Your Quintessential New York Experience
 

Howard R and BeachBoi gave me this idea :)
Why don't we all post our Quintessential New York Experience? What made it so " only in New York" to you? And let us know if it was as a tourist or NYer~ Thanks~

Scarlett-- cute thread idea! Most of my quintessential NY moments come during business travel, but....

-- Leaving a cocktail party at the (old) Regal UN to catch a taxi to Port Authority. The cab gets immediately cut off by another driver, which leads to the whole crosstown trip being a shouting match between my (Russian?) cab driver and a mouthy young woman from New Jersey. My cab driver's English was certainly fluent in all the curse words.

-- Waiting for a train in the Christopher Street subway station at 4 AM with a group of four girls who, apropos of nothing, started singing-- not for money, just to entertain everyone.

-- Tagging along on a friend's business trip, heading to the Metropolitan Museum Saturday afternoon. Looking at the art being sold on the street outside the Met, going in and being barked at by the guards ("No flash photography!"), getting a cab ride through Central Park (slowest cab ride ever).

-- First trip, going to the Village Vanguard to hear Kenny Barron's quartet. Getting lost while walking in the Village, ending up in the Pleasure Chest asking for directions ("Just up the block. Wanna buy anything?"-- They weren't selling toys I could easily put in carry-on luggage....). Getting into the VV, and getting barked at by a surly bartender ("What'll it be?!").

-- Most recently, going into town with my mom, meeting up with her in Penn Station. She said "We'll meet at Starbucks." Go to the Starbucks at LIRR, there's Mom with bags of toys she bought off of a sidewalk vendor. Toys that must have fallen off of a truck, if you know what I mean. She's flush with shopping triumph. I razz her all the way back to Trenton (to pick up her car): "You're gonna do ALL your Xmas shopping that way, aren't ya?!"

The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center all lit up and the ice skaters down below.....

Visited NY for the first time this June. My favorite thing was being on top of the Empire State Building at midnight. It was so beautiful and the best part was I didn't realize before going that it's open-air on top. I have a great picture with an extra glow over the Times Square area.

1) Morning rush hour on the A train, one of the old ones with the long benches under the windows.

Train is packed, but one bench is partly occupied by a hobo lying down and sleeping off last night's booze and/or drugs. Needless to say, he isn't emitting the most pleasant odor... A guy shakes him awake, says something like "sit up - the train is full"! The hobo says OK and does as told and before you know it he's sitting & jammed in between commuters in their business suits.

2) Years ago, breaking down in a checker cab on the on-ramp to the Triboro after a transatlantic flight. The tow truck refused to take us so we ended up perched on the raised median (with all our luggage), trying to hail a cab???!!! This being NY, one actually stopped (not that there was a shoulder or anything mind you). The driver just said "bet you were glad I came by".

3) Checking out the obscenely sized cakes in the rotating display at the Carnegie Deli after OD'ing on pastrami.

Andre

Oh These are Sooo great! Thank you! ((F))
Keep em comin~

My favorite only-in-NY experience is more than 20 years old, but still happening today, so here goes!

When I was single, I took the train down to the city from Boston. Arrived past midnight to meet up with my friend, who had an apartment he shared with a million other friends who were all in the midst of their first jobs...Friends, decades before the show came out!! LOL

I was starving and was sure nothing would be open so late...was I ever wrong. We cruised the streets until we found something we liked, and had dinner...at 3 AM. It was a really cool restaurant with a full-sized racing car right in the middle, just for decoration! And it was packed with people and so lively. I'll never forget how thrilled I was with my big city moment (okay, okay, I was only in my early twenties then, but it's still a great memory!).

Mine is one of several birthdays spent in NYC, but this is the only one I have spent there with my husband.

We spent the morning walking all over the city, stopping for lunch at an outdoor cafe in Little Italy, then continuing on. We must have walked ten miles that day, and it was great to show him one of my favorite cities.

That evening, we got dressed up and had a wonderful, elegant dinner at One if By Land, Two if By Sea. After dinner, we had drinks at a very quaint cigar bar in the village, then went to the top of the Empire State Building. There we admired the splendid view of Manhattan and it's bridges. Before heading down again, I tossed from the top of the buidling a rose that was given to me earlier in the evening and watched it float into the distant night.

Of course, the whole day was quintessential because of where I was and who I was with, but there was something about having a fabulous meal and drinks, and then watching a beautiful rose blend in the breeze with the skyline of Manhattan.

