Duet with the City

Tonight I took a friend to go see the Top of the Rock - this trully breathtaking view of the entire city as seen from the top of Rockefeller center. (Yes, it's touristy but still worth it.) So we're next in line to get our tickets taken. The guy taking the tickets is this black guy, mid-30s with a great big smile on his face. When we approach him, he randomly starts singing a song. And I quickly notice it's one of my favorite songs of all time. An old 50s song. He's singing (rather loudly I thought), "Cuuupid. Draw back your boooowwww." And I can't help it - I immediately jump right in and return "and let...your aaaarrow goo-oh-whoa". Naturally, we have no choice but to sing together the final piece of the verse: "straight to..my lover's heart..for meeeeee."

I first learned of the song from Innerspace, a silly romantic comedy from the 80s with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan that I absolutely adore. It's "their song." Here's a snippet:


Of course, for me and the city, it's now "our song."

When Bikers Go By

Picture it. 9pm outside of a Cuban restaurant in Chelsea. I was on the street (okay almost in the middle of the street) getting ready to hail a taxi. I thrust one strong, open-fisted hand in the cool, autumn air - confident now in my cab-stopping abilities. But before a cab could come, a guy on a bicycle comes barreling down in the opposite direction, facing me. Before I knew it, he smiled...and hi-fived me as he went by! I laughed into the night, loving the strangeness of the city.

But I'm a 917 Girl

So today I went ahead and switched my cell phone number to a New York one. I thought it would be a simple thing to do to make me feel more at home here. I immediately learned otherwise.

After sending out the new number, instead of congratulations I received mostly gripes and groans. The West Coast people were like "that was so unnecessary." The East Coast people were like "I can't believe you didn't get a 917 area code. How tragic."

In a city where even phone numbers are fashion statements, I find myself wondering how people ever keep up. Take the Sex And The City movie, for example. When Carrie has to replace her phone and realizes she can't get her 917 back, she whines,
"But I've ALWAYS been a 917 girl."

And it's not just the number. EVERYONE here has an iPhone. They'll tell you it's because of something functional like the map feature ("I need it to find my way around!"). But if that were the case, I don't think people would be continuously playing with them on the subway...where there is no reception. Recently my friend dropped his iPhone outside of a taxi never to be found again. Within two hours he'd hit a store and replaced it. $500 bucks swiftly swirling down the drain. When I questioned his priorities, he turned to me with the kind of pittying look one reserves for children attempting to tie their shoes. "I cannot live without it" was his only reply.

In my new phone email, I bragged that I was finally becoming a New Yorker. Here was my favorite response:

HAHA - no you're not. Here is a list of things you MUST do before you'll ever be a New Yorker.

# 10 - get a 917 area code
# 9 - learn to hate time square
#8 - visit all landmarks and declare "they're okay" when asked about them
#7 - tell people you go to new jersey ONLY for ikea
#6 - find YOUR number one new york pizza spot and say IT IS THE #1 NY pizza spot
#5 - hook up with as many foreigners as you can - in one night
#4 - after partying hard fall asleep drunk in a subway car and wake up in queens
#3 - have several encounters with CRAZY people and have trouble picking the worse one
#2 - have everything delivered
#1 - slip and fall on your ass, hurt, suck it up, stand-up and keep going NO BLUSHING

Apparently, I have a very long, slippery walk ahead of me.