Never in New York

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Even though I live in Philadelphia and New York is a 90 minute, cheap Bolt bus ride away (meaning that technically, I could do a day trip to Manhattan, returning in the evening), I've only been to the city maybe a little more than a handful of times in the nine-ish years that I've lived here. And I never seriously considered living in NY, even though I'm envious of people who do. Whenever I make a visit, I imagine a different life for myself, how I could have been more adventurous and moved there and lived in a roach infested studio apartment above Korean grocery store for $600 a month (or more now), but how that might have been braver or riskier and a more interesting choice. But then I remind myself that I lived in Chicago for five years. Chicago is like the country-bumpkin half sister of Manhattan--it barely counts by comparison, but it was an anonymous place and had a much more sophisticated El system than Philly does. New York just seems light years more cosmopolitan. You go into any corner grocery store and they have to have everything. They have to have bagels and lox and green grapes and orange soda in a glass bottle and bedroom slippers. In Philadelphia, you got into a bodega and can get maybe a milk that's going to expire in four hours. And the people are more interesting--they are super beautiful and possibly famous and/or they are impoverished and wearing a full suit made out of garbage bags with the twist ties in their hair. I could have moved to New York, but I thought I might end up in one of those ugly, huge, crumbling high rises whose windows don't open so you can't even jump out of them.  So, let's just make it a goal to visit more often.

Dan and I went last weekend, and here are some photos.

Bad logo by our hotel. Looks like the dog has swallowed the cat.


Dan in our hotel room at Pod. You could see the bathroom from the bed. He's in the shower in this photo.

Steps of some famous building or other.

Times Square around 6 PM.


Times Square two hours later.
In Bryan Park, people-watching. 
What happens to your bike if you leave it abandoned for more than 24 hours.

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