Where is Home?

One of my "homes," the Upper West Side of Manhattan, as seen from the Central Park Reservoir running path (practically another one of my homes) on a hot sticky July day.  

That does sound like I'm about to start a laundry list of summer, winter, ski, beach, European, Asian, Hawaiian, Caribbean, etc., abodes that might appear in Architectural Digest as among the numerous residences of the rich and famous.  No, that's not it (because if it was, the sticky July summer home would most certainly NOT be in Manhattan).  

No, again, it's that this morning (from the comfort of my air-conditioned apartment), I watched a TED Talk by Pico Iyer entitled "Where is Home?"  And it really (as the theater folk say) landed.  It has caused me to think about aspects of my life upon which I never focused, being as wrapped up as I was in living it.

Let's give it some thought together, shall we?  Born where?  Parents from where?  Grew up where?  Attended school/college where?  Married where?  Early adult working years where?  Spouse/partner from where?  Raised the kids where?  Working/living now where?  Happy place(s) where?  Ethnic group influences?  Religious group influences?  

If the answers to the above questions are more than a few, like I realized they are with me, then you'll begin to understand Pico Iyer's point.  One of the beauties of his presentation is that home is wherever you take yourself, and that these movements, somewhat "outside" yourself, allow you to find yourself.  He does it much better than I, and that's why he gives the TED Talk and I am then so moved by it that I write a blog post.

And thus, the more time I am away from the place I've called home for over 30 years, and the more I find "myself" elsewhere (and for me now, that's primarily Paris), the more I, too, realize that home is me.  And that all of my life, my residences past and present, my children, my friends and family, my passions and interests, make up my home, wherever I am.  

I also realize that the people I meet who have lived likewise, even if so many other aspects of their particular backgrounds do not mesh with mine, are immediately recognizable to me.  

On a macro level, of course, I begin to see how this globalized culture is changing, and will continue to change, how we see the world, how we choose our friends and mate, where we choose to live, what we choose to do in our lives.  It is a very exciting thing to me, though it might simply elicit a shrug of the shoulders of those in the generations younger than mine.  It's just normal for them - kids born of parents from different parts of the world or of different religions or backgrounds, and then living in a few places and perhaps speaking two or more languages as a native, going to college with people from all over the world and, thus, moving so fluidly (and enviably to me) among their peers, similarly raised.  

Home - the place we come to feel secure and safe, but now also the place we learn and grow and expand our horizons and stretch our comfort zones.  That is quite a definition change, but not if home is "us." 

Brownstone Curves

I never realized how pretty this architecture is, always taking it for granted right under my nose, or above it, just down the street from me on the Upper West Side.  

Something else to miss about New York.  After living here for a long time, it's easy to take it all for granted.  Getting up and leaving now and then is really good for sharpening the appreciation of home.

Here I go again...

New York Fashion Week

Fashion Week is here.  No harm in some creative advertising to the hoards of hungry fashionistas.  

Scraping the Sky

As we come upon the 11th anniversary of September 11, 2001, it would be hard to miss what's growing up to the sky downtown.  This will be known as One World Trade Center (not Freedom Tower, as it was previously referred to).

As Wikipedia tells me, at the time of its completion in 2013, One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m) in reference to the year of American independence.

Already, it's the tallest building in New York City, since April 30, 2012. 

So much has been said and written about 9/11 that it's just not possible for me to add more.  So I will remain silent, alone in my still vivid memories of that day and in thought of the tragedy's victims and the people close to them.

My favorite New York app

...is The Scoop, from The New York Times. 

It's like having an in-the-know friend in the city, and it's free.  As the easy-to-use home screen (example above) shows, there are specific categories that are updated regularly containing short reviews from Times reporters and often a link to the longer review that appeared earlier in the newspaper itself.

I love the great GPS locator in it, so that if I'm somewhere and looking for (more often than not) a coffee bar, it will tell me where to go - you'll find something new and never get lost. 

And speaking of coffee bars, this app is a wonder if you're anywhere below 34th Street, but the Upper West Side?  Oh, I wish.  Where are you, great coffee places, in my neighborhood?  Besides Joe, of course.

