarely find someone who speaks English as you have come to know it. Even the accents - which will be different every time - will need translation.

I now understand Jay's quip about New York vs. Philadelphia: New Yorkers are loud and obnoxious. Philadelphians are loud and obnoxious and nice.

If you are not native to New York (or should have been...) you will leave impressed not at how well it works, but that it works at all. You also appreciate other places more. If you are a New Yorker, you're probably disagreeing with these comments. You were warned at the beginning.

New Yorkers think New York is a great place to live. Non-New Yorkers wonder how anyone can stand it.

The water is as good as claimed, at least when properly cold. It comes from outside the city.

Would I go to NYC again? Not anytime soon. I'd need more time. And more money. And probably a few more years worth of patience. And I wouldn't even consider it without a (native?) guide. NYC, even without seeing any of the "sights" is impressive and worth seeing. Even if only to confirm that you really don't belong there. I don't.

Comments

"nice place to visit..

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

but I wouldn't want to live there."

I'm from nothern NJ, about 25 minutes up Rt. 17 from The City, but try and visit every time I'm back. I usually blow a whole day in the Garment District, and it's not a true visit to NYC unless you've bought something hot off some guy on the street corner!

I was once in a NYC cab that actually drove up on the sidewalk to get around traffic! (and have had a life-long distrust of cabs ever since).