After my whole life of being a Native New Yorker, I now finally realize why I was born in the city and raised outside of it: I LOVE NYC! I am a total New York City girl, there was a reason why I was born on the Upper East Side & never ventured further ever since :) I could stroll the streets of the city all day & night and just marvel at the gorgeous skyscrapers, parks, churches, stores, etc........Last night was perfect. I call it a "Misty Monday" evening. Midtown East is one of my favorite areas to get lost in!
It was nice & cool outside. Instead of actual down pouring of rain, it was this light mistiness that felt so refreshing! Almost like you were spraying your face with a Squeeze Breeze bottle. Do any of you remember that growing up? It was a water bottle with a little makeshift fan on top that you could spray water & the fan at the same time? I remember having one as a child when I went to camp.
I am loving what I see now! Fall is definitely here! Beanies, jackets with faux fur, leather (pleather,) knee length boots! Bring it ;) I think that the fashion for the cold weather is so picturesque, especially white. White jackets and the like bring out the beauty of the snow.
The image of NYC is that people think it is fast paced and people are in a hurry to get to places. I exemplify this statement. No one walks faster than me! I have three speeds: fast, faster, fastest. I find that most people walk slow though, so I have no idea how this idea came into place! New York City is not for everyone, I'll admit that. The Subway (MTA) is a whole new world. For someone coming from another planet such as a small mid western state from a small town on a farm, I would not be surprised if they experience shell shock. I have friends who grew up not too far from here and they have phobias of crowds & how busy it is here (to put it mildly.)
I love the fact that I DO NOT need a car! As a matter of fact, it is so unnecessary that to have a car that it would be more of an obligation (kind of like a acrimonious marriage.) Parking is non existent, the traffic is a nightmare, and with all of the mass transit such as subways, buses, cabs, walking, etc....what is the reason? It never ceases to amaze me when some people act surprised when I tell them that I do not have a car, especially when they are originally from here as well.
I feel like Midtown East is the location of my second home a.k.a. Grand Central Station. Growing up in Westchester County, I have always commuted via train from Grand Central Station. I had the pleasure of this grandiose, historical, beautifully colossal sized building being the first thing I saw in the morning to the last thing I would see coming home. I still venture in and around Grand Central and could never grow tired of marveling at how ornate and spectacular this train station truly is. I don't think calling it, "Grand Central Terminal" or "Grand Central Train Station" does it any justice. It is more like the Buckingham Palace of New York City. It feels like you're walking in a never ending museum with marble floors, stairways and the like. When you look all the way up to the infinitely high ceiling in the center of the station you see all the constellations of the sky and it is truly a great imitation of the actual sky. There are never ending boutiques/marketplaces, restaurants, etc. all around you and in what seems like hidden tunnels. One of the most famous landmarks is home there, too: Oyster Bar, which is is the major part of what makes Grand Central so historical.
I have been so fortunate to have grown up taking Metro North and having this wonderland be my home away from home. Every time I am there I imagine what it must feel like for all the tourists from all walks of life scattered around me think when they take pictures & selfies to capture the moment of seeing such a dazzling, historical piece of history that helped make NYC what it is today. Weddings even take place there with photographers circling around the bride & groom while they express their commitment of their never ending love for everyone inside this "station" to see.
I can't help but think of the antithesis of what I just described, which is Penn Station in Midtown West. People that commute via train that are from Long Island and New Jersey I always feel bad for. If you ever been to Penn Station as well as Grand Central, you would know exactly what I am talking about. I compare it to the nine circles of hell from Dante's Inferno by Dante Aligierii. Dante's Inferno is a 14th Century religious allegory which takes place in Italy and was originally written in Italian. A person venturing from Midtown West where Penn Station is located all the way to Midtown East where Grand Central Station is could feel the way Dante did in his book when he got lost in the forest and attempted to climb up the mountain where the sun was shining on it, but as he was climbing it he was blocked by three beasts. As Dante attempts to turn around to resume back to the darkened woods he is greeted by the ghost of Virgil who is the great Roman poet and comes to Dante's rescue. He tells Dante he will help him get back on his path to the top of the mountain but the hitch is that they are going to go through hell to eventually get to heaven. Needless to say, Penn Station is the opening gates of hell and Grand Central is the opening gates of heaven!!!
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