Friday, December 13, 2013

Frank Sinatra said it best

New York, New York! Yes I was there for 34 hours and I went and did everything I could to live that New York minute to the best of my abilities. The only things I didn't do were do the ferries of Staten island and view the 911 memorial. Other than that, I hiked Central Park, ogled inside Times Square, went to the top of the Empire State Building, rode the subways, flagged a taxi, and saw the legends at monument park. I did so much, but the ultimate spectacle was Madison Square Garden.



The Knicks and Bulls this season have had turmoil with the rest of the Eastern Conference, and the game Wednesday night was proof that both of these teams just cannot compete with the two top teams in the East. But the real story was how beautiful Madison Square Garden was. The transformation, as they are calling it, is definitely proof that this is the most famous arena in the world. It looks huge on the outside, but on the inside, it is small but so luxurious that even when your sitting where I was sitting, you felt like you were top of the action with a sweet seat to go along with it. It lived up to expectations and the first time I stepped out of the concession area to view the court, the awe kicked in for about a minute. My New York minute was a trip to remember even though the city smelled of dirty wet pavement and a hint of an old folks home, which shouldn't be shocking considering the age of the city.



If you haven't been to New York, let me give you a quick excerpt of my experience because I don't want to ruin your future trip. Everything is much smaller in person! Times Square is incredible along with Fashion Ave (7th Ave), Avenue of Americans (5th Ave) and Rockefeller Plaza. Things on TV look a lot bigger but in reality everything is really close to one another. The Subways are genius. They are simple, they are quick, and they are forceful. New York doesn't mess around with it's transportation. There are taxis everywhere, Subways running constantly, buses on every corner, and a Light Link Rail that is basically the modern day Railroad system. There are other layers to the city, the Underground, the Uptown, Downtown, and the marketing district where the prime time (greatest form of shopping circuit you'll ever see) takes place... But again, as big as it all seems on TV it's all really tiny in person, but it's still incredible. People in New York look worn down, but the ones that are friendly are very charismatic and very very nice. There are at least 20 different nationalities that I ran into while taking the day by storm. Many people on vacation or just stopping by the city. It is true, the city never does sleep. Many things happen till about midnight and fairies to Staten island go 24/7. from about 4 pm till midnight is probably the hardest time to be on the streets of Manhattan. There are many people and tons of cars, but it's not really overwhelming (but maybe I'm just special). If you really wanted to, you can do it all in a day, but you will be very tired.



The one thing I want to do if I ever go back is take the ferries to Staten island, see the 9/11 Memorial, go see Rucker park in the summer time to hoop it up with the Uptown New Yorkers, and visit the Brooklyn area. Central Park also doesn't get enough justice when I visited it. If there is the definition of the perfect park, you found it at Central Park. I hiked it and it took about an hour to go from the north side to the south side and it was absolutely beautiful. The statues on the south side of the park are one of a kind and really make your jaw drop if you have any kind of a soul. It's crazy how something so spectacular when it comes to natural beauty connects so perfectly with the retail world on the south side of the park. That part is what I will always remember and what really struck me as "a smooth transition." I love the shopping aspect of our culture and I love the pure sanctity of nature and the combination on the south side of the park was perfection to my liking.



Take a trip to New York. I gained a completely different perspective about the city after going and I see things around me in a much different way after going. I learned a lot along with exploring the things I enjoy the most, Sports. Yankee Stadium didn't impress me, and it's not because I'm a Mariners fan, the new stadium just didn't do it for me, but the Delta Sky Box was pretty legit along with the monument out in center field. I did get the chills in center field and it wasn't because it was cold. Those chills they speak of when you're out there, it's real. I really liked the museum they had as well and after taking the tour of the stadium, it felt as though the stadium was designed really quickly, and I wish I could have viewed the old stadium before it was demolished.



If you listen to Jay-Z on the west coast, you need to visit New York to understand a majority of his materialistic lyrics because most of what he raps about is retail that only New York can contain. Much of what we see on the west coast does not comprehend with what they have on the east coast, hence why going will open your eyes to what the lyrics of east coast rap is really pertaining to.



I had a great time and it went by really fast, but it will be memories for a lifetime and it only took 34 hours. Next week I'll talk about the NCAA Bowl games and give you my predictions! See you next week!

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