When I first entered New York, I carried a weird suitcase, I mean, travel bag, well, really a kind of a shopping bag on wheels which I didn’t exactly carry, but dragged behind me. It made a terrible noise. I was wearing a chequered red and blue coat and a blue shawl covered with green exotic flowers.
Afro-American men (or maybe completely African) were playing drums in underground corridors. People hurried somewhere paying no or little attention to my loud bag or their African drums. I felt calm, free to make head-splitting noises, and all alone. This is how I felt throughout my stay in New York, even after leaving my belongings at a friend’s house.
I’ve always wanted to see the world, but my stories about different countries are always a mixture of what I really did there and what I should have done.
What I really did is baby-sit in the district of North Bronx, in a small quarter full of synagogues, nice houses, secondary schools and lorries and vans of ice-cream sellers. When I told the friend who found the job I wasn’t Jewish, she answered in their usual way that nobody was perfect, and explained to me the basics of Kosher (really fascinating, including dividing the cutlery in three parts, for meat, fish and milk products, among other things).
The family was very friendly, both born Americans, Orthodox Jewish, believers and synagogue goers. I stayed with two-year old Benjamin or went for a walk with the baby (it’s easy to forget the name of someone you never talk to!).
When my workday was over I went to the city centre, which was quite far away from where I stayed (that was in another part of North Bronx). I took the metro. You can imagine what New York metro looks like if you’ve watched the movie “While you were sleeping”. It appears in some other movies as well.
I didn’t really feel at ease in Manhattan. Walking down a huge big street packed with yellow taxis, where everybody is busy and in a hurry, and the buildings are so tall they look like they are about to crash on your head made me feel helpless and small. Frank McCourt conveyed the feeling beautifully in “’Tis”: read it or you will never know what a poor man feels like in New York. Though times were different, and I am not conventionally poor, - I was just young and couldn’t afford staying in New York, but went anyway.
How magic is the Fifth Avenue. How beautiful the Saint Patrick’s reflected in the Olympic Tower. How proud the skyscrapers viewed from the Brooklyn Bridge (a magnificent view!). New York is one of the most loved and hated places in the world. And I’ve been there.
I went to the Museum of Modern Art. Got lost in Harlem (I constantly got lost but this one was quite an experience). Saw the fire in the World Trade Centre (caught sight of some people covered with ash and went to see where they came from). One of the biggest snowfalls in New York made me stay for a week more than I expected.
I saw the night view from the Empire State Building, that romantic (oh Sleepless In Seattle) and, as Roughguides put it, “potent” 103 floor symbol of New York. The skyscraper is one of the most elegant structures of Manhattan, and the views are superb.
The Central Park, place where the disappointing movie “Autumn in New York” starts and ends (by the way, the movie-makers are unfair, I went to see the colours of autumn in New York and some photography in it actually wasn’t bad, but… oops, this is no film review!!)…
What I meant is, the Central Park is dear to the heart of every decent New Yorker. A popular place for family picnics and lonely walks; a huge island of nature in the middle of the fast-moving city. Divided in two parts by the Reservoir, it offers numerous attractions in its Southern part and ideal places for long strolls and good walking tours in its Northern part.
The Times Square is another popular place to visit and wonder at, with advertising is all over it, most of it cool and unusual.
Now when my review is coming to an end (it cannot last forever, can it?) I finally understand I wasn’t able to explain a tenth part of the exciting, breathtaking things I’ve seen and done in New York. So if I didn’t even tell you about my actual experiences, what did I mean talking about things I should have done?..
Well, one thing I will tell you: I’ve never seen Manhattan from the window of a helicopter. But I will next time. And I’ll do much more. I’ll listen to jazz at Greenwich Village. Go to SoHo. I’ll take the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty (haven’t come close yet). I will eat dinner somewhere in The Little Italy and stay longer in China Town. When I was very young, my mother told me that if you throw a coin into a fountain in some city, it means you will return there some day. I left half my coins in all the New York fountains I could encounter. Quite a silly way of spending your money I reckon, but I hope my mother was right…
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