anotheranon | the sprawl (Reply)

Just got back from NYC. Overwhelming! My mind and eyes are still tired from so many things.

The most noticeable thing about New York is there is so damn much of it. None of it is uniform, which is a relief when you live in place festooned with strip malls and see the same thing over and over. My first impression was Gibson's descriptions of "the Sprawl" crossed with "Blade Runner" and the party cruise-spaceship from "Fifth Element" (though the latter was probably closer to my first impression of the hotel).

It's not clean. The streets are worse than DC's. For me it was completely overwhelming, busier than any city I've ever been in (take with grain of salt, I've not traveled much).

It was friendly, or at least there was more person to person interaction - less road traffic than pedestrian traffic so there are a lot of people on the street at any given time.

In short, I like it :) There is so much, I did not see nearly enough. And the drive was amazingly short (4 hours?). Must go back eventually!

Highlights:

The Hotel: We stayed at the Hudson by Ian Schrager. First impression: I wasn't sure we weren't entering a club, and was quite sure that neither of us were pretty or young enough to be there! All slick dark wood and extremely clean and minimal (designed entirely by Phillip Starck). Library, bar, and restaurant - every evening all of these were packed, by hotel visitors and non. Our room was tiny but immaculate.
The food: everywhere we ate was great. The best restaurant was Milon, where K. and her man the "other D." took us Friday. Imagine a small Indian restaurant with spectacular food, the interior densely decorated like a red Xmas tree (with little red pepper-shaped lights) and acid/techno/bhangra piped in. Just nothing else quite like it!
The transportation - cabs were quick and despite stereotypes the cabbies weren't rude. We only used the subway once, but it was enough to make me wish I had no sense of smell whatsoever.
The sights: we didn't do much of the typical touristy things. We went to the Cooper Hewitt and saw an exhibit of 1920s-40s housewares by Russell Wright (no relation to Frank Lloyd, but similar elegant natural style). I did get to the New York Vintage Fashion Show and IMHO it was better than any museum in that I could go up and touch things, look very closely. Most of the booths were 20th century, seemed to be a lot more 1920s (vintage Chinese silk brocades!) and 1960s vintage than anything else. One vendor had 5 1960s Courreges jackets, many had vintage Pucci. One vendor just dealt with 1920s/30s silk lingerie (swooon!). I was very careful though, left no sticky fingerprints or anything.

Took a short walk in Central Park after the Cooper Hewitt - we were both getting tired by that point so we didn't stay long. We did pass by a bridge seen in the movie "The Fisher King" (more pop cultural references!) and then we gave up and got a cab.

I saw the Empire State Building and State of Liberty from a distance, but made no effort to go to either. Given recent events I had no desire to be near or in a tall building in NYC.

Speaking of which....

Yes, we did to go the site of the former World Trade towers. I never saw them when they were still there (first trip to NYC), but it was obvious that there had been something in that huge space. I cannot imagine how tall they might have been; I am still amazed that on cloudy days some of the remaining skyscrapers fade into the sky.

The area was surrounded by trailers and construction equipment, and nearby buildings were draped - partly in mourning, partly repairs (I guess). Across the street was a cemetery gate to which waterproof paper had been attached. It was completely filled with memorials people had written or pasted.

D. took some good pictures.

I don't think they should rebuild - the site is effectively a graveyard. A memorial would be more fitting. However, real estate values being what they are in NYC, who can say what will ultimately happen?
The shopping: yeah, I shopped - how could I not? Century 21 - evidently this shop is only "New York's Best Kept Secret" to people not from New York - the place is a designer discount outlet and was packed, but had major international designers (JPG, Vivienne Tam, DarylK, Moschino, D&G, etc.) at truly reasonable prices. In 99X, D. has found a place in the continental US to get his beloved classic Pumas! Possibly the strangest place was Ricky's, a sort of beauty supply/five and dime/Archie McPhee's/sex shop combination near our hotel. The site gives a hint of the vibe there, but the brick and mortar must be seen to be believed - any concievable rude t-shirt, wig style or length of false eyelashes can be found here.

We never did get to the Vivienne Westwood shop. Thank <deity>, I spent enough as it is!
The company: It was great to see K. again, it had been years but we seemed to pick up just where we left off. She seems to enjoy the city and she knows her way around quite well! Also got to meet her D. and actually have more than 5 seconds to talk to him. Cool guy. And they are so cute together!!

Despite the tiny room and constant companionship, D. and I did not get on each other's nerves too much. The one complaint is that I kept trying to get him to have an opinion on our plans, when he was giving me free reign to be a selfish bitch and set the pace - something I'll have to learn to be better at ;)

So now I am home. I am tired, sticky (rain!), and doing laundry.

I had a great time, even if I'm still trying to "process" the weekend. But there's no place like home.