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Too Much of Something Good, Is Just Enough – The NY Edition Part 2
Published on 27/04/06
by John Phillips
Sorry for the brief delay, but I was spent yesterday after work, so I just slept. So moving right along with the NY experience:
Ground Zero
This site was very interesting. People obviously know how big the towers were, and know the amount of damage that was caused on 9/11, but if you haven’t been to Ground Zero before, then it’s a little more difficult to gauge exactly how much damage was done. The minute we got off the train and turned the corner, before we even saw the actual site, we noticed the big gap of space just by looking at other buildings. I kind of got this eiry feeling when I saw the amount of space that was cleared out. I wouldn’t say that it was exactly uncomfortable to look at, but you get this uneasy feeling when looking at the site because you immediately get taken back to the events that caused it. Never-the-less, it was a cool thing to see, and makes you never forgot what happened.
The Diversity
Now if you know me, you know how much I love and value diversity. I grew up in the most diverse town I’ve ever been too………….minus NY. Now obviously NY is bigger than Evanston, but damn, seeing the diversity there was just lovely. Not only diversity with the different races, but the fashion too. You just see sooo many different kinds of people dressing so many different ways, it was so tight to see. In E.L. you feel like everyone has that “college boy” look, and that shit gets old real fast, because you feel like everyone dresses the same. That’s boring. So it was very refreshing seeing such a change in environment (people-wise).
Central Park
Do you know how damn big 843 acres is?! That’s the size of Central Park. I don’t even know how big that is because I don’t even think we cover a tiny fraction of that park. What bugs me out, is how does that big of a park, that you can fit a city into, just happen to end up in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world?!?! That’s pure craziness to me. But the little bit that I saw in Central Park was pretty sweet. It seems to be one of the only places in Manhattan that you can go to escape the massive flow of people and traffic, but not really, because there are tons of people in Central Park too, but obvsiously not as many. I think it will take numerous trips to NY to get a feel of the whole park, because we weren’t exactly willing to dedicate a whole day or two just to see the whole thing. It will be there when I go back.
Hoboken
Now obviously this isn’t a part of NY, but it was a large portion of our trip because that is where we slept. Plus it’s like a 20 minute train ride across the river to get there. But anyways, this town is pretty sweet. You don’t get that New York vibe when being there, and maybe that could be a good thing when you need a break from the hectic city. It’s one of those ‘young professionals’ type cities, which I really like. It apparently has something like the most bars in a mile stretch in the US, or one of the most, or something like that. I thought that was pretty sweet, because if you didn’t feel like doing the NY nightlife deal, then you weren’t exactly short on options if you lived in the Hobo. There are also a bunch of little shops and restaurants in the downtown part, so aside from the night life, it’s a pretty lively little town, so I could easily see myself living there 
The food that we had there was pretty good too, I think I saw the biggest pizza slices ever at this one place, that I forgot the name of. The only thing that pissed me off, is this damn bagel place! So it’s early in the morning, and I call them to deliver some bagels. They called me back like 3 times because they kept saying they don’t have this or that type of bagel. So whatever I just go with what they had, no big deal right?! What happens, these assholes don’t even deliver the bagels. They don’t call, they don’t bring the bagels………..nothing. Why go through all that trouble, and not even bring the bagels, so I was kinda salty about that, but whatever, I see how it is.
The Verdict
So in a past blog I had mentioned options for moving somewhere else, and NY was one of them. Now, after being there, I absolutely love it! I love the fast pace, I love the culture, it was an amazing place to visit, and I can’t wait to go back and visit. As far as living there……….I still don’t know. I can’t say yes for certain, but I can’t say no. I know myself, and I just can’t be placed in a city of fashion like that and not buy clothes, so I would need a really good job, because rent wouldn’t exactly be the cheapest either. I think it would be a great platform for me to network with people though, and I like doing that here, so in NY it would be 20 times better. I was only there from a vacation standpoint, so I still don’t know what it’s really like to live there. From what JJ and Trav have told me, is that it’s exhausting, which I can definitely see. It seems like it could be. I also feel like I would start to miss some of the small things, like peace and quietness, as well as driving. So those could play very big factors into whether or not I could make it living there. Now don’t get the idea that I’m going to move there, because I am more than likely not, I am only speaking in “if” terms.
If you don’t understand the title of this blog by now, then here is the brief breakdown. NY is alot to take in. There’s almost too much shit to do there, and there’s no way you can cover it all in one trip. In fact the amount of time we were there was definitely perfect. We did so much and didn’t even cover a fraction, but at the same time it was exhausting. So use your head and understand why I named this blog what I did. This will be a new series that I am starting with different trips/experiences that I have, so this won’t be the last one.
But overall, NY was a great experience, and what made that experience even better was seeing Trav, who I hadn’t seen in like a year. You know you have a good friend when you can just pick up where you left off and hit the ground running. And that we did. So I think that I’m going to add NY to my annual visits trip alongside the annual homies trip. That way I’ll make sure that I can see Trav at least once a year. But if you haven’t gotten a chance to explore the NYC, I highly suggest it…………it’s almost like a country of it’s own.
So there you have it, that’s the last bit of the NYC round up, and make sure you read part 1 if you haven’t yet. I will more than likely write another blog very soon so I can give you all an update and the events that are happening in my life right now, and I’ve held off on talking about them for a good reason, but stay tuned………….I needed to keep this blog focused on NY and nothing else. For the full set of pics from the trip go here.
Next up………….JAMAICA in a few weeks.
peace