a. I had been interested in architecture 40 some years ago, and
b. I had a cell phone camera.
If you check out the "Scouting New York Guide" on the above blog, you will find an awesome (and I don't use that word lightly) guide for anyone who plans to visit New York City. Or, better yet, already lives there.
Because something strange happens when you live in a place - many times you just don't notice it. If you live in New York City, well - you have to make a living, raise your children, make dinner and file your taxes. Inbetween all of those things, are you running around with a camera and visiting top New York City attractions?
I would bet money that you aren't.
One of the best things that ever happened to me was leaving New York City. Because now, I look at "the City" through the eyes of a tourist. I'm "that person" who you curse at on the Brooklyn Bridge because I am blocking your way as you walk or bike the bridge for the 4,509th time. Meantime, it's my first time out, and I have my camera out. (One day I should post some of those pictures, taken several years ago.)
+Carlton+Hotel.jpg)
Or, I'm the idiot stopping on Madison Avenue to take a picture of this building. I looked it up when I got home and this is the Carlton Hotel, Madison Avenue and E. 29th Street, built in the Beaux-Arts style, and restored in 2008.
But if I lived in New York City and worked in the area (this is four blocks from the Empire State Building), I'd probably be rushing past it every day, not giving it another thought.
So, I was especially thrilled when one of my high school friends shared a link on Facebook, from that same Scouting NY blog, about the lobbies of Bronx apartment buildings.
The Bronx is one borough that doesn't get much respect - but I spent 21 years in the Bronx, and I spent many happy hours on the Grand Concourse as a child. My years in the Bronx did not end happily, however, and if I ever complete my "chicken memoir", you will find out why.
But still...reading about the places I once knew makes my heart beat fast.
Have you ever become a tourist in your own home town?
Sounds like a great way to see NY. If I ever get back there, I'll have to research a few blogs before I go...
ReplyDeleteNothing like getting advice from someone who lives where you want to visit. I would highly recommend reading some New York City blogs before visiting again. Maybe I will, too!
DeleteI love New York. So many things to see and do. They also have great pizza. I miss that:)
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the pizza. On my visit earlier in May, my first stop was a neighborhood pizza restaurant in Brooklyn. My second meal was in a neighborhood diner - one I intend to blog about in the future because of its distinctive nickname.
DeleteI'd venture to say that wherever you live, there are some sights worth seeing! Fortunately, I grew up in a nearby town, so coming to the town I live in now was, as a teenager, a novelty and one which gave me the opportunity to see some of the tourist attractions. This is especially nice now as most of those tourist attractions have been overshadowed by the Presidential Library which reared its less historically interesting head several years ago. Fortunately, our Historical Society sponsors a Ghost Walk every Halloween where they re-enact some of our history.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me that one of the best places to play tourist is right where I live!
The Carlton Hotel sounds familiar... I keep thinking it was mentioned on one of those game shows or talk shows in which they tell you where the guests are staying. Who knows? You are absolutely right that we sometimes don't appreciate what is right under our noses when we live there. A good way to be a tourist in your own town is to invite someone to visit and take them to all the "sights" I suppose. Wonderful post and I'm very curious about that chicken memoir!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this post! I've never been to New York City but I really want to visit there someday, and you know that I'll be one of those annoying tourists taking pictures of everything and nothing. I absolutely love your link to the apartment building lobbies. What treasures! AWESOME! (And I don't use that word lightly, either!)
ReplyDeleteI went back to the town I lived in in the 70's in Robe, South Australia ten years ago. Boy, it had changed. It had lost the charm it once held for me. Sad. I guess I saw it through 'rose colored glasses' back then.
ReplyDelete