It's super for finding out what's happening in art, music, theater, dance and all things cultural in New York.  And I love the ideas for day trips out of NY, most of which can be reached by train or bus, if a car isn't in the cards.  The "Only in New York" section is perfect with its suggestions for out-of-town visitors (and for the weekend "tourist" that I so enjoy being even though I've lived here for so long).

Check it out and go somewhere new!  As you do, you can even feed your competitive soul, if you have one like I do, by check marking the spots you've been to.  Email, Facebook, web links, etc., are also easy to access from each of the posted items.  It's full of great ideas.  Even if you're a jaded New Yorker, you'll find something you never knew or thought about before.

Get out this weekend and do something new!

Wifi in the NYC Subway...and Phone Booths

Wifi on the subway platform of New York City!  And for free!  What a fabulous new thing to come home to find.  It's not everyone's ideal; take two New Yorkers - give them a new idea to ponder, and you'll get at least one negative perspective on it.  Maybe two.

As for me?  Fantastic.  I tried it out last week and, of course, was simply amazed that it even worked.  I know that's ridiculous; there's wifi in so many places, both in New York and all over, including Paris public parks, and so why not?  

More information and subway stations currently with Wifi are here.

And speaking of which, why not have Wifi offered at unused telephone booths?  Someone thought of that, too, and it's starting in New York as well.  I just found one in Soho at the corner of West Broadway and Spring Street.

And it worked, too!  Ah, yes, we live in the future...

The list of current phone booth locations with free Wifi is here.  Go use it; the City is counting, and if it's well-used, it may spread to all of the over 12,000 phone booths that now exist in New York City!

My Central Park in the Summer

Summer is always a busy time for me in New York City, and every chance I get to walk through Central Park on my way to a destination like a meeting, doctor's appointment, or visit to the French Consulate for yet another student visa, I take that opportunity, especially when it's sunny, as it was the other morning, when I passed so much going on in just one part of the Park (the area around the Zoo, the Children's Zoo and walking through the Poet's Walk up towards Bethesda Fountain).  The variety of sights and sounds in just a few minutes is always beautifully overwhelming to me (and causes me to write in really long, run-on sentences).

"rock climbing"

picnicking/romancing

carriage rides for all ages

sun dappling on Poet's Walk

beach volleyball

Bethesda Fountain wrapped in summer green

Changes

After not even approaching this blog for almost three months, it feels like we're just being introduced again, the blog and I.  I'm a bit apprehensive and tentative.  But, like getting back on a bike after some time away, it'll feel like old times soon enough and I'll be back to writing about my daily impressions of what surrounds me.

But today I have to write about change. 

As a person who doesn't much like it, I manage to put myself through quite a bit of it (though, to be honest, don't we all?).  I returned to my home, New York City, in June.  Aside from short periods of a few weeks each to leave Paris and "visit" New York during the last 11 months, these three months home have provided me the chance to really take a look around, and also to persist in irritating friends and family with my "compare-and-contrast" of Paris and New York. 

The biggest thing I noticed this summer is CHANGE.  New York changes a lot.  Paris not so much.  

I've lived in New York for over 30 years, and this city is in a constant state of flux.  It makes the pulse and pace of this city very quick.  Restaurants come and go.  Trends in clothing, activities, music, architecture and especially neighborhoods "of the moment" fly past like a plastic bag caught in a breeze.  These things used to mean a great deal to me; I had to try all the new hot restaurants and see all the new shows.  Ah, youth (and a lawyer's income).  But, years pass.  The kids arrive and dinners start being at home (when they're not at work), and the trends pass you by.  And then -gulp- you leave town!  For months...

And then you come back.  And the buildings are different.  Old ones torn down, new ones up...or coming up.  Store fronts empty (what was there before?).  New stores open up.  Ditto with the restaurants, frozen yogurt shops, yoga clothing stores (how many of those do we really need?) and banks, banks, banks everywhere.  What is up with that?!

