The "Let's Go See Rock 'n' Roll together!" Thread

[maxx02]

admin said:

Do you think NY is more like Disneyland than LA??

LA is the capital of conspicuous consumption. It's not Disneyland, it's Hollywoodland.

[barfleur]

maxx02 said:

To me, the City has lost a good deal of it's old charm.

. Ah well. I miss a lot of things about NYC these days. It looks more and more like everywhere else, each time I visit. I guess I should be happy that I had a chance to live there before they decided to turn it into Disneyland.

I visited NYC in the early 80s with my husband and children to show the kids the city and was quite appalled by the "squeegie guys" and crime. Then in the early 90s when I worked in Connecticut and traveled there often, things were generally better. We moved there in 1995 and I was amazed at the clean-up and huge reduction in crime. Those were happy years for us! I've been every couple of years since then and so far, I like the new New York - even though some of the character may be gone.

FYI - We're staying at a very nice mid-town hotel, The San Carlos, for our RnR trip. It's on Lexington and 50th, so it's an easy Green Line subway ride to Grand Central and then you can take shuttle across to Times Square.

G
xo

[etherealtb]

maxx02 said:

admin said:

Do you think NY is more like Disneyland than LA??

LA is the capital of conspicuous consumption. It's not Disneyland, it's Hollywoodland.

I thought LA was one big Swap Meet! ;D (Or is that one big Walmart? Whatever. You get the point.)

[maxx02]

etherealtb said:

I thought LA was one big Swap Meet! ;D (Or is that one big Walmart? Whatever. You get the point.)

Actually, I don't get the point.

[etherealtb]

maxx02 said:

etherealtb said:

I thought LA was one big Swap Meet! ;D (Or is that one big Walmart? Whatever. You get the point.)

Actually, I don't get the point.

That there is a lot to choose from, but you probably don't want most of it. ;D

[rufluvr]

Talk about a huge difference. I lived in NJ 6 or so years in the '70's, going into NYC periodically with family, and then didn't get back there 'til one time in the mid-nineties. In the '70's, it seemed like pimps, pros and street people were everywhere. Maybe they weren't, but the ones that were, were flamboyantly or strangely dressed and registered very deeply in my young eyes. The storefronts at Christmastime were fantastic though. Having an Orange Julius was the big treat. Then in the nineties, it was totally different, but certainly safer feeling. (I never have gotten over that I missed CBGB's in it's heyday, however. I wrestled with the idea of moving back east after high school, but nver did) During my 90's trip, almost everyone you asked a question to was really nice. Got a big case of the heebee jeebies after going to the top of the WTC (outside, no less, before it got windy and they corralled us back inside). That was a year or more after the first bombing attempt, and I remember thinking, why am I so creeped out? What are the chances it will happen again, they surely have the security to prevent it now. (Yeah, right) I couldn't get down and out fast enough, I remember. My brother thought I was overreacting. I did take some cool pics of it from below but can't really enjoy them now.
I am glad that NYC has seemed to rally back from that sad event, but the shadow cast from that tragedy will always be around the edges, I should think.

[rugirl]

Unfortunately, I don't think 9/11 will ever be around the edges in NYC, it will be front and center for a long time to come. Everyone who lives there (or like me, is from there) knows someone who was either in the WTC and perished or worked at ground zero..I think it will be at least a generation or so before it ever gets out of the collective zeitgeist.

[Terri Mac]

As someone who has lived in and around NYC all her life, I agree wholeheartedly about the '70s. It was the one decade of my life when I wished I wasn't a New Yorker. for all the reasons you guys cited, and for my own personal reasons.
During the '70s, I went to a Catholic high school right smack in the middle of Times Square (42nd between 8th and 9th Avenues) -- and right next to a "house of prostitution." -- I guess the girls coming out of school with their blue blazers and pleated skirts were a sharp contrast. The high school closed down before the "ladies of the night" closed down though because I was in the last graduating class from that school (lol!) no kidding! My church and grammar school are still there though. I went with my kids (teenagers) to see it (once again) just a few weeks ago. If you're walking around on your visits and want to stop by, it's called Holy Cross Church.
As for New York City, it has gotten much more touristy (and therefore much more crowded!) So with the good of ex-Mayor Giuliani cleaning up the city so well . . . more people, and I guess more glitz. But, I don't know . . . I still wouldn't want to trade it. My husband and I have had opportunities to move, but our entire family seems to be planted here. I think we've both inherited our own parents' love of NYC, My father is in his 80s now, and I still love to hear his stories of growing up in Manhattan. He has some great ones because he was a NYC cab driver all his life. We have him living by us now and even though he's only a half hour from Manhattan, he thinks we've brought him to the "country!" Well I guess I've gone on enough . . .

