A day in The City

I've written paeanic tributes to NY before, but truly, it is magnificent. With the possible exception of Paris (a spectacular city I've had the good fortune to visit twice), there is no place on Earth where I feel the deep energy I do in Manhattan. As soon as I near its threshold, a powerful rush of dynamism starts to pulse within me. The promise of time spent there is a weighty pebble dropped into my core: undulations of excitement, energy, utter aliveness ripple powerfully out; concentric, visceral waves of "anything can happen, anything is possible here." New York is so incomparably vital. The cacophonous symphony of taxi horns, worldly languages, feet pounding the pavement, ambulances whizzing by, music, vendors, emotive conversations, neon signs, larger-than-life ads, delivery men weaving bikes in and around pedestrians and buses, the hum of AC window units, construction conducted from giant scaffolds, the random drip-drops of water that always fly from above...it all sings brilliantly in unison (much of the time).

Fat, Barbie, old, young, wheelchair-bound, dressed to the nines, barely dressed at all, infinitely local, totally foreign, transgender, straight, player, gay, country came to town, unbelievably hip, shockingly not so, loud, meek, tatted out, wearing hijab, homeless, loaded, smoker, vegan, atheist, evangelical, filthy, spotless. And everything in between. Often within a block or two.

Today was restorative in a perfectly exhausting way. I don't remember the last time I did something like this. Travel has been a breeze, the weather was glorious, my dear pal Mike treated me to a wonderful lunch at Esca (part of the Batali-Bastianich dynasty), my last-minute seat at the theater was terrific.

Lucky Guy boasted a wonderful cast -Tom Hanks, Courtney B. Vance, Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore), Peter Gerety (you'd recognize him), Deirdre Lovejoy (The Wire), Maura Tierney- and I thought of and missed Nora Ephron the whole time. Hanks' role was one of those that must be absolutely exhausting to do: he's rarely off-stage and his character (the aggressive, voluble Irish-America journalist Mike McAlary) runs through a huge range of energy and emotion; he was wonderful. The cast seemed to share a great bond; perhaps they all loved, admired and miss Nora too.

Lucky me is more like it! And you should see the sunset I spy from my train window.

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The Normal Heart, walking Manhattan streets, Druze Israeli snack, Eataly

Have mercy on everything you can do and see in a day in NYC when you don’t have your kiddies with you.

The Normal Heart was incredible, possibly the best Broadway show I’ve ever seen. Impeccably and powerfully written, the acting was also simply superb. I was angered, moved to tears, rendered speechless and left laughing throughout and felt profoundly grateful to have gotten to see it. NYers, two weeks left. If you haven’t seen it, please go.

Tom met me at the theater after the show, and by then, my lettuce wraps were long since gone. We came across a Druze Israeli teensy hole-in-the-wallish place that was terrific- perfect for a hearty afternoon snack. Baba ghannouge, hummus, falafel and grape leaves, tahini and this great bread, saj, that was like a whole wheat crepe. Yum. I like what’s happened to Hell’s Kitchen over the past ten years.

T ultimately headed back to the hotel, but I continued to wander, relishing the myriad eccentricities that abound in NY. Anything goes, especially if you do it/wear it/say it with confidence. I love the number of enormously ripped men with tiny dogs walking the streets together, the ridiculous array of cat strollers I’ve seen, the sheer variety of outfits, hairstyles, languages…

And though I said I wouldn’t, I had to head back to Eataly. For one, I love the Flat Iron building- it is a gorgeous testament to old, good, grand architecture. And two, I just had to get some goods and did leave with: three small jars of different kinds of honey (lime tree! chestnut! mountain honeydew!), a divine bottle of extremely peppery olive oil, some anchovies and two neat pastas. That in combination with the persian cukes, 4 bunches of radishes and large amount of fava beans that I bought from the Greenmarket this morning should make for some delicious creations this week.