This is a TRUE story!
About six years ago, when I lived in NY, a friend and I did an all-night bar/club hop from the Upper West Side down to the Village.
We were on a city bus about 2:30 a.m. on Broadway in the East Village when the bus driver starts screaming at some guy attempting to board the bus.
"Are you crazy? Don't bring that sh.. on this bus," the bus driver yelled.
So me and the other passengers peeked out the window to see what the guy (who looked like David Berkowitz) had that was so offensive. On first glance it appeared to be a small dog, but upon closer inspection the guy had a rat on a leash. (A very well-behaved rat, tho).
After a lot of laughter, the bus continued on and rat man walked off into the NY nite. Gotta love the Apple!

Paid my first visit to NY as an 7 year old in 1964. We went to the New York World's Fair.

I still remember a lot about that trip, the Fair, and the city. In the parlance of the day, it was keen!

As a tourist visiting New York some years ago, our quintessential experience was dinner and the theater.

We weren't sure whether to dress up or go casual that evening, but decided to dress nicely for our dinner at the Sea Grill. We were glad we did since everyone there seemed to be in formal business attire. We had a great window table overlooking the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center and enjoyed their crab cakes with mustard sauce and key lime pie.

Grabbed a quick cab ride to the theater and saw Phantom of the Opera where we felt overdressed, had a leisurely walk back to the NY Hilton from Times Square, and sat in the hotel bar for a drink before retiring for the evening.

How do you pick just one :?

My earliest recollection as a kid-going with my Grandmother to Macy's to see Santa Claus, then lunch at Horn & Hardart.

Early teenager-being given tickets to the Beatle's concert at the Paramount before they returned to UK after their first tour. It was a benefit so everyone was dressed up in stockings & heels :)). The noise in the place was deafening. At one point my Mother (who refused to let me go unescorted) thought the balcony was going to collapse on us.

Most recent-my birthday celebration with hubby. The Picasso/Matisse exhibit at the Met followed by drinks & lunch at the Stanhope (where we were married) sitting at the outdoor cafe watching the passing parade.

Since I helped inspire this thread, I suppose I should contribute. On the Tavern on the Green Thread I cited three examples that to me would constitute quintessential New York City experiences--spending a date at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, dinner at Chez Josephine and the theater and roaming the streets of the city taking pictures.
As far as one defining or most memorable experience, that took place a few years ago. My wife and I already had theater tickets and dinner reservations for the day. We came to midtown early. Having a plan in mind, I convinced her to stroll Fifth Avenue, ending up at Tiffany's. Since we were well dressed, I suggested we go in. Encouraging her to look at and try on some rings, I then put her in near shock when I informed her that she could have an early birthday present. Her look, her smile.....that was indeed my quintessential NYC experience. (PS: It was my first and, to this day, only purchase at Tiffany's!)

Thank you Howard for inspiring this thread and for such a lovely story ((L))

Every day . . . every day in New York is an awesome experience. Just waking up is an adrenaline rush. But . . .

If I had to pick one, I'd say: My father & I (young teen-ager), suite at the Plaza, stretch limo, dinner at Sardi's then Phantom with Michael Crawford & Sarah Brightman, then a huge chocolate malt at Rumplemeyer's. Thanks Dad! You rock!

I rarely go to New York in the winter -- this Florida guy just can't take the cold, but two or three years ago we went up for a week between Christmas and New Years. We arrived and it was freezing. We bought gloves and scarves from a street vendor. Just as we rounded the corner by Rockefeller Center and saw the tree -- it started snowing. I never knew that tears could freeze on your face.

This thread is terrific! And Gekko, you said it...every day is amazing here.

One of my favorites has to be Christmas last year. We had a huge snowstorm that night. Of course the only thing to do was bundle up and take our dog to Central Park. It was truly a winter wonderland of snow weighing down the tree branches and covering everything in a soft white blanket. Of course we were not the only ones with this idea, children with sleds and families building snowmen at midnight on Christmas...I'm hoping for a repeat performance this year.

Thanks Scarlett for starting such a great thread, and to HowardR for inspiring it!

I am loving these stories!

Only been there once, but what memorable New York only experiences: walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and taking pictures of Manhattan, with the twin towers dominating the skyline, strolling the streets in Little Italy during the Feast of San Gennero, seeing all of the Pulitzer Prize winning photos displayed at the Newseum, learning what our ancestors went through coming to Ellis Island from the old country, and soaking up the atmosphere of such an exciting city!

