Keith Lacey, editor, Osoyoos Times
I took a bite out of the Big Apple earlier this summer and it was much sweeter than I thought it would be.
I couldn’t afford to travel much as a young journalist, but I’ve managed to travel to Europe three times in the past seven years, visited B.C. a couple of times when I lived in Ontario, travelled to the Caribbean once and have continued my passion of travelling to far away places to check out my favourite bands.
I had never really had any desire to visit New York City at any time in my life until my much better half told me how much she loved the place when she visited for the first time back in 2012.
About all I knew was it had millions of people, they called it “The Big Apple” and “The City That Never Sleeps” and that it had one of the most beautiful skylines in the world.
As a diehard sports fan, I also knew it was home to the Rangers, Mets, Yankees, Jets, Giants and Knicks.
To be honest, I had always thought of New York as this crime-ridden, grungy, unfriendly and cold place.
About eight months ago, I made the decision to agree make the journey to the Big Apple.
My attitude was I was going to make the most of the trip, enjoy myself, soak in the sights and hopefully wouldn’t return home too disappointed.
I knew there would be big buildings, millions of people and it would be hot and muggy. We had already booked tickets for a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden and made arrangements to catch a New York Yankees game at the new Yankee Stadium.
When we finally arrived after an exhausting trip that took about 14 hours, we didn’t want to waste a second and headed to Times Square within minutes of arriving at the hotel.
The first thing you can’t help but notice once you arrive in Manhattan is the overwhelming size and height of the dozens of skyscrapers that rise above the clouds.
The Rockefeller Centre was only steps from our hotel room and I still remember straining my neck and looking up in amazement at this truly magnificent piece of architecture.
I lived in Toronto for four years attending university. Torontonians love to brag constantly about how it is a “world class city”, which it is. But everything is bigger and more grandiose in New York.
The Billy Joel concert started slow, but ended magnificently as he and his excellent band played all the greatest hits over the final hour.
Madison Square Garden recently underwent an $800 million upgrade and the place is magnificent.
On day three, we started touring the city and got to see all the sights, including visiting the Empire State Building, Central Park, Ground Zero, the Brooklyn Bridge, a guided tour of Harlem and The Bronx.
We also saw the United Nations, famous apartment buildings where Hollywood movie stars and world-famous rock stars live and visited and such famous neighbourhoods as Soho, The East Village and Greenwich Village.
We also took a two-hour harbour tour of Manhattan at night, which was easily one of the highlights of the trip.
The new Yankee Stadium is simply magnificent. There literally isn’t a bad seat in the house.
We travelled everywhere on tour buses – as do millions of other tourists – and this is a truly great way to see all the sights and sit back and relax without having to navigate the insane traffic.
The tour guides are incredibly knowledgeable – and charming – and know so much about this great city’s history. I learned more about New York in eight days than I could ever imagine.
Here are some facts others who have never been there might not know.
• New York City is the world’s premier tourist destination with more than 65 million tourists from virtually every country in the world visiting each year.
• There are more than 9,000 restaurants in New York City.
• The New York Police Department has more than 35,000 officers on the payroll.
• Actress Demi Moore is selling her Central Park condominium for a cool $75 million, while Melissa Rivers, the daughter of Joan Rivers, is selling the condo she shared with her recently-deceased mother for $62 million.
• The Staten Island Ferry transports tens of thousands of people and vehicles every single day and is completely free of charge.
• Central Park is the world’s largest man-made city park and covers just under 900 acres and stretches from central Manhattan to the outskirts of Harlem.
The highlight of the entire nine-day excursion, for me, was mingling, mixing and talking to native New Yorkers.
They are, without exception, friendly, courteous, charming, smart, funny and polite. All my misconceptions about them being “in your face”, rude and ignorant were very quickly dispelled.
Manhattan is also extremely safe and clean. I’ve never felt safer in a big city in my life.
There were very few homeless people that I observed compared to other cities I’ve visited and those who don’t have much are treated with dignity and respect.
I could never live in a major urban centre after living most of my life in medium-sized cities and small towns. But I definitely now have a special place in my heart for NYC.
They don’t call it the greatest city in the world for nothing and if you have never been there, you should try and make it because you won’t be disappointed.
It was a trip to remember and I really do hope to get back there one day not too far down the road.
I have no desire to see the tourist sites and buildings again, but I can’t wait to meet and talk to New Yorkers again.
Keith Lacey is the editor of the Osoyoos Times
