I spent the better part of last week in New York City, helping my friend Steve move. The City is still fun for me, but it appeals to me a lot less than it once did. I'm sure having two little kids at home makes Indiana more appealing than NYC, but there were trends I noticed that I didn't like.
The City is getting dirty again. I noticed a lot more litter everywhere I went.
The panhandling is increasing. Several times, people got on the train for the sole purpose of loudly announcing their personal tale of woe, and trying to pull the heart strings & purse strings. I hadn't seen this in more than 10 years.
Then, after going to a great Indian restaurant, the Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights- one an Indiana recommended to me- I realized that there is an Indian restaurant every bit as good in Fishers (India Sizzling).
I love the full-on ethnic diversity in places like Jackson Heights, in Queens. Indiana positively lacks this. But the tradeoffs? Noise, foul smells, dog crap on every sidewalk, hellish traffic, crowded slow trains, high prices... Feh.
Had a great exchange with a receptionist at the Museum of American Finance, on Wall Street. We got to talking and it came out that I am from Indiana. With the Jets-Colts game coming up, it went like this:
Her: Are you ready for the big game?
Me: What big game?
Her: What do you mean, 'what big game'? My Jets and your Colts!
Me: (Ignoring that they aren't 'ours') Big game? That's in three weeks.
Her: What's the matter with you? The game is this Sunday.
Me: Yeah, but that's not the big game. The Super Bowl is in three weeks. The Jets are a nice tune-up for the Colts.
Her: Uh, hey!
Good museum. Indiana also lacks the sheer volume and range of museums NYC has, and I couldn't have had this banter here at home. Still- nice place to visit, but no longer any desire to live there.
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A Soup of Thoughts on Travel and Food
I'm going to New York City next week, and looking forward to the food. Mainly, I'm staying in Queens, in Jackson Heights, which has more ethnic food of excellent quality than all of Indiana, far as I can tell. I am certain that I will eat Indian and Afghani, and probably eat in Chinatown for Dim Sum. Other options include a huge range of Latino offerings (Mexican, Columbian, Ecuadoran) and of course Italian.
New York is a funny place. Because I started going there in the late 80s, I still kind of think of it as a wild, permissive place. That's not in line with the outward reality, what with the smoking ban, the assault on trans fats, and now an attack on salt. From CNN:
The funny thing is, I don't smoke (never have), don't eat a lot of fast food, and I have low blood pressure (have even been advised by my physician to increase my salt intake at times). I didn't need any laws to bring me to this way of life, as astonishing as that may be to a pointy-headed New Yorker.
I'm kind of interested to see what impact these laws have had on the food there. One place I want to visit is Manhattan's Skylight Diner. They have many Greek dishes, but their fries were to die for. I want to see how they taste, along with some of their other obviously high calorie offerings.
This year, I chose to give up sodas. Now, my friends know what a sacrifice that is. I LOVE sodas. I used to drink 4 liters of Coke daily. When I started realizing that I could shed a few pounds just by switching from regular Coke to Diet Coke, I lost eight pounds. But, I've had a kidney stone, and phosphoric acid is an obvious culprit, so I dramatically cut my cola intake back in 2006.
Mind you, I did this without the benefit of a well-intentioned law directing me accordingly. I gathered the data, and made a choice. Isn't that incredible! That's not supposed to actually work in the real world.
And, I've said nothing about root beer. I really loooooove root beer. No matter. I've given them up. Gone 11+ days now without one. It's a matter of my personality that I find it easier to go completely without at first. Maybe come Summer I'll allow myself the occasional fizzy treat. But for now, a clean break. Lots of unsweetened ice teas, with loads of lemon for me!
New York is a funny place. Because I started going there in the late 80s, I still kind of think of it as a wild, permissive place. That's not in line with the outward reality, what with the smoking ban, the assault on trans fats, and now an attack on salt. From CNN:
First it was trans fats. Then it was high-calorie fast food. Now, the New York City Health Department is tackling another diet enemy: salt.
The department unveiled an initiative Monday urging restaurants and food companies across the country to voluntarily reduce their products' salt levels, city officials said.
"Salt is a huge problem in our diets," said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. "The majority of us consume too much salt, which increases blood pressure and puts us at risk for heart attack and stroke."
New York has partnered with cities, states and national health organizations across the country with the goal of cutting the salt in packaged and restaurant foods gradually by 25 percent over five years. Doing that would reduce the nation's salt intake by 20 percent, Angell said.
The funny thing is, I don't smoke (never have), don't eat a lot of fast food, and I have low blood pressure (have even been advised by my physician to increase my salt intake at times). I didn't need any laws to bring me to this way of life, as astonishing as that may be to a pointy-headed New Yorker.
I'm kind of interested to see what impact these laws have had on the food there. One place I want to visit is Manhattan's Skylight Diner. They have many Greek dishes, but their fries were to die for. I want to see how they taste, along with some of their other obviously high calorie offerings.
This year, I chose to give up sodas. Now, my friends know what a sacrifice that is. I LOVE sodas. I used to drink 4 liters of Coke daily. When I started realizing that I could shed a few pounds just by switching from regular Coke to Diet Coke, I lost eight pounds. But, I've had a kidney stone, and phosphoric acid is an obvious culprit, so I dramatically cut my cola intake back in 2006.
Mind you, I did this without the benefit of a well-intentioned law directing me accordingly. I gathered the data, and made a choice. Isn't that incredible! That's not supposed to actually work in the real world.