Back when I was a NYer... getting mugged in the Bronx. I told my muggers I had no cash, but they were stupid enough to take a check.

1) getting a slice of pizza at Joe's down on 7th Ave South by Father Demo Way - so sure that that one of the young guys yakking it up at the countr with his buddies was someone I recognized from my hometown that I was about to walk up and ask him where we knew each other from - stopped short of doing that when I realized it was actually Cuba Gooding Jr (who was having a great time with his buddies not being pestered by anyone and I was not about to interrupt).

2) my birthday date of two years ago - my GF at the time chartered a limo to pick me up at my NJ apt - took us for a massage at Body Central on University Place, to the New Museum for one of thjose bizarre art shows that you'd see only in NYC (e.g. a piece called "Air Above White Pedastel" - it consisted of... you guessed it - a white pedestal with nothing on it!).... then to Danube for an unbelievable dinner, off Broadway after dinner for "Under The Lintel" (great one man show) and home to her car on the ferry which crosses the Hudson. I guess I should have held on to that GF but it wasn't meant to be. None the less....it was the kind of birthday I couldn't possibly have had anywhere else

Good thread topic - I could ramble on at length on this but I'll just get wistful - had to move away from NYC area a few months ago and I still miss it intensely.

Years ago sitting at the bar at The Oak Bar at The Plaza Hotel, I realized I was sitting next to Oleg Cassini. He talked to me for a long time and had some rather colorful stories!

I was strolling down 5th Ave where all the expensive shops are. I was drawn by a dashing older woman sitting on a bench near a shop window's lavish display of women's shoes. I looked over at her, and she suddenly gave me the loveliest smile I have truly ever seen...her smile conveyed so much ..but you could easily narrow it down to....."isnt this just grand?!"
Well...my feet left the ground as it does many times when I visit New York. And I often wonder who is that lucky man she might have been there waiting for.

Driving past the skyline of lower Manhattan at midnight (had just left NYC via Holland Tunnel & was on the access ramp to the TPK), having THE BEST view of the Statue of Liberty and the WTC (this was in early 2001), and thinking "Wow, this is the greatest, most profound skyline in the whole world!!"

A few years ago. . . just flew in to JFK, hopped a cab. The cab is headed into the worst stretch of highway in NYC at the worst time of day--the Van Wyck Expressway at rush hour.

Our cabbie knows his business. He is squeezing into the smallest openings between cars and lanes, checking the traffic report, working the service road like a pro, on again, off again. We never stop moving though all around us seem at a standstill.

Based on traffic, he takes us via the Grand Central Parkway past LGA to head for the BQE. Here his supreme skill and knowledge reach an crescendo. Just before LGA he exits into a gas station, speeds forward through the station, and then reenters the parkway. We save 500 yards of bumper-to-bumper stopped traffic.

Silent to this point my companion and I excalim, "Wow!" The cabbie shares his story--38 years at the wheel.

=D>

How do I pick just one?

A couple of months ago I went out for Jamaican food with 8 of my good friends from work. We were talking, laugihng, and enjoying ourselves, and then I realized the funniest thing...I was the only person in the group who was born in America. Not only that...all 9 of us were from different countries!

Certainly one of the greatest things about NYC is the people!

I can't match those written by the inspired author Helene Hanff in "Letter from New York" but here's one of mine.

I was walking up Fifth Avenue and this short man was walking ahead of me, hat pulled down over his face. This man was kvetching to his partner about how messed up the world was and there must not be a God. I sped up to pass this goon and when I looked over it was Woody Allen and Soon-Yi. I looked around to see if there was a camera, but there was none in sight!

I went to NYU in the 80's and loved walking around Greenwich Village . One day I ended up by battery park and went to the statute of liberty and then came back and went to the top of the towers. what a view.

