New York, New York... ~ The Americana Kitsch and Culture Tour

 

New York, New York... 

 

~ The Americana Kitsch and Culture Tour

~ originally posted 22 Jun 2011

Aloha MM's,  We are now near Lancaster, PA, which is Pennsylvania Dutch Country—Amish. Which is a totally different energy to New York, New York. In case you were wondering, so named because it's the city of New York in the State of New York.   NYC is KAPOW!!!! ENERGY...on high, in capital letters, with a zinger on the end.   The sheer energy of NYC is hard to convey in words. It is literally pulsing with energy. Aaron's cell phone battery gets drained two days in a row when we are in the city. We think that's what might be causing it or the phone needs a new battery. But yesterday after we leave NYC, it was back to normal. So, the energy of the city simply drained it.   It's no surprise really.   It's highly alive. Throbbing with the pulse of someone on speed. It's a cacophony of noise, energy, people, cars...    But strangely, rather than drive me nuts, it's compelling and energizing on some level. Like the battery in Aarons phone though, I come away drained after the 2 days we spent there.   We arrived into Jersey City where we were staying on Saturday afternoon. Right across the Hudson river from NYC. Despite being in the middle of this huge urban mass—where we are staying is actually pretty quiet. Every so often I can hear the light rail and the sounds of sirens wailing across the airwaves but otherwise it's fairly peaceful.   The Manhattan skyline from the Jersey Shore - the building being constructed is where the Twin Towers were Our first day in New York City—we get up early and get into it. One thing about big cities like this—they're usually really organized transportation wise. A short block from our RV Car-Park, is the light rail. We hop on that, and it takes us to the PATH close by. We then hop on that train and it takes us under the Hudson River to NYC itself. We emerge from the PATH, (the Port Authority something something) right into the World Trade Center site. At the moment it's a big hole with one building half built in it. They are half way there to 104 stories. Cripes!     There's no angst at the site that we can feel, which is unusual. But then it's been 10 years this year! A lot of cleansing and clearing has gone on previous to this time.       We are hungry, so we stop at a deli right by the site. It's a typical New York deli, selling cold cuts, hot meals, sandwiches, drinks, and snacks.   This deli was right in the middle of 9/11.   As we sit down, there is a memorial picture to that day. In color, there are four pictures of the second plane in time lapse photography as it heads for and hits the tower. Under that, what looks like a black and white photo of inside the deli on the day. Then you look closer and realize it's in color.   There is a cop leaning his bottom on the glass of the deli meat display case, his hands leaning on his own legs. He looks exhausted. His black hair and uniform is covered in grey dust and grime. Even his face has dust all over it.   In the background, there is a NYC Fire Department fireman in his protective coat. Between them, you can see the grimy floor from everyone's boots and shoes that have come in from the filthy street.   It happened right here. This Deli was in the middle of it. I imagine being in this building as the planes hit, the noise, then more noise, then the screams and smoke and debris. I imagine the people in here quietly going about their day, stacking potato chip packets in the racks, cooking hamburgers, slicing deli meat. All of a sudden, they hear a hell of a noise. They look at each other, like, what the hell and then look out the window. Going past their window is debris and dust is swirling already. They rush to the window and look up and say one sharp swear word or stand there in muted stunned silence as the horror unfolds around them—not really knowing what is going on.  I wonder if these are the same people that were here that day. I wonder how they coped. I wonder how the NYPD and the NY Fire Department coped. I take a picture later of a NYFD truck going past, a fireman hanging out the window. I wonder how it feels to be in this city now after the events of 9/11. I wonder about the firemen that were lost and the ones that were there and are alive. I wonder how they all coped.     I see several fire trucks go past at different times, flying a big American flag off the back of the tender. I get it.   The city feels changed to me.   Yes, it's still New York in all it's high energy and noise and action.   There are still yellow cabs everywhere you look. They're in MUCH better shape than I remember from last time I was here 15 years ago though. They were older then of course, but much more beaten up. Most of them had dings on every corner. These cabs are modern and in good nick. They seem uniformly the same now.          