The last time I was in NYC, it was to see the tree at Rockefeller Center with Susan. The trip was notable because I managed to hit the Lincoln Tunnel: it was sunny, and as we exited the tunnel I was swapping to my prescription sunglasses. A tire brushed the Jersey barrier which was fastened down with protruding spikes, which kind of ruins the point of a Jersey barrier: it ripped a hole in my tire and I had to change it while squeezed onto the shoulder.
That was in the mid-Nineties. No further visits to see What Rudy Hath Wrought, until Sue expressed a desire to see the famed Disney Store in Times Square, surely a magnificence that exceeded the massive one at Disney World. We picked a weekend with two criteria: she had to be off that weekend, and it had to be between storms. As it happened, it started snowing as we left the city, but that's neither here nor there.
Sue was underwhelmed by the whole experience. Back in the days before I drove, I used the Port Authority Bus Terminal a lot, Greyhounding from New London and catching the locals to home in NJ. Or I'd take the Amtrak to/from New London, and walk between the PABT and Penn Station. Sometimes I'd stroll around for a bit. So, I had the basic area down; it's the easy section of town, with everything clustered together and the avenues and streets in the basic grid. We drove from Connecticut, stopping for brunch at 10:00 AM. Sue wasn't really hungry, but I knew if we waited and she had a pretzel or something in the city, she wouldn't want dinner. Her two goals were to see the Disney Store, and have a meal in a Real New York Deli. If she could have convinced me to drive to Brooklyn or Coney Island (the "old country" of her parents) we would have gone
there for dinner.
We took the Lincoln Tunnel to the PABT, avoiding any hard objects at the sides of the road, and parked there at about 1:00 PM: it was easiest, and I wasn't going to drive in circles to save a few bucks.
Out into the streets: they were pretty clear, snow-wise, except for piles of slush at every corner. I was impressed at the absence of the X-rated shops, and the pedestrian sections of the square. So, okay, points for improvements. It was still crowded, and I hate crowds, but we worked our way north, pausing to snap photos of the New Year's ball. We went right past the Disney store: the facade is impressive from across the street, but the entrance itself is just a pair of doors, and we didn't notice the signs above our heads. We went up 7th Avenue and finally cut across to Broadway and back, asking Elmo and SpongeBob for directions outside the M&M store. From that side of the street we could see our goal.
The Disney Store was Not Too Much.
Narrow, filled with standard Disney stuff. The employees were standard-issue nice and friendly. Sue had expected more from the website descriptions and the wide-angle photos. She (after much waffling) got a NYC-themed Disney T-shirt. I explained how expensive Times Square real estate was, but she was still disappointed. We then schlepped up to F.A.O. Schwartz, which was quite a bit bigger, and looked around. It was then getting dark, and we headed back to the Carnegie and Stage Delis. Sue checked out the menus (I had previewed them from home, and warned her how large the sandwiches were, and expensive) and, as predicted, decided she wasn't that hungry and it was too much to spend. We saw down a side street one of the Famous Famiglia pizzerias which for reasons unknown had a branch in Maitland, FL, in the plaza next to where I was living in the late 80s, and also in Groton, CT, since under new management. I was tempted...
Arriving back at the Port Authority, it was getting cold and flurrying, and Sue wanted to leave. It was after 5:00 PM, and it cost us $28.00 (!!!!) for parking. I had thought of going up an avenue to the Cross-Bronx for the sight-seeing, but decided, nah, just get out of there through NJ. Sue wanted the scenic route, though, so off we went. The scenery was mainly rows of cars buried in snow from the plows-- evidence of how you don't need a car in NYC, and also of how valuable a parking spot is. We finally made it to Connecticut, where we had a late dinner in West Haven and on to home.
Verdict: bleah. She wants to go to Coney Island when the weather is nicer to visit relatives, but otherwise Sue is unimpressed with the glamour of the Big City. Fine by me.
