Hoofing it in NYC

Have you ever hoofed it around NYC?  It's an exotic adventure.  No, people do not 'run into you' if you aren't walking fast enough, but they will very nimbly circumvent you.  You 'stroll' in the parks. You WALK on the sidewalks.  Walking in New York is always entertaining.  There's no end to what you will see or smell.  Mostly, but not always, if it's not outright pleasant, it's definitely interesting.

I'm beginning to wonder how long a woman has to live in New York City to obtain what I think of as the New York patina.  There's sort of a 'finish' for want of a better word which makes the women who live here easy to pick out.  If you're on the upper West or East sides (the areas on each side of Central Park), yes, there's an element of money which is quite obvious.  The purses, shoes and scarves are dead give-aways.  There are no Payless BOGO's there.  However, it's not being able to drop four figures on your accessories which define a New York 'look'.  It's a pulled together sort of fashion statement which extends to your coat, your scarf, your shoes, your haircut, your jewelry and your hat.

And, yes, it's true:  New York women wear basic black for every season.  They wear all black in the winter/fall, and they wear black bottoms with lighter colored tops in the spring/summer.   The New York black thing makes the tourists stand out like dandelions on the lawn.  In other parts of the country, it's all about 'color'.  You wear white, beige, and pastels in the spring and summer.  You wear black, brown, forest green, maroon, and burnt orange in the fall and winter.  Not in New York.  It's all black, all the time.  If you want to blend (somewhat) with the natives, only bring black clothes when you visit.  Sometimes I amuse myself by checking out the 'ladies in black' when I'm walking somewhere.

We are staying (and cat sitting the family cat)

Jackson

at the crossroads of Brooklyn - the center of downtown.  Downtown was the center of the retail world in Brooklyn until it fell on hard times.  Flight out of the 'city' to suburbia happened everywhere in country during the 50's and 60's leaving behind blighted downtown areas.  Now, that trend is reversing with the millennials who are eschewing suburbia and looking to live inside large cities with easy access to transit which takes them to everything they want or need.  Downtown Brooklyn is reviving by leaps and bounds thanks in large part to the transit:  9 separate subway lines connect it to everywhere in NYC. There's a huge multi-use tower planned within spitting distance of this apartment.  Ironically, it will be attached to the "Dime Bank" which is this massive, ornate rotunda of an early 20th century building.  The facade of the rotunda will be retained, and the tower will be its appendage rising like a slender needle over 1000 feet into the air.

I've also learned that New York is NOT Seattle.  People are miserable in the rain here.  They walk around hunched over, and little doggies don't get walks - instead, it's the ever popular 'poop pad'. Umbrellas are everywhere, and you can actually see business depressed by the rain.  Restaurants which are usually packed are almost vacant.  When it rains, people add a 'take home' dinner box to the bags and backpacks beneath their umbrellas.   Apparently, children in strollers still get walked by the nannies even in the rain.  The nannies look miserable and wet, but the kiddos are strapped into their strollers then encased in see through plastic.  They seem quite happy to be out and about in the rain as was I.  It doesn't take long living in the desert before you appreciate every raindrop.

One of the outcomes of all walking, all the time is  the striking absence of fat people.  There are 'big boned' people who wouldn't be thin if they ate absolutely nothing, but there just aren't a lot of obviously overweight folks.  I'm convinced another reason for the lesser number of hefties is the New York craze for 'small plates'.  Think salad plate instead of dinner plate.  This small plate thing is happening because little plates cost less, and partially because it's just the culinary fashion at the moment.  The only place there are no 'small plates' are in the delis.  No one at any delicatessen is serving smaller sandwiches. Thank heaven....they are so delicious.

After the sidewalks, the best people watching in New York can be found by riding the subways,  but that's a whole other blog.  Got to take off.  It's time to walk to the subway, and then walk to the MOMA.