NEW YORK FROM A NATIVE’S PERSPECTIVE
My friend, Peter, grew up in New York City but had not been back for many years, the last time being when his father died. Since he is a “dyed in the wool” Yankees fan, however, he decided he MUST go back to “his” city to experience one of the last games in Yankee Stadium before it was torn down. He asked if I would like to come with him, so it was a fun few days to see the city again from one who knew it so well.
We arrived on Tuesday night after I finished speaking for the Disney Leadership Conference in Orlando. The next day we began our “tour” from the Marriott Marquis in the theatre district right in Times Square where we stayed by walking to Macy’s, the largest store in the world. It is several stories high and takes up an entire city block. (Peter was VERY patient all day to let me do some shopping as we explored Fifth Avenue!)
Next we walked to the Empire State Building, and since Peter had a VIP pass, we were treated very well – no waiting in lines and the opportunity to go to the 102nd tower floor where we could see the spectacular view of the city with no crowds. It was so interesting to have Peter point out all the different landmarks from such a bird’s eye perspective. It was especially fascinating to see Central Park and how much extremely valuable land the city has preserved for the people to enjoy. When we finished taking our pictures, the official photographer took one of the two of us which turned out really well, and then of course I had to spend some time in the gift shop for the grandchildren!
We then walked up Fifth Avenue from 34th to 59th streets, stopping in at Lord and Taylor, Saks, and many of the small boutique stores along the way. One of the things that freaked me out at first was that no one pays much attention to the street lights – they just cross the street whenever there are no cars close by. Peter had to just about drag me across when the light was still red (I am SUCH a rule follower)! 😉 We had a quick lunch at Subway (Peter’s restaurant of choice for his lunch every day.) and then stopped by the tents which had been erected for New York Fashion Week. We watched several of the models coming and going but could not get into the shows without tickets. I did inquire how Erin might be able to volunteer sometime in the future. For anyone interested, you can send in your resume’ at mercedesbenzfashionweek.com.
One of the highlights of the day for me was a stop at the American Girl store where I had such fun looking at all the dolls and the many different outfits, rooms of furniture and accessories they had for them. It made me want to be a little girl again! And of course, I had to get a few things for my grand daughter, Kinsey. There are only three stores from what I could find out – in Chicago, New York, and LA. It was amazing to see three floors of dolls, including a restaurant where you can take your doll for lunch, a theatre of shows about the dolls, a beauty parlor, and even a doll hospital. Oh, my, perhaps we all just have too much money these days…but I still LOVED it! 😉
We stopped at the brand new Nine West store on Fifth Avenue and I found a matching purple, red, and black snakeskin purse, shoes, and belt, so I was thrilled…and Peter continued to be patient! Later we went by Peter’s private prep school, the Rhodes School, a lovely old mansion which now is a trust company and an historical landmark. While we were standing on the steps taking pictures, a lovely woman and her husband came by. She stopped and said that SHE had also graduated from Rhodes, which was amazing since it only had very small classes. No matter where I am in the world, I always seem to find someone who has some kind of connection – even on the subway to the Yankees game, we met a couple from Sarasota. “Six degrees of Separation” seems to be true! Peter was asked twice today if he was Bill Gates..I guess there is some resemblance and that would probably only happen in New York City.
Other stops included St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the gorgeous Plaza Hotel (I remembered the “Madeleine” books I had read the girls), and Trump Tower. My favorite of all was the Apple store which was all glass with a huge lit Apple symbol hanging from the top. Even the elevator was a round glass sphere, so the entire store was transparent. It was packed with people and must have had 50 samples of the new iphone for customers to try. What a goldmine!
We then had a wonderful dinner at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant (what better place for Peter, whose home is practically a Yankees’ shrine, to stop to eat!). As we were walking back to the hotel, we passed a movie theater which was surrounded by cameras and limos and found out that it was the Premiere of “Righteous Killer” with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. When they told us that the stars would be leaving soon, we decided to wait with the rest of the crowd — we were lucky to be right at the front. Although it took about 45 minutes, we got to see Ice T., Tracy Morgan, Richard Belzer, John Avca, the Director, Chevy Chase, Rascal Flats, and 50 Cents (not sure who he was but the guys around us told us…). We got some pictures, too, which was fun – I guess a typical night in NYC!
