It's Damn Fun Being A New Yorker

Since Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" was released in September and certainly since he and Alicia Keys played it before game two of the World Series, it's become an instant anthem for New York City. On warm afternoons when I keep the windows open, I hear it playing in cars passing by on the street below all day long. Sometimes the lyrics blasting from the cars almost match exactly where they are in my own living room. In New York, concrete jungles where dreams are made of/ there's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York!

Yesterday I grabbed my iPod and went for a 4 1/2 mile walk to Union Square and back, down 9th Avenue, across 36th street to 6th Avenue, down to 25th street and over to Broadway. It was a sunny afternoon, but the skyscrapers blocked my view of the sky and shaded the streets. At intersections, I turned my head up, caught some sun peeking through space between buildings, turned Jay-Z and Alicia up. These streets will make you feel brand new/Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York!

"Hey, smile!" a guy unloading a truck yelled at me as I passed by, "It's a beautiful day and you're  gorgeous lady, so smile!" I smiled at him. More than any other comment I get on the streets is a request for a smile. I guess it's what New Yorkers are hungry for the most.

"Can you help me get a bite to eat?" a homeless guy leaning against a wall asked. (This is the second most common request).

"No, I'm sorry," I replied.

"How about a smile, then?" So I smiled.

"God bless," he said.

On 17th street I stopped in a lingerie shop to find a new bra. A man with dyed black hair and an uneven bowl cut walked in a few seconds after me.

"I'm looking for a really pretty bra," he told the saleslady when she asked if he needed any help.

Call it a sixth sense, call it being prejudice, but I immediately suspected he was shopping for his sex doll.

"What size do you need?" the saleslady asked.

"Uh, like, maybe a 32 B," he replied, "Or, well, probably, like, a C, a 32 C. She's nice and full."

"Okay," she said, handing him a particularly flimsy black lace bra, "How do you like this one?"

"Oh, that's nice," he said, "I'll take it."

"Do you need anything else?" she asked.

"A thong."

"A thong? What size?"

"Definitely a small. She's ... she's tiny," he said, gesturing with his hands the size of her ass, or roughly, the size of a honeydew melon.

After the saleslady handed him a matching thong in size tiny, she asked if he wanted to put the purchases under the recipient's name so she could find replacements easily the next time she came in.

"No," he said, "Put it under my name. She doesn't come here by herself."

"Do you want these gift-wrapped?" she asked.

"No, that's okay," he said, "I've got a box at home."

Yeah, I bet he's got a box at home.

After he left, I wanted to ask the salesladies if they suspected what I did, if they got guys like him in there often, but I resisted. I bought my bra and made sure to smile.

Heading back up Broadway I passed Stacy London from "What Not To Wear," a show I watched almost daily until a couple months ago when I got bored of it. She saw me see her and we had that moment I've had so many times now with celebrities when they realize they've been recognized. There's a whole unspoken conversation in that moment that basically goes like this:

Me: Are you...?

Celeb: Yeah, but please, I'm sorry, I don't feel like talking to anyone right now.

Me: Okay, don't worry, I'm not a freak or anything.

And then, depending on what I think of the celebrity, I usually smile or nod or even do a little wave. Sometimes the celeb smiles back.

After I got home Drew and I took a cab up to the UWS to have dinner with his pops. I brought my iPod along, and gave Drew one earbud and kept the other for myself. I played "Empire State of Mind." Drew looked at me, nodded and smiled. We both looked out the window toward the bright lights and all the stories, Jay-Z singing a love song to New York in our ears.

Comments

[Danielle]

I love this so much. I can almost smell the sidewalk hotdogs. What a great post.

[Dj]

Ditto Wendy. This is one of your really good "writing" posts. Love it!

Also - I never get to see music videos - Alicia is rockin' out an Olivia Newton John ala "Sandy from Grease" hairstyle. Love it!

[teahouseblossom]

How lovely!

And that man in the bra shop makes me think of an article I read in NY Times magazine a couple of months ago, about this Japanese dude who's in his 50s, still lives with his parents and is in love with a body-length pillow with an image of a Japanime girl on it. No kidding.

[brookem]

i love that song!
and so cool that you saw stacy and she saw you see her:)

[Julia]

Beautifully written. :)

[Katie]

This might be my favorite of all your posts ... of all time.

[Lisa]

Wendy where are you? We miss you.....

[Monique Douglas]

I loved this! Though not a New Yorker, I do love the city and reeeeally enjoyed reading this! Love your writing style!

[Sue]

Hey Wendy: I am getting worried about you! I have been living my "Sex and the City" New York life through you for some time. I have been living my real educator, parent life through your Dad's blog for awhile now as well. Your Dad is great! Very interesting guy! So glad I met him through you. Anyway....haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks and was concerned. Hope things are going well and you can share soon...

By the way...your Dad suggested you share some of your Olympic stories....welcome to Canada in a few weeks time. We are looking forward to welcoming the world. The Olympic torch will be coming through my city in a few weeks and we are getting ready to party!

Sue

[citywendy]

You're sweet to worry, Sue. I'm fine, though, and I'll be back to blogging soon.

[SeanArcher]

I have totally had that celebrity moment. Only in Chicago, it's far less frequent a thing...and the celebrity wasn't so much a celebrity as the guy from Greatest American Hero. I'm walking down Wells, and it's summertime, and I'm loving life, and it went down like yours, all in facial micro-gestures.

Me: Hey aren't you?
William Katt: Yes, but I'm sitting here eating lunch, and it's a lovely day, please don't-
Me: *Believe it or not, I'm walkin' on ai-ai-r*
William Katt: Yes, I know. Please don't sing the song. I hate my life.
Me: Okay, but man. You look like you've been working out.
William Katt: Thanks. I'm trying not to hate my life so much.
Me: Cool. Enjoy your Monte Cristo.
William Katt: Thanks for not singing.
Me: No problem. Too bad Robert Culp is dead. I'd rather have seen him eating a Monte Cristo. With Bill Cosby. And jello pudding pops.
William Katt: *sob*

[Sarah Brown]

Oh, this makes me miss home.

I had one of those wordless exchanges with James Gandolfini several years ago, outside a Dungeons & Dragons-ish shop where I was having a cell phone conversation and he was about to go shopping. That made me like him even more than I already did.