Melissa

Scarlett - this thread was a fantastic idea!
Years ago in my [newly] single days, went to NYC with a friend/co-worker and stayed at the Algonquin. She decided I needed to learn to "pick up guys." We sat down in the lobby bar for smart cocktails and immediately attracted the attention of a nicely-dressed gentleman who eventually joined us and suggested we ought to get together later - he had some kind of business to attend to for an hour or so first. The elevator operator (do they still have those??) watched benevolently from the sidelines, and assured me, after the gentleman had excused himself, that he was a regular guest at the hotel and seemed respectable enough. Despite these sterling references I panicked after a while and decided we had better hide before he returned, lest he become more insistent on whatever he meant by "getting together."
We went up to our room and watched a few movies on TV. Eventually we got hungry, but realized it was long past the regular dinner hour. I knew the Stage Deli was open late (I had been to New York a couple of times and therefore was extremely sophisticated about these matters) and asked our pal the elevator man for directions.
I'm going to divide this post into two parts because it's getting long. Please stay tuned.

Part two: The elevator operator told us "The Stage Deli is too far. Don't bother going there. The Muffin Burger up on 6th is open and it's only a block away." We were nervous about walking around so late at night, but he kindly watched us from the doorway of the hotel until we had arrived safely at the well-lit intersection.
The Muffin Burger was indeed open, doing a brisk trade in awful hotdogs and coleslaw; the clientele seemed to consist of slick-looking men with very tall large-boned black women wearing evening gowns. The "women" would disappear for a few minutes every so often and then return, handing cash over to their escorts. It didn't take us too long to figure out what was happening, and the crowd was quite friendly and prepared to chat with us so long as we didn't interfere with business. We had a great evening. Could it possibly have happened anywhere else?

Visiting the Statue of Liberty in person was the most amazing thing to me. Every american should make at least one visit to see her. I still get choked up thinking about it. New York is such a magical city, my husband and I just can't get enough of it. When you visit, it just captures you. When you leave, you miss it. We would move to Manhattan if life would allow it, but at this time it doesn't. There is no other city that speaks like New York City. It's a mecca for everything, food, business, fashion, theatre, you name it. Each time we go back I always have a new agenda. There is always something new to do. I can't wait to bring our children someday (especially at Christmas time) and have them fall in love like we have.

Two trips come to mind...

Also, when teaching a seminar in Oct 2000 at the UN to a delegation of Egyptian customs officials. Outside 5000 Jewish high school students were protesting something about the UN's involvement in the Middle East (I forgot exactly what). My class was visably concerned and distracted by the size of the crowd and the noise on the street below. The demonstration was peaceful just loud.

And then came the news that the USS Cole has been the target of a terrorist attack. The Egyptians were shaken but because of language barriers I couldn't quite interpret their emotions. I was shaken myself. One of the delegates asked that we stop to pray for peace. We did silently and then the seminar continued. Everyone remained tense and I finished up as fast as I could.

I wish I could say that we bonded and somehow advanced the cause of understanding and peace in the world but we didn't. It was just too tense, we couldn't communicate well enough except through the intrepreter, the gaps were too wide. I guess I thought that they would express shock, concern, outrage at the attack but they didn't.

2. Visiting my brother's office that overlooked the World Trade Center site on December 27, 2001. His office windows were sealed with duct tape to keep out the dust. He had rearranged his office furniture so that he no longer faced his once treasured view. We had just finished retracing his steps from Sept 11. It was horrifying realizing how close he had been to it all.

On the lighter side, the same trip we happened to catch the very last ride of the evening on the carousel in Central Park. The operator treated us to a very extended "Goooooooooooooooooooooood Niiiiiiigggghhhhhtttttttt. And dont' forget to hoollllddddddddddd yoooooooour hooooooorrrrrreeeeeeeesssssssss!!! Now get the hell out of here!!!" Very funny.

Scarlett -- what a great post!

Whenever I think of NYC, this favorite memory always comes to mind...

I'd visited NYC a few times, however on this one particular trip, right after college graduation, we were driving into NYC on a late Friday night to visit friends. Right when you see the Statue of Liberty, WTC, and the magnificent lower Manhatten skyline, the jazz verion of "On Broadway" happened to come on the radio -- it couldn't have been timed better if I'd planned it. I was awestruck! Even though I saw the skyline a few times before, this particular song at the time where I had all these new experiences was just awesome.

There is so much energy & excitement to the city, everytime I go I feel like I'm there for the first time...

I was lucky enough to go to the top of the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day about 10 years ago...tried to enjoy it, but boy was it cold :-)

QuintEssential Moment #1:

Very lst trip to NY: I'm very young. It's 1961. It's every damned thing I'd ever dreamed! The streets of Murray Hill (still my favorite neighborhood)
...and everywhere else...live up to every nth of every expectation. We see West Side Story with Carol Lawrence and My Fair Lady (unfortunately, Julie Andrews has moved on, but it's still a knock-out of a show...)

