This past weekend, my wife Angie and I went to the greatest city in the world to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Yes we went to New York City! The last time we were there was the summer of 2000, when we took our son Robbie, who was preparing to start high school, and our daughter Kristin, who was only seven years old at the time, on our family’s summer vacation to explore New York City.
Needless to say, little did we know that just over a year later the city, our country and the entire world would never be the same due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. To be honest I really did not know what to expect to see after the eight and a half years since we had been there last.
To give you a little background, I am somewhat partial to New York City. I was born just across the Hudson River in New Jersey and spent the first eight years of my life there. That is why I am a life-long New York Yankees fan as well as a New York Knicks and New York Rangers fan. On a side note, the Giants and Jets never really excited me and I latched on to “America’s Team” and followed the Dallas Cowboys. My grandparents lived on Long Island so I spent many days visiting the city. I remember going to “Bat Day” at Yankee Stadium, going to the top of the Empire State Building and visiting Central Park.
When Angie and I took our kids on vacation to the City in 2000, we hit all the tourist spots. We stayed right across the street from the World Trade Center at the Millennium Hilton Hotel. We went to the top of the Twin Towers, took the boat to see the Statue of Liberty, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, ate in Chinatown and Little Italy, toured Central Park, rode the subways and even caught a Yankee game. Although my daughter does not remember all of it, we shared a total New York City experience that week.
So last Friday as we were flying into La Guardia International Airport, we could see Manhattan out the window of the plane. Yes the first thing I noticed is what was missing. The towers are gone. There were other changes as well. I could see not one but two Yankee Stadiums! How cool is that? The new stadium has been built right next door to “The House That Ruth Built”. I’m not sure how long it will remain but I got to see them both. I also got to see the New York Mets new stadium, Citi Field, as we were landing.
This time we stayed in a hotel right across the street from Battery Park in lower Manhattan and could see the Statue of Liberty from our room. The first thing we did after unpacking was set out to see ground zero. It was about a four block walk on a cold, 38 degree, windy afternoon. After not knowing what to expect to see, I have to say, you really only see the “memories”. The site where the World Trade Center towers once stood basically looks like a giant construction site. It is surrounded by chain link fencing, which makes viewing difficult. There are engraved plaques listing the victims of that day on the fence but that is the only “memorial” we found. Amazingly the hotel we stayed at on our family vacation has reopened after a couple years of renovating and rebuilding and the “Stage Door Deli” right around the corner is still open and packed with customers. On the corner is a small chapel that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani described as “St. Paul’s Chapel stands – without so much as a broken window. Little miracle.” Hard to believe it’s a block away from total devastation and not a mark on it. We capped our first night in the city off with a nice, romantic dinner in a quaint, Italian restaurant, Il Cortile, on Mulberry Street that we dined at back in 2000. Once again, the food was wonderful.
The next day Angie and I spent the day touring the city and just hanging out in the streets with thousands of other people. I tell you, based on the number of people we saw all over the city, there are still plenty of folks spending money and stimulating the economy. That night, we had an outstanding Valentine’s dinner at Blue Fin restaurant in Times Square where the seafood is “swimmingly fresh” and then went to see the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys”. Wow! What a show! That was our first Broadway show and believe me it will not be the last. The theater was sold out and the show was amazing.
Then on Sunday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the airport to come home to Dallas. All I can say is if you have never been to New York City, you definitely are missing out on one of the most unbelievable places in the world. There is so much to do that Angie and I already have a “to do” list for our next visit and I guarantee you we won’t wait another eight years before we head back. I think Michael Bloomberg the Mayor of New York said it best “This is the city of dreamers and time and again it’s the place where the greatest dream of all, the American dream, has been tested and has triumphed.” I love New York…
The Buyline 