Things appear to stay the same in Paris.  Little things do change, and trendy quartiers are definitely now a real force in real estate there.  Is it the 3rd now, or the 11th, or maybe even the 19th?  But much stays the same.  The old architecture remains, thank goodness.  And most of my favorite Rive Gauche boutiques, cafés, boulangeries and patisseries are in the exact same locations they were in 20 or more years ago.  The ethnic food and bistronomie scene is definitely on the move, with little casual foodie places opening up all the time.  But, when you look into the distance, Paris is Paris.  It doesn't change.

Although I am not qualified to speak with certainty, I think Parisians like it that way.  On the other hand, I've heard young Parisians complain that Paris is boring and that New York has the excitement they dream of.  It's made me wonder if perhaps the pace and manageability of Paris are better suited to people of, um, un certain âge.  Like me, perhaps.

When I arrive in Paris, after no matter how much time away, it's the same.  It doesn't change.  

And with all the changes I'm facing in my life right now (which are not much different than the changes I've been dealing with for the last few years and that face all of us with kids moving out, moving back in, moving out, repeat), a little sameness suits me just fine.

Especially if that sameness comes with croissants!

Not that I wouldn't miss the charge - and even the changes - of New York.  But keeping up with them?  No longer remotely (literally and figuratively) possible. 

Paris vs. New York

Living as a New Yorker in Paris constantly brings comparisons - "Oh, that place is like Balthazar, but the real deal!"  "Living in the 16th, yeah, the Upper West Side of Paris."  "Oh, don't spend time on the Champs-Elysées - it's like being in Times Square with all those tourists!"  "Well, how to describe the 19th and 20th?  Kind of like Brooklyn."  Etc.

Now it's official; a charming and funny map has been drawn placing New York locations onto a Paris map, and vice versa.

From what I've learned about Paris in the months I've been here, it's pretty on the mark!  

It might be hard to examine closely in this post, but it's worth finding on the internet for a better view.  Check out the book by Vahram Muratyan and his blog, http://parisvsnyc.blogspot.fr/.  It's clear to me that he loves both cities, loves to compare and contrast...and so do I!

Birdland

Traversing the sidewalks of Eighth Avenue wasn't easy on New Year's Eve.  The crowd that was growing larger and noisier by the minute was only just beginning their party evening, loading up on street vendor gear advertising their support for "2012."  I'm all in favor of that.

However, I had something better, perhaps a bit more low-key but every bit as exciting, that I was aiming for just around the corner at West 44th Street.

It was a New Year's Eve celebration worthy of Times Square and New York City!  That was, and is, Birdland.  It's a New York jazz institution and, on New Year's Eve this year, big band jazz was featured. 

The music was big indeed, especially from my perch at a table that was practically in the band.  Put it this way, the bass player could have easily reached for our bottle of wine had he wanted to.  And, looking around, it felt possible that there were as many band members as audience members who were thoroughly enjoying the sold-out set.

Birdland's room is just the right size with good seating throughout, even at the bar.  The dinner menu features Southern items with a cajun flair.

The Birdland Big Band, directed by Tommy Igoe, performs every Friday, so whether it's New Year's Eve or any other Friday, Birdland is a true New York find worthy of an evening out (for about the price of a night of theater around the corner, including dinner).

Fifth and 57th

New Yorkers call this the epicenter of the center of the Universe.  It seems everyone else does, too.  This year, during the Christmas/New Year's holiday weeks, I found midtown more packed with bodies than ever.  Bloomberg welcomed New York City's 50 millionth visitor of 2011 last week.  Well, good.  It's great for the economy and a wonderful charge to the city and us folks who live here to have so many happy tourists loving the city we love, too.  (However, why they're only in midtown remains a mystery to me.  Spread out!  The rest of New York welcomes you, too!)

On the other hand, the glories of the intersection of these two major thoroughfares have entertained me for decades, especially when I worked in offices in the neighborhood and used the beautiful shops nearby, including Bergdorf's, as momentary "sanity" escapes when things became something less than beautiful at the office.  To call it a reality check would be hard to justify; they were more like fantasy checks to combat reality.