The UN General Assembly is in opening session. Khrushchev is in town (banging shoes on tables). Castro is staying around the corner. There are cheering mobs assembled nightly outside our windows -(friend and I are lodging at the Tatham House (then Y) at 38th/Lex). They chant CASTRO! CASTRO!
Mounted police officers on crowd control chat us up and offer take us out for an after-hours tour of
"Haaaaa-LEM." Still an offer I wished we'd taken up.

Motorcades screech up the rain-spattered pavement on 1st Avenue as we sit in a cozy Italian restaurant and watch all the action. I wade in the Seagram House fountain. I LOVE New York!

QE Moment #2:

One year later: This time the friend I've travelled with has screwed me over and after managing to spare me only a Sunday supper and a Weds matinee, announces she's going back home with Mummy and Daddy. I'm stuck in New York...alone. I'm 20 y.o. and dammit, I'm not going to be daunted. I sightsee. I go to the theater alone. I dine in nice restaurants alone and refuse to let it intimidate me. A co-worker I'm acquainted with in Chicago is coming thru the w/e I'm scheduled to leave. We get together for lunch. It stretches into dinner. Acquaintance-ship blossoms. (Hold on, guys - it's still only the early 60s...) But exactly because he doesn't press any advantage, I start thinking, Damn! He's nice!! And keep thinking. And we start dating.

We celebrated our 40th "NY Anniversary" last spring, standing at the same spot above the Rockefeller Center ice rink where he'd first asked me out to dinner...and it will be 38 years of marriage this December. Is NY great or what???

Arjay, nice memories. I have to admit that you reminded me of another fave NYC moment.

It was another birthday I spent in Manhattan and a good friend of mine was the costume manager for Victor Victoria at the time. His being very good friends with Julie Andrews, he was able to secure my friend and I tickets for the show, and gave us a tour of the set and dressing rooms beforehand.

After the show, he brought us backstage to chat with Blake Edwards until Julie was finished changing out of her last costume. Then, we got to talk with Julie and have some photos taken with her. The clincher was that Julie gave me a framed, autographed print of herself saying "Best Wishes on your Birthday."

It was truly a birthday to remember, not to mention a NYC quintessential experience.

Thirty years ago I was standing in a telephone booth with the man to whom I am now married. We were looking through the Village Voice at ads for apartments, with the thought of subletting one for the summer while he was taking classes in the city and before I started law school in Boston. A couple approached us, looking much like ourselves, in their early twenties. "Are you looking for an apartment? We're going hiking for the summer in the Rockies, would you like to sublet ours?"

We ended up spending the summer in their apartment on the top and hottest floor of a newly renovated building on 14th Street across from a bodega where guys sat outside all day in their undershirts commenting to us on the heat every time we passed by. The strangers who had approached us about the apartment trusted us on sight, and we spent the summer creating many of those quintessential New York experiences.

Hmm... this post seems to have disappeared, so here goes again for another NY experience I forgot to mention above:

Walking around Colombus Circle late at night and coming across a homeless man pushing his meagre life's posessions <b>on a grand piano!</b>

Only in NY

Andre

I'm a native and it's hard to narrow it down to just one or two experiences, but I'll try...

First, leaning on the rail of a Spirit of New York boat with a glass of wine in my hand and watching the lower Manhattan skyline go by. I was only 20 and the cruise hosted by the company I was working for. I felt very grown up and the skyline just looked stunning.

Second, and this is more mundane...I was coming home after being let go from my job. I had most of my possessions from work in a paper shopping bag. The bag burst as I reached the top of the subway stairs near my home. I was trapped at the top of the stairs with all this stuff below me because there was a steady stream of people coming up. But after a minute, a couple of people gave me plastic bags, and two more people filled the bags from below while I held them. New Yorkers often get a bad rap, but they can be awfully nice when someone is in a tough situation.

Partly to keep this thread from slipping too far down...and because the poster just above referenced the 'bad rap'' NYers often get..I'll pop back in with the recall of heading out one morning with my then 4 y.o. son and 6 y.o. daughter in tow. As we crossed some busy E. side street, a deliveryman called out: &quot;What lovely children, ma'am!&quot; Unfriendly - yeah, right!