7 to Main

I know that I do not take advantage of the city to its fullest extent by any means, but today I realized that i still truly appreciate NYC. I was in Manhattan to visit the Central Park Zoo and have brunch with two friends from Cornell that both reside in Westchester. Although it was a beautiful day well spent in the city, I was so disappointed by their lack of interest and criticism of our home. While both girls frequent Manhattan via train for the touristy sights, I was disgusted by what seemed to be sheer boredom at walking the streets. We basically didn't have a plan for the day other than the zoo and getting some grub. The zoo, I will admit, didn't live up to my expectations since the heat kept many animals out of view and in size comparison, it's no Bronx Zoo. Nonetheless, I was, and will always be, fully satisfied wandering Manhattan without a game plan just because being in the bustle keeps me entertained and energized. As my mouth watered for some good old Afghani food from a sizzling cart at the Avenue of the Americas street festival, they insisted upon blowing thirty bucks on some overpriced, yuppy brunch in some pseudo-French street cafe. While I enjoy people watching and subtly listening to the conversations of interesting people on the train, they felt suffocated in the crowds and utterly confused by anything mildly reflective of a culture other than "American". The irony is that these are the same girls that pride themselves on future plans to travel Europe and study abroad in order to gain greater insight into the world outside of their own. How could they overlook the fact that a mere train ride away from suburbia separates them from one of the few places in the entire world that can capture and so perfectly comingle such international flavors. I know sometimes it's very easy to get carried away with the concept of New York as a cultural melting pot and land of diversity, but it is! And to have shared a day in the city with people who strive to be cultured yet have the audacity to criticize the city for not meeting their expectations... I take that as a personal insult.

Therefore I, as self-nominated "mayor" of NYC for the day, propose a plan for the immediate removal and future ban of anyone and everyone from all five boroughs (even Staten Island!) if they fail to show an adequate level of respect for my home. This will succeed in making more room for the valuable lovers of NYC to take full advantage of its glory without the hindrance of unnecessary haters. Thank you.

On that note, I leave for Ithaca on Friday, August 17th. I hope to see you ALL anytime before that. Even though I am guilty of working way too much in my remaining days, you can always visit me at Crispino's (which is now actually renamed Pesso's). Trust me, I miss everyone very much today and would have traded a day with you in the city over them at any cost. Granted, I still had a nice day and still like these friends from school. However, I now know that NYC is and will always be our 'hood, and thankfully, not their's.