My only real regret about choosing to leave my job so soon is that I will have to leave NYC without having had a chance to explore more. How many people get the chance to live in Manhattan? I am SO lucky to have had this opportunity. I got to live in one of the most amazing cities in the world!
Moving here was not as big of an adjustment as you might think. My real transition happened when I moved to Philly four years ago. THAT was a real transition getting used to city life. Moving to NYC was a bit overwhelming at first because it was so much bigger but in many ways NYC is an easier place to live than Philly. Well, more convenient anyway. Public transportation, restaurants and conveniences are much closer and easier to get to. I mean seriously within a three block radius of my house there are probably seven laundry places, three frozen yogurt places, five drug stores, four banks, two movie theatres, two bookstores, three Starbucks, three liquor stores, four Chinese massage places, a post office, a McDonalds, a fantastic hardware store and at least one restaurant for every ethnic food known to mankind. If I go five to six blocks I get to a Goodwill, two great parks (including Central Park), a river walk, the NYC library, the Met and one of the most convenient subway lines in the city. How fantastic is that? To top it all off I have a fabulous one bedroom apartment that was recently renovated, has lots of closet space (by NYC standards), two big windows with trees and sun outside (remember it’s about the little things in the city) and it’s only on the third floor so I only have to climb two flights of stairs. Woo hoo!
Sadly, my job did not leave me a lot of time to really explore the city properly. The fact that I moved here in the dead of winter and this spring was one of the rainiest on record didn’t help matters. Before you boo-hoo for me I have gotten to explore some things. I’ve at least passed through most major neighborhoods in the city – I even walked from 90th street all the way down to Battery Park - that’s about ¾ the length of Manhattan (thanks Susan!!), I’ve trekked to Queens and Brooklyn, gone to two plays and a musical and taken a boot camp class held on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Despite this small dent I’ve made in exploring the city I have decided to make it a priority to do something in the city every day for the next two weeks until my move. On my list: Coney Island/Brighton Beach, Roosevelt Island, more of Central Park, The Museum of the City of NY, the Bronx Zoo, The NY Transit Museum, the Chelsea Highline Park, Staten Island Ferry, yoga in Bryant Park, Broadway in Bryant Park, and two more musicals. I also have a few iconic restaurants on the list and any ethnic food I can’t easily get other places (Moroccan, Vietnamese, Ukrainian food anyone?). The best part? I can do all this and sleep in my own bed at night. It may sound weird but it kinda reminds me of being on the ship. I got to explore some amazingly iconic cities around the world while sleeping in my own bed all the while – who could ask for anything more?
So what has been my favorite part of NYC so far? The diversity and converging of many cultures all in one place has definitely been one of the most interesting and exciting parts of the city. It is no exaggeration to say that at least 65% of the time when I’m walking down the street I do not hear English being spoken. Not too unique, right? What is unique is that it is not just one or two languages that I hear being spoken but multitudes. Turkish, Mandarin, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, Vietnamese, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Greek…and I could go on and on. It’s not uncommon that I hear three to four different languages being spoken just during my walk to the subway. Where else in the world does that happen on a regular basis in almost every neighborhood?
Well if I’m going to get through my NYC list before the end of next week I better stop typing and get going. I’m actually hoping that this amazingly low humidity perfect weather lets up by sometime next week otherwise it is going to feel really difficult to turn the keys to my apartment over to the Super. I hope that each of you get the chance to experience the diversity, energy and excitement that is New York City at least once during your life!!
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