NBC Universal Television Distribution, Freeform, Warner Bros., HBO Enterprises, Orion Pictures
This week I got to visit New York on a work trip. For five years I pounded those Manhattan sidewalks before moving West. Now every time I go back, I feel like an ex-girlfriend doing a drive by past my old boyfriend’s house. Does he miss me? Has he moved on? Is he different? Am I different? Why did we break up again?
The skyline, unmatched by any other, is pure exhilaration. From the taxi cab windows, across bridges and highways, the first sight of the skyline, however far in the distance, draws you in with excitement. Work landed me in Edgewater, New Jersey, the perfect location to drink in the skyline. Across the water, I could even see the lady of the house, Lady Liberty. The moment we wrapped that evening, I took a car to the city.
With only hours to spare, I was determined to do a great loop, as big of a hit, as luxurious a drive by as possible. I stepped out in Alphabet C for a slice, walked past Katz in the Lower East Side, clutched my heart in NoHo while gazing at a poster that read ‘New York or Nowhere’, strolled through Soho packed tight with cars honking to get to the tunnel, made my way to the old hood, the West Village, for the best slice on earth–Joes, daydreamed of living in Greenwich Village–on Jane Street naturally (or Bedford near the Cherry Lane Theater), assessed all the changes in the Meatpacking and the Highline districts, cruised through Chelsea, in a masochistic moment, wrestled through Times Square, stuck one foot in Central Park, reveled in Columbus Circle, and marveled the new architectural feats on the West Side Highway.
I walked the streets of New York with my heart in my hands– under scaffolding, pounding over metal grates, with savory scents redirecting my path at every turn. The restaurants were packed, buzzing with lively conversation, cocktails clinking, and plates overflowing–every vice on proud display.
After eleven miles and legs that begged for mercy, I expertly hailed a cab (I’m so proud of this skill I should add it to my resume). On the moonlit drive home with my ex moving further in the rearview, I contemplated how it had changed–new restaurants, closed restaurants, new faces, and wildly different architecture. But the important things remain–there is no other feeling like walking the streets of New York. Your stride and posture change with undeniable pride, unwavering confidence, childlike wonder, adult-ass ambition, and over-the-moon excitement. In LA, you work to change yourself, in New York, the city changes you. I suppose I needed to do the work on my own, but damn, I love a city lights makeover.