my city (lyn)

How can you not love New York?

I know, I know.  There are the crowds.  The noise.  The expensive rents.  The lack of space.  No backyards.  And probably other things I’m blind to.  But there are so many things that make New York the greatest city in the world.  It’s not my intention to list them here.  I couldn’t.  But I feel lucky, everyday, to wake up in a city I adore.

I have lived in other envious places, but none compare.  Boston is a beautiful, historic city, but when I lived there, it felt too small and I felt too old (I was 30).  I love Chicago but not its geography (no ocean).  Portland Oregon is gorgeous, but it rains too much and the Pacific is not swimmable (too cold).

Even with no money, New York can be lived with wonder.  I have many good friends.  Through them, or even alone, I can explore this city every day in new ways.  I see free movies before they are in theaters.  I listen to top talent and headline celebrities interviewed.  It costs me nothing. I see big Broadway plays in elegant Times Square theaters.  I go to hole-in-the wall off-Broadway houses to see some of the best performances on stage (like last night at the small Rattlestick theater where you have to cross the stage to get to the one unisex bathroom).  I eat at signature restaurants where an unadorned steak is $45.  I go to a non-descript neighborhood of Queens and have a an amazing $15 steak dinner, including dessert.

I currently have a list of five exhibits I want to see before they close in January.**  My hope is to go to at least two.  History suggests I will go to none.

Robyn calls this morning and invites me on a free tour (given by a docent who is a friend of Penny’s) at the Museum of Art and Design.  I’m tempted, but I really want to stay home and do nothing as I have been out for the past five nights.  Staying home is a luxury in a city where there is so much to do.

I can walk out my door and within a few blocks, see a movie, go to Fairway, have a manicure, buy some gorgeous clothes at Pachute, look at the newest Apple offerings at Best Buy, have my choice of restaurants, stop by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or walk through Central Park.

But today, I plan to stay home, make a nice steak for dinner, read my junky novel (You’re Next by Gregg Hurwitz), season my new wok, and catch up on missed phone calls.

But should I change my mind, all I need to do is step out my front door and a wondrous world awaits me.

** Here are the five exhibits on my list:

1. Guggenheim:  Maurizio Cattelan, thru January 22
2. The New Museum:  Carsten Höller, thru January 15
3. The Center for International Photography:  Remembering 9/11 and Harper’s Bazaar--A Decade of Style, thru January 8
4. The Brooklyn Museum: Youth and Beauty, thru January 29
5. NY Public Library for the Performing Arts: The Birth of Movie Promotion, thru February 25