And the windows at Bergdorf are always the most opulent at Christmastime.  

At the opposite corner, this year's Tiffany windows were definitely about the clever and colorful carousel framing. 

Writing this from back in Paris, where it was sunny, then rained, and now stopped, all in the time I was posting, provides quite the contrast.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...

New York Favorites - Union Square

Union Square Greenmarket

It's not exactly "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens," but these are a few of my favorite things in and around Union Square in New York City.

the fabulous produce at the Greenmarket

Beads of Paradise

Journelle

Union Square Café

...not to mention agnès b., Blue Water Grill, the enormous Barnes & Noble, Republic, Paragon Sports, and Casa Mono.

So many places, so little time!

Zut Alors!

You mean I didn't need to leave New York City?

Let me put it another way - when they start selling Parisian baguettes and Poilâne's chaussons au pommes in the subway, too, I might reconsider.

Happy Chanukah!

Chanukah starts today.  And one could find freshly made-to-order latkes (potato pancakes) in the Union Square Greenmarket today, just for the occasion.

HAPPY CHANUKAH!

Heading Home

How timely.  I should probably buy this magazine from its wet kiosque display and read it on the plane, just so I remember what New York looks like after months away.

"New York, The New Dream"

Actually, after a 5-hour delayed flight (not due to Parisian strikes of any kind!),  courtesy of a good old United States airline, I am finally home sweet home.  This morning, New York is bright, sunny and bracingly cold.  I look forward to re-exploring my hometown.

What I Will Miss

I'm already feeling those pangs of missing certain things I love about New York.  I realize I'm not moving away for good, but in my 30 years of residence, I've rarely been away from "the City" for more than 2 weeks!

Here are a few things I already know I'll miss---

1.  The Manhattan skyline while riding over the Triboro Bridge after a return flight to Laguardia, at any and every time of day, and that feeling of "being home."

2.  Zabar's and Fairway.

3.  The Central Park Reservoir and Tennis Courts.

4.  Pier 1 on the Hudson River at summer sunset.

5.  Being able to give tourists accurate directions.

6.  2,000 square feet.

7.  New York in a blizzard.

8.  A less than $150 flight from Chicago to see my college students.

9.  The price of things in US dollars.

10.  Joe Coffee.

11.  Iconic Soho architecture.

12.  Walking through the city for hours and always finding something new.

Sometimes, though, as the saying goes, it makes your heart grow fonder.  And I can honestly say that's already starting to happen.  What an odd and also wonderful feeling of love and appreciation I have for all that is New York, for all that New York has given me over almost all of my adult life, and for the warmth I'll carry with me to Paris, knowing home is always here waiting for me.
 

I took a lot of math, but...

... never have I seen such an equation!  It was great fun to watch these two guys (right arm of the other painter - resting or bored, presumably - is at lower left) hand-painting this billboard, slowly and in real time, over a parking lot at the corner of Crosby and Broome in Soho.

It's not so common to see billboard painters these days, especially in a get-up like that one - suspenders and hat!  

And it's not just an ad using the idea of a complex mathematical equation, as I thought when I watched it being written up there.  It's in fact an actual formula with a "solution."  See this link for a better look at the problem, the solutions to the various component parts and the overall solution itself.  Very clever.  I love the idea of using math and historical events like that to scratch the brain. 

Another "Ah, New York!" moment.

I (bike) New York

(this is not my bike, by the way)

I'd like to have ridden more this summer, but for many reasons, it didn't happen much.  C'est dommage.  Much of my reasoning is fear.  I just don't feel so comfortable on New York City streets as a commuter by bike.

But I've noticed a couple of further improvements to the biking culture of the city that should, more quickly, develop a greater population of cycling commuters and, hence, more awareness, safety and comfort (at least that's my hope).

First, the proliferation of the new bike stands along our sidewalks: I can't see how more than two bikes can reside tethered to that short pole, but it's better than what's been there in the past, which is nothing.  In its absence, there was the creative method of bike-locking, which left bikes attached to street violation poles, construction scaffolding, fences, trees, etc.  Not always so easy, and usually someone else has had the idea before you.  These new additions are going to validate cycling culture just that much more, in my opinion, and will add a few more locking locations to each block.

