Star Wars

I was going to start by writing that I took my son to the NY Philharmonic last night to hear them simultaneously play the soundtrack to The Empire Strikes Back while we watched the movie. I realized, however, that using the verb “took” diminished his independence. So rather than that I will say that he and I went together and had a great time. When I was riding into work this morning, I was reflecting on how much I like being back in NYC and enjoying its cultural offerings. I then noticed that the gentleman sitting in front of me was wearing a necklace of real bones. My first thought was they were chicken bones but I realized this was only an assumption and I really knew nothing about the provenance of these bones (could they possibly have been human?). But enough with the macabre and back to the City.

Growing up outside of but within proximity helped me develop a sense of what made someone a New Yorker. A New Yorker had a bowl of subway tokens, the map memorized, and knew that a green globe outside of the subway means that entrance is open 24 hours and a red one means the entrance is closed at night. And that the best burger is at the Corner Bistro on West 4th between Jane and West 12th, and this address, while mind bending to a teenager in New Jersey, is perfectly sensible. A New Yorker met other New Yorkers with tantalizing precision – on the southwest corner of 44th and Sixth (and, clearly, it’s always streets then avenues). The New Yorker learned the City through experience, by living in it.

The City has changed, however, with the advent of smart phones. Want to know the best whatever in the City, there’s a list on Yelp! No need to memorize the subway map, there’s one in your pocket. Those lights outside the subway, google it and get the Gothamist article describing their history. And along with this, the City has changed, everyone can be an instant expert.  Lines around the block for cronuts and Cookie DŌ. The latest fad virally rather than experiential learned.

Oudemian: a fictitious or non-existent place.