New York, New York: What a Wonderful Town
BY CARY VOGEL & LANCE ROBINS
LIFE IS NEW YORK CITY, AND NEW YORK CITY IS LIFE! And this is the reason we maintain a Pied-à-Terre residence in this glorious urban oasis.
When spending time in Manhattan (the city), every one of our senses is engaged and heightened in a way that elevates even the simplest activity into an elated experience—from a trip to the market to a walk through Central Park—we find it joyful!
Everything in the city feels bigger, bolder, louder, and more vibrant. Colors feel more saturated, and we feed off the electricity in the air.
We love that we get inspired by something as simple as a stroll down the shopping avenues, with a coffee in hand, appreciating the sophisticated and elaborate window displays. Being part of the world of interior design and owning our own design firm, we’ve always found inspiration in noting current trends in fashion that could translate into interior furnishing palettes for our clients. New York is the epicenter of design, in our opinion, and it’s been our great fortune to be able to spend time in the city and absorb all the “latest and greatest.”
New York City consists of five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island), each area having its own distinct character. Each borough is made up of a vast matrix of neighborhoods creating a multi-cultural and very diverse area ripe for exploring. We reside on the island of Manhattan, which is approximately eleven miles long and four miles wide at its largest points. Within Manhattan, you can experience pretty much everything life has to offer, from the bustling financial district to the world-renowned Broadway theater district to the beautiful historic brownstones on the Upper East Side. Some of the heavily visited neighborhoods are Midtown, Hells Kitchen, The Upper East Side, Harlem, Tribeca, The Meat Packing District, SOHO, Greenwich Village, and The Upper West Side. There is such a vast number of activities and events going on in New York City at any given time that you could spend every day for the rest of your life residing there and not have the time to participate in everything offered.
While spending time in the city, we are able to indulge in a number of our passions. A favorite pastime for us is to attend Broadway shows. To us, there is nothing as exciting or exhilarating as when the house lights dim and the curtain goes up on Act One. Whether it’s a drama, comedy, or musical, the Broadway productions are like no other theatrical experience. And that is not all. There’s also Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, cabaret clubs, burlesque shows, piano bars, music clubs, comedy clubs, jazz clubs, street musicians, and free concerts in the parks. Lincoln Center is another venue for us to enjoy our passion for live theater. It is considered one of the world’s leading performing arts centers and houses the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Ballet. The Julliard School of Music also has its home here. This past holiday season, we were delighted to be able to obtain tickets to the Met’s gorgeous opera production of Porgy & Bess; we walked home that evening on cloud nine, absolutely euphoric.
Our friends and family know that we love to visit cities conducive to walking as you get the feel and essence of the city by being “in” it. A certain feeling can be described as liberating or freeing as you traverse the city streets. The sense of promise almost crackles as we head out to meet the day and what adventures lie ahead. One of our favorite walking destinations is Central Park, where we regularly go, whether to get our “steps” in, meet up with friends for a brisk walk, or have a time-out from the city’s hustle | bustle. Each time we venture into the park, it seems we discover new areas to explore. We came across a small waterfall on a recent visit, which was such a delightful surprise… Who knew there was a waterfall in New York City?!
On many an occasion, the day holds a trip to a museum. No one does museums like New York City except possibly a few in Europe. From the glorious grand Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), which houses so many important collections from fine art to decorative arts, to the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, which provides a history of New York City public transportation, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. A special museum that stays in our memory is the Tenement Museum, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was a very emotionally moving experience to tour the buildings where our ancestors lived upon arriving in the United States via Ellis Island.
FOOD! There is no better food on the planet than what can be found and devoured in New York City. If pizza is to your liking, you will melt when downing a “slice of pie.” Pretty much every country in the world has a restaurant(s) representing their cuisine. And here in the city that never sleeps, you can eat 24 hours a day.
Whether you desire to visit world-class museums, eat some of the best food in the world, “shop till you drop,” enjoy a variety of the best entertainment offered, walk the high-line, go to the 102nd floor of the Freedom Tower providing views of multiple states, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge or simply people watching… New York City is your type of town! It will leave you with an endless yearning to return again and again to take a bite out of the big apple!
