City Lights

Some of my earliest memories are of city lights. Blinking green and red lights out the window of my Coney Island Ave apartment in Brooklyn, New York sometime prior to my second birthday (we moved to Jersey when I was two).

As a boy I remember my older cousins, still living in Manhattan (my dad's home town) taking me to see Santa at Macy's each Christmas. Plenty of lights at that time of year. And taking me to the Empire State Building (I remember the building, but not going in).

I do remember my only trip to the World Trade Center towers. 

We went for drinks at Windows on the World, the bar on the top floor. 

And we got trapped in an elevator that thought it was a yo-yo, 

repeatedly going from top to bottom without letting us out!

Growing up the city was often a destination. Visiting my grandmother (dad's mom) in her nursing home was a Sunday ritual. (She was wheelchair bound, today she'd be given a new hip.)

Or going to see the Mets, Knicks, Cosmos (the first year on Randall's Island, before the move to the Meadowlands in New Jersey), Rangers (and having my car towed!), Yankees, Giants, Jets, (the prior two at Yankee and Shea stadium respectively) and the occasional college basketball games at Madison Square Garden.

Or going to see Broadway plays (Christmas presents or high school trips).

Despite living outside of Philadelphia these days, New York is still The City to me. But trips to The City have become rare. This was my first visit in some three years I reckon. Now I've travelled at bit, visiting a number of big cities, and except for Tokyo, none have the crowds on the weekend that Manhattan does. There are always people about, regardless of the time.

This trip was a bit of a wild goose chase, as we were trying to see Manhattenhenge. Somehow, despite being in the right place at the right time, we missed it. Bummer.

Whither the Sun?

But is was still great fun.

(More about the trip can be found here and here. Enjoy!)