Even the hot dog sellers seem to be settling into some sort of uniformity as well. You used to get the old gnarly colorful hot dog sellers, who had sold on that corner for a hundred years. They had real dogs, not something you could easily get at a gas station microwave, anywhere USA. They had real Knish (a mashed potato dumpling in pastry, which are really really good.) Now, even they seem mass produced and they probably are. Perhaps the colorful guys have all retired?     I don't know whether it's the uniformity that seems to be happening everywhere or whether 9/11 hammered this city and people are being 'safer' or 'more reserved' on some level. When you go past the site, and you know where it was on Manhattan, you get a real sense of how much it must have punched New York's lights out.   What doesn't change largely about New York is the people.   They come in every size, shape, nationality, style, you can think of. It's a great place to people watch.   There are people everywhere. Times Square on a Monday is wall to wall people. The noise level is huge but somehow works. People, cars, construction, cabs, fire engines, NYPD cops... There are cop cars parked all over the place. Young baby faced beat cops in pairs, keeping an eye on things. Cops on horseback.         We stop to get lunch after the Harry Potter exhibition and there are about a dozen NYPD cars parked with half their backsides on the sidewalk facing out to the street. There are cops milling around everywhere. One cop has a clipboard, he is coordinating something. We go in to have our lunch and then they all pull out in unison, as a NYFD truck barrels past with a big American flag flying off the back of the tender. We wonder what is going on.  Despite this seeming chaos, there is also an order to the city. It has a highly efficient subway system, that for 7 bucks a day, you can ride anywhere on it, as many times as you like!           The Subway first started operating in 1904. They built the tunnels by ripping up the street and building underneath, then rebuilding the street on top of it. The subway that is the lowest down is 160 to 180 feet down, depending on who's telling the story. Every station has mosaic worked tiles that tell you the name of the station you are at.   Riding the subway is a breeze. We never got to find a subway map but always ended up where we were supposed to be. They are quick, easy to work out and for the most part, clean. Everyone uses them. There are businessmen looking incongruous in their suit and ties, with their briefcase and running shoes on. No doubt they keep their dress shoes in a drawer at work. People often have a belt and braces approach to riding the subway—they have a book they are reading AND an iPod headset on. There are always people who look like they are sleeping sitting up. Do they miss their stop? Or do they listen on some sub level to the station announcements, wake up and bound off the train.   As you come up to street level, the noise and energy hits you. It's non-stop but adds to the vibration of it all. As you walk along the sidewalk, the rumble of the subway comes up through the grates. In the winter, these grates have steam coming out of them. Remember Marilyn Monroes famous sexy blown dress shot! New York! There are horns honking, fire trucks wailing. American fire departments are also paramedics, so they are not only attending fires.    Our first stop is the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Ave. It's a HUGE museum. We go in and view the Egyptian stuff—hard to get too excited about it after seeing the real thing in Egypt though. And then the Impressionist Art which I usually like. This museum used to be WOW...but something is lacking here for some reason. I'm not crazy on their selection of art work. There are few omigod moments. Again, almost that touch of uniformity I am feeling and it leaves a dullness to the museum.   Cool street performers outside the Met Degas Van Gogh   We leave there and we have an indifferent hot dog as we go into Central Park. It's an enormous area uptown between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side on Manhattan. It's packed with people on a Sunday. Sunbathing, walking, riding, licking ice creams, pushing strollers, walking their dogs. Like France, people keep dogs in apartments here. You see dog walkers with several doggies on leashes being dragged along. The walker, not the dogs!    You can hire a row boat and beetle around the green lake. So called in our minds because it's a radioactive green, caused by the algae on the lake. Kind of pretty but you probably wouldn't want to take a dip in it. Although it can't be too murky because there are small fresh water turtles everywhere. A new theme on feeding the ducks, feed the turtles.     We walk up hill and down dale to Strawberry Fields, the round disc in the ground that says Imagine, a tribute to John Lennon. There are some yellow roses on it and guitarist nearby strumming out Lennons songs.    