NYC initiation...
Earlier today, I was looking for the receipt for the replacement gutters installed a couple of years ago. I needed to be sure and call the same company for repairs. This winter did some major damage to my rain gutters, half of which are now posing as objects "formerly known as rain gutters" as they dangle disjointedly from beneath my roof's eaves. Snow, rain, ice, ice, rain and snow were their downfall. So while looking for the receipt, I came across a photo I took on my first trip to NYC, in July of 2000. It is a picture of the top portions of the Towers taken at an artsy angle. The view from their base was dizzying and sublime.
I have to admit I was terrified to go to NYC. It was so far from Alaska. And more yet, so far from what I had sheltered myself from for all of my life; or what my life had sheltered me from...either way works. But, I had good reason to override my imaginings of dark alleys and crime on every corner, (the NYC of my mind) and go.
Andrea Bocelli was giving a special outdoor concert at Liberty State Park. It was even being televised live on PBS across the country. I had traveled to Detroit the previous fall to see Bocelli in an opera. I even had the great (great!!) pleasure of meeting him while there. I also met a few good friends, one of which was my roommate and partner in crime for this NY trip. We landed within hours of each other at JFK and greeted each other like long lost victims of alien abduction in the 'under construction' halls of the airport. Neither of us were seasoned travelers.
We found our way out of that construction site they call JFK and looked for a cab. The heat was distracting, as were the smells of airport fumes mixed with traffic and then the badly chosen air freshener of the taxi. After awhile, we opted for too hot with windows o.p.e.n. as opposed to being violated by the internal aromas. I remember being on a noisy all metal bridge and starting to get a glimpse of the city. The first impressions were of factory type buildings, too much traffic, blocked views and a cab driver whose driving made in-air turbulence seem not so bad after all.
Our hotel was in lower Manhattan about a block from the Towers. It was also within a couple of blocks of the small ferries that made frequent runs to Liberty Park where the concert was two days from our arrival. We got lost 3 different ways before we found the ferry pier. That first afternoon we were so overwhelmed with just the getting there, I cannot remember really taking a look "up" until we hopped a boat over to the park. From there, away from the hustle of so many people and the noise, I was able to take a deep breathe and see the city for the jewel it is. All those glistening buildings reflecting their own distinct gem-like colors created by the sun's angles. It was here I first got to see those beautiful towers. Their simple vertical lines, the square girth and the gift of their being two. One simply would not have worked. I fell in love with NYC and her Towers. I wanted to be a part of it. I fantasized about living there.
I got up early one morning and while my roommate was still sleeping, went out and pretended I was part of the hustle of morning workers going to their jobs. By myself, I walked to the mall under one of the towers and bought a newspaper. Then keeping with my soaking up the ambiance which is uniquely New York City, I took the escalator up to the rooftop overpass that hooked up to another building next to the water and the ferry pier. After crossing over, my newspaper tucked under my arm (I left my camera at home) I came out the glass doors into another mall that had palm trees. The entrance from this method left you high above it all at the top of a grand marble staircase, with the dark blue waters sparkling outside a huge arched window and a close encounter with the tops of the palms. It was just a simple excursion and I had been in this mall near the water before, but not from the method I had just used. It felt like I had just gone through some sort of initiation, by joining the morning crowds of people who called this amazing place, home.
I have a picture posted here on my blog that I took in the wee hours of sunrise during this trip. It was taken from my hotel room window. I have a series of these pictures, each one, as amazing as the next. I'd never seen colors like that before in a sunrise. I found NYC every bit as beautiful as the mountainous-nature-intensive scenes I live with here in Alaska.
I ended up visiting NYC one more time before the Towers fell. This time, for the first time, I went up and experienced Manhattan from above.
The next time I visited NYC after that was just a couple of weeks after 9/11. This was a trip I had planned months in advance and I was not going to let a cross-country, early morning flight stop me. This is when I got my first tattoo. But that is another story…
I have to admit I was terrified to go to NYC. It was so far from Alaska. And more yet, so far from what I had sheltered myself from for all of my life; or what my life had sheltered me from...either way works. But, I had good reason to override my imaginings of dark alleys and crime on every corner, (the NYC of my mind) and go.
Andrea Bocelli was giving a special outdoor concert at Liberty State Park. It was even being televised live on PBS across the country. I had traveled to Detroit the previous fall to see Bocelli in an opera. I even had the great (great!!) pleasure of meeting him while there. I also met a few good friends, one of which was my roommate and partner in crime for this NY trip. We landed within hours of each other at JFK and greeted each other like long lost victims of alien abduction in the 'under construction' halls of the airport. Neither of us were seasoned travelers.
We found our way out of that construction site they call JFK and looked for a cab. The heat was distracting, as were the smells of airport fumes mixed with traffic and then the badly chosen air freshener of the taxi. After awhile, we opted for too hot with windows o.p.e.n. as opposed to being violated by the internal aromas. I remember being on a noisy all metal bridge and starting to get a glimpse of the city. The first impressions were of factory type buildings, too much traffic, blocked views and a cab driver whose driving made in-air turbulence seem not so bad after all.
Our hotel was in lower Manhattan about a block from the Towers. It was also within a couple of blocks of the small ferries that made frequent runs to Liberty Park where the concert was two days from our arrival. We got lost 3 different ways before we found the ferry pier. That first afternoon we were so overwhelmed with just the getting there, I cannot remember really taking a look "up" until we hopped a boat over to the park. From there, away from the hustle of so many people and the noise, I was able to take a deep breathe and see the city for the jewel it is. All those glistening buildings reflecting their own distinct gem-like colors created by the sun's angles. It was here I first got to see those beautiful towers. Their simple vertical lines, the square girth and the gift of their being two. One simply would not have worked. I fell in love with NYC and her Towers. I wanted to be a part of it. I fantasized about living there.
I got up early one morning and while my roommate was still sleeping, went out and pretended I was part of the hustle of morning workers going to their jobs. By myself, I walked to the mall under one of the towers and bought a newspaper. Then keeping with my soaking up the ambiance which is uniquely New York City, I took the escalator up to the rooftop overpass that hooked up to another building next to the water and the ferry pier. After crossing over, my newspaper tucked under my arm (I left my camera at home) I came out the glass doors into another mall that had palm trees. The entrance from this method left you high above it all at the top of a grand marble staircase, with the dark blue waters sparkling outside a huge arched window and a close encounter with the tops of the palms. It was just a simple excursion and I had been in this mall near the water before, but not from the method I had just used. It felt like I had just gone through some sort of initiation, by joining the morning crowds of people who called this amazing place, home.
I have a picture posted here on my blog that I took in the wee hours of sunrise during this trip. It was taken from my hotel room window. I have a series of these pictures, each one, as amazing as the next. I'd never seen colors like that before in a sunrise. I found NYC every bit as beautiful as the mountainous-nature-intensive scenes I live with here in Alaska.
I ended up visiting NYC one more time before the Towers fell. This time, for the first time, I went up and experienced Manhattan from above.
The next time I visited NYC after that was just a couple of weeks after 9/11. This was a trip I had planned months in advance and I was not going to let a cross-country, early morning flight stop me. This is when I got my first tattoo. But that is another story…
posted by Laurie at
4:01 PM
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