[pattirose]

I lived there on and off in the 80's and absolutely loved it! The only thing I could say would be it wrecked me for life because anywhere else I live and anything else I do - I always end up comparing it to NYC and nothing, nowhere even comes close!
The neighborhoods, the food, the history, the shopping, the entertainment, the atmosphere, the people - best in the world, IMHO.

[ukelelehip]

I have to say, for a relatively new New Yorker, 9/11 is never on my mind. Of course, I didn't know anyone involved nor do any of my friends nor do I have nostalgic ties to NY (although I was on Long Island on 9/11 and saw it happen from my window) but to me in my day-to-day life, it's really a non-issue. In my personal experience, that is.

[Terri Mac]

pattirose said:

The neighborhoods, the food, the history, the shopping, the entertainment, the atmosphere, the people - best in the world, IMHO.

Pattirose, I'm with you. I couldn't have said it better. I think people either love New York or hate it, and I love it.

[Terri Mac]

admin said:

I have to say, for a relatively new New Yorker, 9/11 is never on my mind. Of course, I didn't know anyone involved nor do any of my friends nor do I have nostalgic ties to NY (although I was on Long Island on 9/11 and saw it happen from my window) but to me in my day-to-day life, it's really a non-issue. In my personal experience, that is.

I could never be one of those people who dwell on the past and don't move on, but I can't say I never think about it. In just my son's small school alone, 4 families had immediate family members die on 9/11, including one of his best friends. However, I do believe the terrible horror of that day did bring people closer together and want to help each other, and at least that good came out of it. Although it's a bittersweet memory, I still get chills when I think of the night of 9/11, people were out in the street talking and crying with each other and making sure neighbors and family members were accounted for, and it started going around the neighborhood that the church was open and there was going to be a candle service and people just started walking and driving there and before we knew it, the very large church was filled to capacity and people were standing in the doorways, everyone just wanted to be together. It's another NY memory that I'll never forget.

[maxx02]

I woke up to phone calls asking if I was back in San Francisco and telling me to turn on the television. (I'd been in NY just a few days earlier and had a stack of books I'd bought at the Barnes and Noble in the mall of the WTC still sitting on my desk.) I watched throughout the day sick because I couldn't bear to think who I might know that had been in that building.

I still remember my first trip afterward. Everyone wanted to talk about what had happened. Everyone wanted to tell you who they knew and ask who you knew. Everyone wanted to tell you where they were and what they were doing that morning. I couldn't go below NYU because it was if the "air" somehow got thicker and more oppressive. I remember my first visit to Trinity Church. As I type this the hair is standing on the back of my neck when I think of those boots on the iron fence outside the church.

It still chills me and I still think about the people I knew who were lost that day. When I dwell on it, it's just a fresh as it was the day it happened.

If you are visiting NYC and you have never been to Trinity Church, I believe the memorial is still inside--visit it. It will amaze you what sacrafices people make in times of crisis.

[Terri Mac]

[It still chills me and I still think about the people I knew who were lost that day. When I dwell on it, it's just a fresh as it was the day it happened. ]

Maxx, I'm with you. Well said, You put it out of your mind, but when you're reminded, the sick feeling you felt that day comes right back. I think it stays with you forever.
That's why I'm glad you brought up Trinity Church and so many similar memorials, because it's better to remember and focus on all the good in people.

[dreamer]

As a tourist I saw NYC on august 1982. I've been over there some days living at my man's relatives house. I felt myself as I was at home. I liked it very much, Manhattan is great! I loved Greenwich Village too, a night we attended a magicians show, with the break-snack, in a little haunt, very nice! And I well remember the pretty tasty appetizers at the top floor of twin towers.
On 9/11 at "that" hour I was on a plane flying over the ocean and I felt a strange sensation of fear, unusual for me because I love flying (I almost was going to take a pilot patent), and after my landing, one hour later, arrived at the hotel I saw the tv news and I couldn't believe what I was seeing!
I was so sorry and pained for all the humanity indeed!
I'm longing for seeing NYC again, one day maybe!