On the way home we stopped at the M and M store – unbelievable to have three floors of nothing but M and M merchandise and of course, huge tubes of every color of M and M’s possible. What must visitors to this country for the first time think of us?????
Later that night we heard a lot of noise from our hotel windows. There was a parade of motorcycles filing down Broadway, two by two, that lasted for over 30 minutes. Since it was about midnight on September 10, we decided they must be there for the ceremonies at Ground Zero. We were both exhausted from all the walking, but what a wonderful day it was!
We spent the next day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was a special delight since I had read “The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler” many times to the children when they were young. It was the story of two kids who hid out in this museum for several days while they solved a mystery. Remembering how they slept in King Louis’ bed, stood on the toilet seats in the restrooms when Security closed the museum for the night, and fished money out of the fountains to use in the vending machines for dinner, really made me smile when I actually SAW some of these places! It is a lovely, serene place, and my favorites were the authentic rooms of furniture and the impressionist paintings. They had a special exhibit on the roof by a sculptor who created a gigantic balloon dog out of shiny green metal as well as a huge package of a heart tied with a bow. We especially enjoyed a “Highlights” tour and spent most of the day there.
That night we ate dinner at Charley O’s and then went to see “Jersey Boys.” It is the story of Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons. We LOVED it – the music, the story, and the interesting staging. The songs brought back many memories, but it was sad to learn how difficult Frankie’s life was, even though he became so successful. There is a special thrill to think that you are actually seeing a Broadway show RIGHT ON BROADWAY! 😉
On Friday we spent most of the day at the American Museum of Natural History and the Planetarium. The IMAX show was about the collision of meteorites and was very interesting and even a bit scary, thinking of what might happen if a large one hit the earth. It was fun to see what Peter remembered about coming to these places as a child and then seeing all the changes that had taken place. My favorite place here was the Gem room where they have the Star of India, the largest star sapphire in the world.
That night we ate dinner at the Blue Fin and then went to see “Boeing, Boeing” which had been recommended. It is a delightful comedy about a man in Paris who is engaged to three different flight attendants, one Italian, one German, and one American. When a friend comes to visit , he explains how he keeps all three happy since their schedules are all different and what a wonderful life it is. Of course, while the friend is there, all three show up at the same time, and it is hilarious to see how they try to keep them all away from one another -a light show but fun!
On Saturday Peter wanted to get an early start since the game began at 1:00, so we left for the subway about 10:00 am. It was an interesting ride with huge crowds already there when we arrived, so they had already closed Memorial park which was a disappointment to Peter – turned out to be over 58,000 people at the game. I was very surprised that Peter did not wear any of his Yankee stuff as everyone there, it seemed, had Yankee shirts and hats. However, since they were playing the Tampa Bay Rays, his loyalty was divided, especially since it looks like the Rays will be in the playoffs and NY does not have a chance. Anyway, the Rays won 7 – 0 which made him happy. Also, Jeter had three hits that game and three more that night, so he only has a few more hits (3, I think) to beat Lou Gehrig’s record of the most hits in Yankee Stadium. This was the 10th to the last game before the stadium will be torn down. Peter had many memories of going there as a boy to see all the games, so this was a “dream come true” for him.
After the game we had dinner at Carmine’s, an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood which has the largest servings I have ever seen! Then we spent the rest of the evening packing. I am going on to Denver for Ken Blanchard’s Board meetings and then to Grand Junction, CO, to see my mother, and finally, to speak to the Nebraska Society for Human Resource Management convention in Omaha, NE, on Friday.
Peter was a wonderful sport and filled up his empty suitcase space with all the things I bought on the trip since he is going directly home. (He lovingly told me on the phone at the airport – we were going out of different terminals-that his bag was 4 pounds overweight-which, of course, was all my fault!!!!) He truly is the best sport and a wonderful traveling companion. I loved having someone there to carry my bags, get breakfast, run errands, and do all the planning! And I truly learned to love New York City. I can’t wait to go back again.
To learn more about Barbara’s adventures, go to www.barbaraglanz.com.