Second, and more importantly, is finally the announcement that New York City is going to have a true bike-sharing program.  A pilot program had quietly (all but hidden, in fact) been announced earlier this year to commence during the summer of 2011, but that never happened.  This announcement was far splashier, and so we can assume that next summer, we'll have it in place.  How it will be received is anyone's guess, but I'm going to stick with optimism, at least until the program starts or the critics get louder than the cyclists, whichever comes first. 

I'm appalled at the issues some people have with bike lanes, bike sharing programs and new bike racks along the sidewalks.  The general complaint is that we need all that space for either cars or pedestrians.  I can't believe the short-sightedness of such a viewpoint.  I am grateful for the combination of pushiness and far-sightedness of this mayoral administration which is looking to New York's future with these programs.  And I continue to look forward to venturing out, gingerly, into that future, with my bike, helmet and lock.

Ten Years Ago

I didn't know whether I would write or not write about that day in New York ten years ago, and the days that followed.  It seems that everything that could be said has been said, that everything that could be felt has been felt, and that some extraordinarily unimaginable things have somehow been imagined and realized.

But I was here, living in the same home, raising the same sons.  Everyone was younger, and we were smack in the middle of young family life.  It's impossible not to make the mental contrasts between those days and these, on a personal, emotional, political and global level.  As I said, though, many others have, many who are paid well to do so and, hence, do so much better than I ever could.  So I will stick to the personal.

What I noticed most on the 11th, on this tenth anniversary, was how seared into all my sensory memories those days are.  I can still smell the acrid smell that shifted to the north (toward my neighborhood) the next day after the first black smoke clouds initially blanketed Brooklyn to the east.  I can still hear the sirens that flew past, heading down Broadway, first growing louder, then dissipating in the downtown direction.  I also hear the roaring Air Force jets, and recall the visceral reactions and looks on others' faces in the streets and parks as we would experience them at the same moment and glance at one another in recognition and total ignorance.  I remember seeing everywhere the homemade posters and fliers tacked up on walls, fences and lamp posts, fluttering gently in late summer weather perfection...and the first big rain a couple of nights after, when I sat in bed believing that God must be crying over the failures of his final creation, man.  And then I cried, too.  I remember, too, the initial feelings of survival that kicked in, that I'd never felt before, that were driven by something deep inside - the need to buy food and water, just because we "live on an island," the need to make my way uptown to my sons' school, just because we need to be together.  

Most vivid and most painful, however, is when I told my children what had just happened when I picked them up early from elementary school and walked them home, shortly after the first tower collapsed.  (And in this, I am no different than probably ever other parent who experienced that day similarly, no matter where they lived.)  I knew that this event was going to change their young lives and become as indelible to them as the day Kennedy was assassinated was  to me when I was seven years old.  I took their hands and said, "You're going to remember this day for the rest of your life" before trying to simply, honestly and yet not too fearfully, explain in a few words what was happening, while I understood so little myself.

And yet, ten years later, we were on a transatlantic flight returning to New York from a family vacation.  No words were expressed, officially or otherwise, on the flight.  But we all knew.  I could tell when I would look into someone's eyes.  Awareness, gratitude, and perhaps a little fear.  Or maybe that was just me.  But, from airplane to a very busy JFK airport on a Sunday afternoon, to a full subway train back into Manhattan, all was quiet and purposeful.  We all went where we needed to be, and we all lived our moments, but I know we remembered and carried that with us, with all else that we carry now, ten years later.

Paris vs. New York

Since I began writing this blog, I have followed a few others.  The ones I read often are listed on my profile page.  A new one called Paris Versus New York, a tally of two cities came to my attention today (thank you, God, I Love Paris).

It's obvious what's going on here.  The graphics are clever, as are the concepts and cultural difference that are being visually compared. 

It's just a bit of fun, for a lover of both cities.  In this contest, there are no losers, only two winners, though what would we do if we couldn't compare and contrast, brag and whine?