By now, our feet are killing us, we need to go to the bathroom and we're hungry. So, we stop at a Sushi Planet restaurant and unwind for a bit. Then onto Broadway and the famous Zabars Deli. An institution in New York and rightly so. I first came to this store 15 years ago and loved it then. I still love it. Now Aaron does too. :-)     It's ALIVE.   Thirty different barrels of olives and pickles! About a thousand different types of cheese from all over the world. And they let you taste anything you want! Aaron opts for a super creamy deliciously smelly blue... Oooooooh. So good. Then some hard Swiss, which sounds boring but oh boy. Sharp, and nutty and slightly pungent. Aaron decides one wedge of that blue just won't do. So we get another one. These guys know their stuff. They are truly what I expect from a deli like this. They know every single cheese they carry. You tell them what appeals to you in a cheese and they know what ones you would like. And they are dead on! I am always blown away by this level of expertise, it's so precious in this world of sameness and lacklustre customer service.     We add in some pate and crackers. We pass on the caviar. There's a lot to choose from. The American Sturgeon Caviar at 45.00 for 2 oz. (about 50gms) But that's pretty cheap really. The Desietra Farmed Authentic Caspian Osetra comes in at 145.00 for about 2 oz but today it's on special. Only 120.00 for 2 oz. Wow. What's fascinating about this, is that this is not an occasional item that people buy. It's in hot demand. Zabars have always stocked a good supply of different types of caviar and they've already sold out of the Siberian Osetra! So get in quick!       While I pass on the caviar—I tried it once and it wasn't for me. I do go for the Knish. Zabars Knish are really good! I get an onion and potato one and wish I'd gotten ten! I forget how jolly good they are. Yummmm.     We drift past the huge hessian sacks of coffee beans, open and inviting, just waiting to be bagged or ground for someone. The smell... Cor! The whole store is one big scented journey. We float out of there in a happy haze.     We head back downtown on the subway to mid-town. We get off in the theater district and go to the Rockefeller Center. This is the building that was financed and built by Rockefeller himself. The '29 stock market crash had just happened when he was putting all together. He decided to go ahead anyway and finance it all himself. He employed 75,000 people to build it. To some people he was a hero, providing jobs and energy for this city. When you see the classic pictures of the guys sitting on the girder having their lunch high above the city sky line. That is THIS building!     At the very top of it, they have a thing called 'Top of the Rock.' You get to go all the way to the top and see out over New York. It's pretty fabulous. You get a panoramic view of Manhattan island. From here, you get a clear view of the Empire State Building. But not as clear a shot of the Chrysler building, which we think is the most gorgeous and beautifully designed building in NYC. Central Park is spread out for you, a green oasis in the middle of packed city streets. It's pretty magnificent.   We hobble back to the Subway, and return to the other side of the river, exhausted but happy with the day.   Day 2 in the big smoke and we are moving a little slower this morning. We have a bagel for breakfast filled with sausage, egg and cheese and eat it on the wharf near the PATH. From here, we get a direct view across to NYC. We get the PATH over again and then subway to the Staten Island Ferry building close by. These ferries are big and they go every half an hour to every hour in the wee hours of the morning. Staten Island is a borough of New York City.   What's great about these ferries is: a) they go straight past the Statue of Liberty out there in the harbor and b) they are free. A zillion people wait in the boarding hall and I know that despite this, it will not be that crowded on the ferry, because no matter how many people are there, they get them all on very quickly and they spread out. Thank you Trip Advisor, our travel bible! And so it is.   We get on the top deck and sail past her in the haze that is already developing from the heat, humidity and smog. She's a great symbol. Her gorgeous and outstanding color comes from the copper she is made from. When the bright copper color of a new penny gets exposed to rain and weather, it becomes tarnished and turns that lovely green.     We found out from someone else that the tickets to go up to the crown are booked out until October. Holy moly! And the boats over there, to the island that she is on, are also at a premium. Other people in the RV park are going on this day and they have been given a 12.00 sailing, but can't get into the place until 3.30?? And there is NOTHING to do there, once you get there. A good book and a gallon of wine should probably be stuffed in your backpack. We are glad we opted for the Staten Island ferry. Not quite as close but still jolly good.   