DUKES FANS:
I’m Goin’ To New York (apologies to Jimmy Reed)
When I had graduated high school way
back in the dark ages (1968) I considered moving out of Philly. I had some friends
who went to college in interesting cities, so I spent a month in Boston and a
month in New York City trying to figure out in which city I should take up
residence. In the end, though, I decided not to move to either one. Boston had
a great folk music scene at the time, but it seemed too insular and was too racist.
New York also had a great music scene, but it was getting expensive and it had
too many scenes of all types going on loudly and constantly. I truly felt that
if I stayed in Manhattan I would either go crazy with over stimulation or just
be worn out. So I came back to Philly, and I am glad I did. One of the things I
love about Philly is that you can put your own scene together here, and it is
easy to navigate between scenes. It is even possible to take a vacation from a
scene or scenes on occasion, and I do that some times as well. But I still
absolutely love visiting New York City-Manhattan to be precise. I am one of
those stereotypical, “Couldn’t live there, but love visiting” folks you hear so
much about. Six or seven times a year I take off for the Apple, usually for a
day trip and occasionally for a weekend. I always have a grand time, and this
past weekend was no exception. My wife and I spent a joyous Manhattan weekend
of wonderful things to do and see, great food, good weather, and great places
to walk. I love that town!
We went
up for a Saturday morning Friends of the High Line members tour of the High
Line, that wonderful “railroad park in the sky’ that has brought so much wonder
and joy to people from New York and around the world. I was introduced to the
Line in 2012 by a Dukes fan familiar with my love of cities, and I have visited
the High Line just about every time I have returned to New York. Like getting
food from a street vendor in front of the Metropolitan Museum, it is one of the
New York things that I simply must do when I am in Manhattan. Saturday was a
chance to meet other members of the Friends of the High Line and to get some
behind the scenes detail and history on a guided walk on the Line. Jeff, our
guide, was enthusiastic and energetic, and the group was a nice mix of age,
gender, and ethnicity. Jeff had great information on the history of the Line and on how and why certain plants worked in the park and others didn’t, do so
well. He also pointed out some small details about specific parts of the line
that I had not noticed before, and those were great surprises for me. Like me, Jeff, loves the way
the High Line is an urban park-intentionally
designed to bring in the city and to be a part of all that its urban setting has
to offer. Central Park, that other great New York park, was designed to help
remove folks from the city-it came about when cities viewed parks as providing relief
from the crowds, noise, smells and pollution of mid-19th century city
life. And it does that job magnificently. The High Line, on the other hand, wants
to let the city in; to more fully immerse a person into the city and all of its chaotic
energy and beauty. The two are not polar opposites to me; I love both parks and
both purposes. Each park does its job incredibly well, and together the two present
me with a more complete picture of what being in a city can be. I get plenty of
pleasure from both.
The Line on Saturday was its usual wonderful
self. Languages from all over the world were heard, people of all different ages
were out and enjoying the day, and the plantings and design features of the
line were beautifully present. The plants, trees and flowers were dazzling, the
sculptures and wall paintings were breathtaking, and the views of the skyline
and the rooftops of downtown NY were crystal clear. I was again amazed at the magnificent
views the Line offers of the city. New York has a staggering amount of rooftop
gardens, and the High Line allows one to see many of them. There are rooftop
palm trees, vegetable gardens, colorful flowers, meadows and more. There are
also the wonderful, challenging and, “What the hell is that!?” examples of New
York City architecture all visible from the Line. There were also new additions
and installations to the line since I had last visited three months ago. They
keep changing and adding to the place so it is never boring or tiring. Saturday
was simply a wondrous day to be on the Line; there were great views, great conversations
and plenty of wonder to be had.
Our weekend
also featured good food and good walking. Our hotel was on the Upper West Side,
so we had easy access to Harlem and Marcus Samuelson’s Red Rooster restaurant
at 125th and Lenox Ave. My wife recently read his autobiography,
made one of the recipes from his cookbook, and watched several TV shows about him.
To say she was excited to visit one of his restaurants is an understatement. We met
my niece there for lunch on Friday. and it was just a fantastic experience. It
was a delicious, full flavored meal in a setting with a great waitstaff, unique
indoor and outdoor décor, and bathrooms filled with wonderful snapshots and
postcards of everyday moments in African-American life. The whole place seemed to
surround us with fun, joy and love. And because New York is New York, we also ate
at a Peruvian-Chinese place on Friday night, Sullivan’s Bakery, one of my favorite
coffee houses, Saturday afternoon, a great old-style French restaurant on Saturday night, and a Mexican coffeehouse/diner for brunch Sunday
morning. Wow! I remember growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s when it was unusual for
someone to eat across cultures. Going to New York always makes me appreciative of
the Immigration Act of 1965. That Act dropped quotas on immigrants and allowed more
folks into the US from many different cultures. That in turn has enabled us to widen
our food experiences to foods from around the world. It has radically broadened the American palate, and no place
makes that clearer than New York City.
We
followed each meal with nice long walks around the different neighborhoods we
ate in-Harlem, Chelsea, the Upper West Side and South of Houston (SOHO). Each neighborhood
has its little architectural gems -great brownstones with columns and
incredible stone carvings in Harlem and on the West Side, some cute townhouses and
multi-level structures in Chelsea and SOHO, and more. As in most cities “up” was
the direction to look as we walked because columns, rooftops, upper story
windows and cornices frequently displayed wonderfully detailed work by stonemasons.
It was as if the designers were painters who had signed their work near the top
of the canvas instead of the bottom. That quietly adds majesty and solidity to
so many of the city’s older buildings.
Overall,
then, we thoroughly enjoyed some of the pleasures and unique features that make
New York City what it is. Yes, there are real problems there, as there are in
all cities and, in fact, as there are in many types of places in the US. And, yes,
ugliness can arise. But I never want to lose site of the magic, innovation, sense
of surprise, beauty and boundless energy that cities embody. For me cities are amazing
creations that can produce some amazingly wonderful things and allow for experiences
that one would be hard-pressed to have in any other type of location. It was a
joy to drink in so much of what one of the world’s great cities had to offer
over a glorious summer weekend. It was a gift that we totally enjoyed.
(Here are a couple of links to some of what we saw
in NYC:
