Only in NYC

Blessings, Star Sightings and Observations from a Newcomer to the City (updated irregularly)

We lived in New York City for seven weeks during  summer 2010.  We moved to Brooklyn in January 2011, then to Manhattan in September 2011.

• Watched Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith film a scene for Men in Black III in Battery Park in May 2011
• Went to a taping of The Nate Berkus Show in September 2011 which aired in October 2011
• Watched a Lady Gaga video shoot near my apartment in September 2011
• Held up my “my 3 words” sign for Good Morning America in Times Square October 2011.  A TV intern then handed me tickets for a taping of ABC’s new show, The Chew, in October 2011
• Went to a taping of LIVE! With Regis and Kelly (yes, Regis co-hosted that day) November 2011
• Went down to the Occupy Wall Street protest (It doesn’t smell very good)
• While on a GrayLine bus tour of NYC, saw “the Bat-Plane” for the latest Batman movie in November 2011

Summer 2010 Blessings

• We have a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment.
• Our building is in Mid Town – Location, location, location!
• There’s a train stop 20 feet from our entrance, and a different train stop a block away.
• Most of the daily shopping we need is right around us (though I haven’t found a place for fresh produce yet).
• We have 6 windows.
• From 3 of our windows we can see both sky AND trees!
• There’s a little public square below our windows with seating, tables and several trees!
• We have a dishwasher and a new-ish microwave oven
• We have a structured “program” to help introduce and orient us to the City and to popular tourist spots.
• The third floor of our building has a “laundry mat” which means we don’t have to carry our dirty laundry down the street.

Summer 2010 Sighting of Famous and Near-Famous People

• Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlin, George Stephanopoulus on Friday 11 June 2010 at Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series
• Constantine Maroulis on Sunday 13 June 2010 at the Times Square live celebration of the Tony Awards
• Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump on Monday 14 June 2010 outside my apartment building filming a spot for The Apprentice
• Laura Bennett, the Season 3 Project Runway Runner-Up, on Tuesday 29 June 2010 on Broadway near W 33rd Street.  We were walking in opposite directions and I nearly said “hello” as we passed each other because she looked so familiar.  It was only after we walked by each other that I realized I recognized her from the show and she has no idea who I am.
• The Naked Cowboy on Saturday 3 July 2010 in Times Square.  I walked right by him as he was singing and playing his guitar.  And no, he’s not completely naked.  He wears boots, white briefs, a guitar and his cowboy hat.
• The Naked Cowgirl – make that 2 Naked Cowgirls – on Saturday 3 July 2010 in Times Square.  So, rumor has it that the Naked Cowboy is suing the Naked Cowgirl over brand infringement or something.  But I saw two.  And they were two very different cowgirls.  And yes, they, too aren’t fully naked (we don’t do that here in the States).  But I will say one was more clothed than the other – yikes.

Summer 2010 Observations

• It’s true:  The City Never Sleeps.  Someone is always up and walking around on the streets below our apartment.  Cars, taxis, and buses are always on the street.  It is NEVER quiet in our neighborhood.
• Everyone surrenders some “rights” to live here, like their right to personal space.
• Everyone has to “be a good neighbor” to live well in the City.  People talk softly, if at all, on the trains.  If you speak loudly, you’re the odd one.
• New Yorkers are proud of their City and many will help you figure out how to get where you need to go.
• Even with having a subway system, I do a LOT of walking.  Good shoes are important, and high heels seem impractical.  Unless you take taxis.  And I don’t.
• When I leave my apartment in the morning, it could be 12 hours or more before I come home, and I need to carry all that with me, all day.  I don’t have a car to store my items in.
• When I go shopping, I have to be able to carry my groceries home by myself. There’s no car to leave them in while I unload each bag.
• I’m a taller than our refrigerator.
• “Home” doesn’t simply begin when you turn your key in your door lock.  As soon as you enter your apartment building, you drop your voice in the hallways to respect that you’re walking into a shared living space as you make your way to your apartment.
• I get tired (really tired) around 2pm.  Exhausted.  But drinking coffee in the afternoon doesn’t keep me up all night anymore.  When my head hits the pillow, I’m asleep!
• All the misfits fit in here.
• I wash my hands a lot more.  Whenever I arrive somewhere, my first stop is in the restroom to wash the grime and filth of the subway off of my hands.
• Like most people, I tend to touch my face/head a lot (studies show that adults tend to touch their faces/heads about 17x an hour!), but I’d really like to break that habit, considering what my hands end up touching.
• There are 5 lanes of traffic in the same direction below our windows.
• The City is always reinventing itself: new construction!
• I’ve felt safe so far.
• The contents of our refrigerator:  ½ gallon of skim milk, ½ gallon of orange juice, 1 opened can of Diet Coke, 1 apple.
• While on the subway in the morning of Day 3, I saw two  people reading their Bibles and one of them had a copy of Our Daily Bread.
• Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge gives you gorgeous views of the City.  And the ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is wonderful.  Last night we could choose from eight flavors.
• Your Metro Card is a precious commodity.
• One of the worst offenses you could commit is to waste a New Yorker’s time.  (One application of that truth:  Get your Metro Card ready BEFORE you get to the turnstiles.)
• I have a hard time telling what time it is at night because the City lights are so bright.  It’s a bit disorienting for me.
• It didn’t even take two weeks for me (Sarah) to blend in so well to NYC:  I’ve started scowling and growling at people who get in my way when I’m walking.  I’m not proud of that fact.
• When I wake up, my ankles ache.  That’s not normal, is it?
• I found the access to the rooftop!  It’s through the leasing office on the 25th floor.
• I sunburn really easily on top of skyscrapers.  I think it has something to do with being so high up and surrounded by reflective metal.  It took 35 minutes to get my first skyscraper sunburn.