by Rob Donner
When I first moved to New York in November of 1997, friends all wondered if I had gone off the deep end. After all, why would I move to the madhouse of Manhattan after having been lucky enough to grow up and establish myself in beautiful, sunny Santa Barbara, California? I mean, who could possibly turn their back on the ocean air, the mountainous vistas, the beautiful women, the serenity? What the hell WAS I thinking?
Well, looking back on that decision three years later, I have to say it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Sure, the weather in California is much nicer. Yes, itās noisy. Of course itās crowded. Certainly things move much faster here. And you know what? I love it all. Except the noise--but weāll get to that later.
For my first year, I lived in a small studio apartment on the Upper East Side, on 88th St just off of York Ave. I was on the other end of the block from Gracie Mansion, where the Mayor lives. It was quiet, clean, and yet only blocks away from the hustle and bustle of 86th St, which is often referred to as ćThe Times Square of the Upper East Sideä. I didnāt have to worry about parking, because I sold my car when I left California, knowing that the public transportation in NYC is among the best in the country. The subway was within walking distance, there was a bus stop across the street, I could walk to Central Park and I had a laundromat, supermarket, and hardware store all within a block or two. And my favorite bar was a short walk to 84th and Second. What more could I possibly ask for?
Of course, such conveniences come with a price. It is no surprise that rent in New York City is astronomical. For my small studio--and I mean small--I paid $1050 a month. Compare that to the $475 I was paying in Santa Barbara for a comparable space, which included utilities! So rent was quite a shock--indeed, I had to take a job as a doorman for a local bar to help pay my expenses. Granted, companies here pay a higher salary, but not enough to make up that difference in rent!
And thatās not all that is expensive. I had to join a gym, and I knew that too would be ridiculous. New York Health and Racquetball Club is known for charging over $1000 a year, plus a membership fee. And Reebok Sports & Fitness is even more expensive. Now, you get a lot of perks with these gyms--not the least of which is a very attractive clientele-- but all I wanted to do was lift weights and work off my 28 years of beer fat. I didnāt need to meet girls at the gym, thatās what my doorman job was for (and it worked out nicely, I might add). So eventually I found a gym that charged $650 a year for the use of their facilities, and although it was a relatively small gym, it was clean and almost new, and I liked it. But shelling out that $650 all at once hurt!
I eventually discovered that New Yorkers take exercise time very seriously. As the weather warmed up, I would ride my bike
into Central Park for a couple of trips around the 6 ¹ mile loop, and on weekend mornings I would find joggers and
rollerbladers all around. When it warms up, people get out in the sun and take advantage of the good weather. This was
something I had come to take for granted in California, where a sunny day is regarded as a ho-hum typical afternoon. And that led me to a couple of startling observations. One: there are a lot more good-looking women in New York than you
would expect to see. Coming from California, I expected to be greatly disappointed by Manhattan so far as girl-watching was
concerned. But I was dead wrong there--and it makes sense, because this is one of the fashion centers of the world, where
looking good means more than just a trip to the plastic surgeon. Tanning salons abound the uptown areas, and summer days
find the lawns of Central Park packed with sunbathers.
Observation number two was that as a result of all the walking they do in New York, people are actually in better shape here than they are in California. Yes, thatās right: BETTER shape. Between the trips to the gym and the bike riding and the walking everywhere, people here just seem to burn more calories keeping up with the pace of life in the big city. Thereās a clear difference between a population that walks to work and one that sits in traffic all afternoon.
Thereās so much to explore here: every neighborhood has its own unique appearance, and there are always new places to go and see. I still find that a bicycle is the best way to see New York: you can cut through large areas of traffic, you can stop whenever you want to without having to worry about parking, and if you get tired you can take your bike on the subway. My favorite ride now--I currently live in Bay Ridge--takes me up over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the loop in Central Park, a round trip which takes about 32 miles. There is also the Five Borough Bike Ride, which happens on the first Sunday of every May and, true to its title, touches parts of all five boroughs. That ride lasts about 40 miles, the last of which is a trip over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, North Americaās longest suspension bridge.
I look at the Chrysler Building every day, and over the course of a week I have countless views of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. I can visit any one of New Yorkās world-famous museums when the urge hits me, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of fine restaurants. And thatās the key to living in New York: everything is here for you to do, itās all a matter of getting up and doing it. The only way to be bored in New York is to let yourself be bored.
So for my money, the move to Manhattan was well worth it. Noisy? Oh yeah-- sirens and car alarms are going off 24 hours a day. But you get used to it, and eventually the sounds you notice out of the background are the odd bird chirping or a cricket in the summerās night. But the fact that those sounds are to be found in the countryās biggest city are part of what lends New York its charm: itās a city of neighborhoods, and like any small town, each neighborhood has its own distinguishing characteristics. That's one more thing that makes people who live here proud to be residents of the Big Apple.