We get to Staten Island, hop off, walk around the building and come back in to board the same ferry again, going back. We have about 10 minutes to do this, so it's an easy off and on procedure. We sail past her again... By now, NYC is looking like pea soup in the not very distant distance.     We then catch the subway to mid-town and land right in Times Square. And it's hopping! Very vibrant and colorful and alive! We are off to the Harry Potter Exhibition. It has the famous Angle Box (Ford Anglia) car outside on display. Inside, it's an incredible collection and layout of pieces from the actual sets of the Harry Potter series. We get to sit in Hagrids chair. And see Robbie Coltranes costume, which seems ENORMOUS. I know Hagrid is half giant but it makes Robbie Coltrane seem about 7 and 1/2 feet tall. We get to pull up a Mandrake in the potting shed and hear them scream and shriek!  They have life like models of things like Dobby the free house elf, and Kreacher the house elf to the Blacks who were all dark wizards, other than Sirius, of course! These are usually computer generated. But to make it easier for the actors to see the size and space they take up, the modelers make 'real life' models of the creatures. These models are then photographed and used to generate the computer images you see. Quite fascinating how it all works.    We got to see all sorts of pieces from the set. Gorgeous costumes. The monster books. The wands. (In Olivanders shop afterwards, there are wand boxes stacked up and you can buy a replica of everyone's wand, very fun!) Dolores Umbridge—the pink lady's cat plates and her pink room and all the gear. Horrible woman but I love the explosion of pink. The Hogwarts train. Harrys glasses. Rons ghastly ball suit. It's hard to convey just how much they had and how well it was set up.   We get to hear how the set designers chose what they did. It's ALL beautifully done! They even have part of the great hall, with it's floating candles. We are most impressed with it. I marvel at how involved the set designers are with the films. How each character has a realness to them and how they consider each element they incorporate into their costumes and props. It's very fun.  While we are there, we get to go to Cake Boss Cafe, which is on the 2nd level down from the exhibition. There is only 2 people in line and they have the most popular things there at this tiny cafe. I watch a DVD on a day in Buddys life at Christmas time. Wowee. Boy, do they put in some work!!! It's phenomenal. I love to watch these guys ice and pipe. Like speed demons. So fast and accurate! Aaron gets us 3 of their famous lobster claws and a cupcake for me with a pretty pink flower in butter cream icing.     After this, we go and have our lunch and see the NYPD cop cars all lined up, coordinating some operation. By now, we are stuffed. We hop back on the Subway and break into the Carlos Bakery box. Aaron tries a lobster claw first, which is a slightly flattened large cornet shaped crispy pastry, filled with a butter cream. "They're dry," he says.   Damn, we say, disappointed, after all the hype.   I go for my cupcake.   "Oh, hang on," says Aaron. that was just the end of it, no, this is pretty good actually, it's filled with butter cream." Sounds of snuffling and munching are heard.  From both of us.   My cupcake is excellent. Beautifully moist, and the butter cream on top is delicious. I'm sold.   We go over to the Jersey side and decide to give Carlos Bakery one more shot in Hoboken. It's the city next to Jersey City, so it's not too hard. We go and see just how long the line is for Carlos bakery. Long...................... 40 minute wait the young guy tells us but he thinks it's moving fast. He's super pleasant and genuine and we assume he is part of Buddy's Familia because he's just so nice. My feet won't take it, so we snap some shots of the outside of the store and toddle off back to the light rail. We're glad we went to the Cafe in town!     So, this was New York on this trip and it was pretty fab, despite the uniformity I felt in some places. In others, it was still unique, happening, hustling, New York City.   That kind of energy always reminds me to LIVE. To be unique...to not give in to conformity or uniformity or other peoples ideas of what constitutes as a 'good idea.' It reminds me to be noisy. To be colorful. To not follow the crowd. To stand out. To suck in life, smog and all. Never mind if you're a bit buggered at the end of it.     In the words of someone:   Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways ~ Champagne in one hand ~ Chocolate in the other ~ body thoroughly used up, ~ totally worn out and screaming  "WOO HOO, What a Ride"  Subway escalators. They go a long way down!!! Quite the ride! :-)