New York And Points East

This place is amazing. New York, contrary to what you’ve heard, is actually in the United States, and not some kind of foreign county. Amazing stuff.

New York was one of the early capitals of our country, now home to eight million fellow Americans, each of whom is very busy living their own life.

You enter the city from a long staircase ascending from the train station and are immediately thrown into the melting pot. For a West Texan, you will hear more accents, languages, opinions, and personal conversations than you would in a year. Everyone is in a rush and it’s all very beautiful, in its own way.

New York, Our Urban National Park

To anyone travelling east this summer, let me just advise you to treat New York more like you would visiting a rural National Park than you would any other city. It’s far more cost-and-time effective to go by foot or by subway to your many destinations. Though you’re in the midst of capitalist abundance, you’re probably not trying to spend absolutely all your hard-earned cash. Travel prepared to be self sufficient during your stay.

I recommend a good pair of shoes with thick socks, something a little bit more than the flat soled sneakers I was bopping around in, which after about 23,000 steps a day left me with sore legs and hotspots. A water bottle, some snacks, a backup phone battery. Unless you’re visiting during the dog days of summer, I would recommend a light jacket, and maybe a poncho for unexpected rainfall.

There is going to be almost too much to do; focus in on two or three sights you want to see, and give yourself plenty of time to-and-fro to catch your breath, and catch the next express.

Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan is accessible by foot and a short subway ride. If you’re worried about knowing what to do or where to go, let your instinct guide you. I visited the New York Public Library. Currently it has a great exhibition about the history of the New Yorker magazine. Then I walked a few streets up and found myself right in the middle of Times Square, without even trying to get there. If you get bored, just pick a direction and start walking.

It’s always good to come home, but I’ll admit that I miss the city already. I miss seeing so many different people, overhearing so many conversations, only having to walk a short distance for anything you want or need.

Of course, every trip has its downside. You would think, for instance, that in the richest city in America there would be a few more places you could use the bathroom without having to pay 20 dollars for a sandwich. I frequented Bryant Park, the nicest spot in Midtown, not only for its environs but it’s well-maintained bathroom. At one point, on my third day in a row visiting, the lady attending the bathroom said “Oh here comes William again for the bathroom.” I’m just going to chalk this up to a Twilight Zone moment because I never once introduced myself.

City Life

I wish I could sit here and rattle off all the off-hand conversations I got the chance to overhear during the trip, but each one was more interesting than the last.

You’ll see the richest people on earth striding past in woolen peacoats, coffees and shopping bags in hand. The poorest people in America living right alongside them. People who don’t have money enough for shoes. Bring a few spare dollars for them.

You will hear them discuss the pros and cons of spending the summer in Martha’s Vineyard or Fire Island. They will talk about how they’re supposed to get money to pay for the kid’s medicine. You will hear them discussing topics you only know about because you read it in a foreign newspaper, with the added understanding that they know someone involved in the story.

A New Sense of Fear Is Present As well

One story that dominated the spirit of the city while I was there was the ongoing case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia student and human rights activist who is currently imprisoned in Louisiana for his civil disobedience.

People spoke in hushed tones, and I overheard many more talking about friends or family that they knew who attended the Palestine protests last summer, fearing that their political involvement might land them in detention like Mr. Khalil.

All this in a city where columns are plastered with posters sharing the names and faces of the Israeli Hostages being held by Hamas. Many of these faces and names were hometown kids. A tense backdrop to say the least.

St. Patrick’s Day

Monday was St. Patrick’s Day. The day before I was finding green four-leaf clover hats and empty pints of Jack Daniels abandoned in the streets. Irish pride all around. I was half-hoping that John McEnroe would appear suddenly in Penn Station like a leprechaun.

The Irish tomfoolery resulted in one incident in the 34^th and 8^th Ave Starbucks, where a man wearing a kilt and sporting a set of bagpipes walked in. The coffee shop was about the size of our living rooms back in Texas, and so every patron including myself started to get a little nervous that he might start playing. Also, I thought bagpipes were Scottish?

Just as that thought left my mind, he began playing “Rose of Kelvingrove”, and quite poorly.

I’m not a bagpipe aficionado by any means, but I think he might have had a few too many, or needed some more lessons. Either way, we all tried to contain our annoyance hoping that maybe he would give up soon.

Finally, one gentleman stood up and cussed him out.

This started a heated disagreement that had to be settled by an NYPD officer who was picking up his order. Finally, he ended his reed-fueled assault on our ears and then spent the next few minutes complaining loudly to someone on the phone that “everyone was having a GREAT TIME until some JERK had to RUIN it”.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was the high point of my trip, and somewhere any student of history could find themselves walking around for hours on-end.

The first floor was devoted to some of the most incredible artifacts I’ve ever seen. Jewelry and Iconography from the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empires. Arms and Armor from every major Kingdom and Duchy going back into the stone age. Horse bridles and bits that dated back to the 11^th century BC.

The second floor featured paintings, lots of museum patrons had their easels set up, working furiously copying the masters. Can you imagine getting to copy Rembrandt’s self-portrait while it hung right there in front of you?

Central Park

To keep my sanity during the trip, Central Park was very necessary.

Midtown was exhilarating. But I begin to develop a very bitter mood indeed if I go more than 72 hours without soaking in some nature. And while Central Park is of course a very well maintained and controlled environment, it was kind of like going on a safari trip.

Instead of giraffes leaning over and monkeys trying to steal your camera, the people are the main attraction. Thousands of people streamed along the main thoroughfare while horse-drawn carriages, bikes, and runners sped past. For a people-watcher, this was like the World Cup.

And of course, the Squirrels.

Not only are Central Park Squirrels a different breed, they’re downright pushy.

At one point, I saw the little creature stalking my position for a good ten minutes, convinced that I was sitting on his stash spot. He eventually lost interest when a fighting duo of squirrels fell from fifteen feet above and crashed onto the ground in front of me, in what could only be described as a Jackie Chan like stunt sequence.

Why Visit The Big Apple?

I think a lot of our current fixations on political affiliation lead us to dismiss New York City, instead of embracing it for what it is, the cultural capital of America, and the beloved home of millions of our fellow citizens.

The issues that consume their thinking are just as important to our understanding of our current moment as the issues we grapple with back home. If you get a chance to walk the streets and see for yourself, you’ll see all the same feelings and dreams that you feel in their eyes. And I hope that if any New Yorkers are reading this, they can see us simple “country folk” as complexly and lovingly as I saw them during my visit.

While I can’t say I’d like to live in New York City, I think a lot of what made it so great could easily be brought back to our local communities. The sense of togetherness, the public good, the focus on arts and culture. It’s what makes New York the kind of city that will probably still be relevant for hundreds of years to come, and one worth visiting and studying. I hope I get a chance to return soon.