And, I've said nothing about root beer. I really loooooove root beer. No matter. I've given them up. Gone 11+ days now without one. It's a matter of my personality that I find it easier to go completely without at first. Maybe come Summer I'll allow myself the occasional fizzy treat. But for now, a clean break. Lots of unsweetened ice teas, with loads of lemon for me!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sweep It Clean!
It was 1989 that I first went to New York City, all of 21 years old. I figured myself pretty street savvy, since I new my way around Cleveland and got myself out of a 4-on-1 (me being the one) knife stick-up in Detroit earlier that year. And yet, I found myself perfectly unsettled in Manhattan. Why? Panhandlers- the most aggressive I had ever seen.
I learned a trick. I bought a pack of cigarettes. They cost $1 back then, making them a nickel each. If cornered by a particularly aggressive and/or smelly urban outdoorsman, I would offer two cigs. They would always be accepted eagerly, even though a dime would have gotten an angry retort.
I went back once more in 1990, but decided that I just didn't like being accosted all the time. For a while, a trip to the Big City meant Toronto, which was cleaner besides.
A funny thing happened a few years ago. Toronto and NYC traded places. I took Alex to Toronto 6-7 years ago, and it was awful. The panhandlers were overwhelmingly young- lying in the sidewalks, human pin-cushions. Not to sort of thing I wanted Alex to have to deal with as a 9-year-old. New York, on the other hand, was glorious. Even in Central Park, we were left to ourselves to enjoy the greenery.
I've never been back to Toronto. I've been to New York more than 20 times since 1998. Do the tourist math.
Move forward to the present, and here in Central Indiana. I live in Fishers, and for work, I probably visit downtown Indianapolis once a week. Invariably, I am hit up by a panhandler.
Now I know that some homeless, many even, suffer mental illnesses. I pity that, but by no means does it give me cause to enjoy the interference. I have a job to do. You want money? Go get a job. At least get out of my way.
So, I am positively delighted to learn that Indy's new Mayor has clearing the streets as a top agenda item. This is excellent news for downtown! From the Indy Star report:
John Cochran, Ballard's special counsel, said the Mayor's Action Center receives complaints and the mayor's staff hears about panhandling regularly.
I've never minded the buskers. Play your music out of the footpath, and it's lovely. The Star referenced Tom Goins. I see him on the NE quadrant of the Circle all the time. I don't mind him. He's pleasant. He's clean. He passively does what he does. The aggressive unsightly begging has to go.
I don't know what Rudy Giuliani did as mayor to clean up New York, but it worked. I like going there again. In fact, I like going there far more than I like going downtown. That's quite a statement, because travel to NYC entails a trip through TSA's security hell.
There are some who will find this policy insensitive. Fine. Here are your choices: Be a magnet for tourism and commerce, or, be a magnet for panhandlers.
Which will it be?
It was 1989 that I first went to New York City, all of 21 years old. I figured myself pretty street savvy, since I new my way around Cleveland and got myself out of a 4-on-1 (me being the one) knife stick-up in Detroit earlier that year. And yet, I found myself perfectly unsettled in Manhattan. Why? Panhandlers- the most aggressive I had ever seen.
I learned a trick. I bought a pack of cigarettes. They cost $1 back then, making them a nickel each. If cornered by a particularly aggressive and/or smelly urban outdoorsman, I would offer two cigs. They would always be accepted eagerly, even though a dime would have gotten an angry retort.
I went back once more in 1990, but decided that I just didn't like being accosted all the time. For a while, a trip to the Big City meant Toronto, which was cleaner besides.
A funny thing happened a few years ago. Toronto and NYC traded places. I took Alex to Toronto 6-7 years ago, and it was awful. The panhandlers were overwhelmingly young- lying in the sidewalks, human pin-cushions. Not to sort of thing I wanted Alex to have to deal with as a 9-year-old. New York, on the other hand, was glorious. Even in Central Park, we were left to ourselves to enjoy the greenery.
I've never been back to Toronto. I've been to New York more than 20 times since 1998. Do the tourist math.
Move forward to the present, and here in Central Indiana. I live in Fishers, and for work, I probably visit downtown Indianapolis once a week. Invariably, I am hit up by a panhandler.
Now I know that some homeless, many even, suffer mental illnesses. I pity that, but by no means does it give me cause to enjoy the interference. I have a job to do. You want money? Go get a job. At least get out of my way.
So, I am positively delighted to learn that Indy's new Mayor has clearing the streets as a top agenda item. This is excellent news for downtown! From the Indy Star report:
John Cochran, Ballard's special counsel, said the Mayor's Action Center receives complaints and the mayor's staff hears about panhandling regularly.
"People who live Downtown are tired of it," Cochran said. "We want to reduce it to a palatable level."
To do that, Ballard wants to bring a "tough love" approach to the issue.
He said people shouldn't feel constantly harassed to give money.
"The immediate goal is to get them out of Downtown so that citizens and visitors don't have to look at it," Ballard said last week.
I've never minded the buskers. Play your music out of the footpath, and it's lovely. The Star referenced Tom Goins. I see him on the NE quadrant of the Circle all the time. I don't mind him. He's pleasant. He's clean. He passively does what he does. The aggressive unsightly begging has to go.
I don't know what Rudy Giuliani did as mayor to clean up New York, but it worked. I like going there again. In fact, I like going there far more than I like going downtown. That's quite a statement, because travel to NYC entails a trip through TSA's security hell.
There are some who will find this policy insensitive. Fine. Here are your choices: Be a magnet for tourism and commerce, or, be a magnet for panhandlers.
Which will it be?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)