I
haven’t been to the East Coast, and I’ve heard both great things as well as bad
rep for New York. Some people say that if you make it there, you can make it
anywhere. Some people say that New Yorkers are a stuck-up bunch. The best way to do it is to go there and see for yourself. Findings, then? Well,
it’s been all good, and New York just jumped on top of my all-time favorite
cities list, toppling Los Angeles. But there is no rivalry here. I love both
cities. I just think that they differ in many ways. Good ways.
JFK
is the hub of JetBlue, which means you are not that far away from cheap
flights, even though I’ve noticed that prices rarely differ compared to legacy
airlines when you book close to the flight date. As for me, I chose to land
there instead of Newark because my Airbnb place was in Brooklyn. Travel time
was still around an hour from Terminal 5 but transfers were not that
complicated. New York’s public transportation is dependable enough if you plan
your routes well. And Google Maps is your friend.
What
I regret about this trip is not being able to see a Broadway musical, which was
on top of my to-do list before coming here. Life just happens, you know. I only
had two nights to spare. My first night was free, but The Book of Mormon no longer
had available seats because I tried to book too late. They still had free seats
for my second night, but I had a shift at 8 PM. The evening show starts at 7
PM. Life is about tradeoffs, people. In cases like this, it’s not rocket
science. We prioritize our bread and butter.
What
I immediately liked about New York was the cultural diversity. I suppose the
neighborhood I stayed in Brooklyn was the Jewish quarter given the abundance of
Hebrew signs everywhere I went. The Chinese place I frequented for food, China
Pavilion, obviously had staff using Mandarin as their lingua franca. The main
clientele was a mix of Spanish-speaking Mexicans and Haitian creole speakers.
Los Angeles is also diverse, but the population is mainly Chinese and Latino.
In New York, it’s as if everyone’s there.
Buy
an MTA card. The one I bought is valid for a year. The metro, trains, and buses
usually charge USD3 if you pay by cash, and most of them only accept coins. If
you have the card, you get a discount and pay only USD2.75, plus you don’t have
to worry about bringing enough coins all the time. The card is rechargeable in
many stations, and some machines accept bills as well as credit cards. The only
caveat with the credit card is that the machine asks for a postal code. Since
mine is a Philippine zip code, it was deemed invalid.
In
any case, I found moving around New York via public transportation quite easy.
The travel time is usually long, and it took around 40 minutes from Brooklyn to
Manhattan each time, but I think that adds more to the experience. There’s
really something appealing about trying to get around as if you reside there.
And yeah, I wouldn’t mind living there at all. Work might be hard to come by,
but if you’re a student, NYU and Columbia are both in Manhattan. Maybe it’s
time for a post-graduate degree!
I
went to Broadway anyway. Central Park was on my list too, but given the vast
real estate I had to walk through, I begged off. See you next time, Central
Park! I hopped off #3 just as the sun was setting. A relaxed early dinner
at McDonalds meant that it was already dark when I stepped out. Wait, scrap
that. Manhattan is never dark. Broadway is always lit up and is a spectacle in
itself. I roamed the streets and found out that there were several WiFi hotspots
I could connect to for free. I turned my GPS on.
Google
Maps pointed my exact location, and I was uploading pictures on Photobucket
LIVE. Wow, New York. I’m impressed. I can get used to this! I was still a bit
frustrated seeing all the Broadway shows just within reach. So near yet so far!
I guess it sucks when you are in such an awesome place and your pre-trip
planning let you down big time. It’s fine. This won’t be my last time here, and
I’m going to make sure that the next time I'm in town, every night will be a Broadway
showstopper.
Times
Square is not that hard to find. Just follow the crowd! They are all headed
there anyway. There are two or three pedestrian islands there where camwhores
converge for the stereotypical Times Square selfie. This area is rather bright
and always lively. It was so fun recognizing those steps featured in the fight
scene between Spider-Man and Electro. Heck, I think most images of New York in
my mind came from those Spider-Man movies! And now I’m here. I was even looking
for Captain America in Brooklyn!
Overall,
I guess it was a good decision after all to transit here on my way back to
Manila. I always did it in California, but the East Coast also has a lot to
offer, not to mention New York is something you should definitely experience
even just once in this lifetime. It’s vibrant. It’s multicultural. It’s like
the freakin’ United Nations! And Manhattan’s skyline is love. I feel like I can
stay here for months and yet still have something new to explore every day. I’m
raving. I’ve defected to the eastern seaboard, SoCal friends! XD
[NEW YORK] Manhattan State of Mind
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