A New York Fix

Today I had a New York City fix. I had some errands in the city and then decided to meet a friend for lunch.

It's only been three years since I worked in the area, but so much has changed. Most of the area has been declared an historical site. There is so much new construction going on, most of it residential which is new for downtown Manhattan.

Since it was my friend's birthday, I decided to go to a great card store downtown. Unfortunately, it is no more. Even the post office which had been there forever was gone. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant in the building where I had my first job with an engineering company, and again later when I went to work in an insurance company. There have been so many changes to that building, starting with the elevators. When I started work, we had elevator operators, now of course, they are all automatic. And, of course, the security in the building is very tight. We used to be able to go about five blocks by cutting through the lobbies of the buildings, but not, of course, unless you work in the building, you don't get much past the door.

There have been so many changes downtown, some good, some bad. A lot of the old buildings with the fancy facades are gone, all in the name of progress. I like the new glass buildings, but some of the older buildings are very interesting with the sculptures on the sides. When the weather is nice, I just walk around staring at them, just like a tourist.

We had a wonderful lunch, the time just flew by. I couldn't do much shopping, most of the stores I knew are gone. If it hadn't been such a crumby day, weatherwise, I would have walked around more, but it was cold and snowy. When it's wet, either snow or rain, the streets of NY are miserable - dirty, messy, and slippery.

It was a wonderful day and I can't wait until my next NY fix. I'd like to take one day a month and just wander the city or the museums.