citylove: new york city

new york, new york

I can’t even begin to explain to you how much I haven’t really seen in my own city. I’m always amazed at how diverse New York is, but I know that there are a lot more places and things that I haven’t even seen yet. I was in the car the other day with my mother and we were driving back from somewhere. It was a really nice day out, so all of the icy carts were out. And in that moment, I thought to myself, you only really see that in New York City. And it’s really only in the Latino communities that you see them; everywhere else you have the legit ice cream trucks. But to be honest here, do you see Latinos with icy carts on your street corner in the city you live in? Really now, I think it’s a New York City thing.

Anyway, I’m almost sure I haven’t seen all that my beloved city has to offer. And I suppose that’s because I’m a native New Yorker and have, in my twenty-something years alive, taken this city for granted. But no longer! I’m setting a really big goal here, right now. The fact that I probably seen more of cities in Europe than my own NYC makes me sad, so this summer I’m going to do something different. Really, I thought of this last night and I’m going to do it.

This idea was also inspired by a post I read on The Freedom Experiment. I suffer from occasional bouts of wanderlust and as a semi-unemployed person, I can’t be going on oversea adventures like I would want to. Because of this intese urge to see the rest of the world, I often forget that I haven’t even seem most of my part of the world. Marthe, from The Freedom Experiment, wrote a few tips on dealing with wanderlust and the restlessness you feel from not being able to go where you want to go. One of her tips was to buy a travel guide of your hometown. As weird as that may sound, I’m starting to think she may have a point.

So my idea is to conquer this list, that I’ll post below, during this summer. I really hope I can motivate myself to get out and do all of these things. Maybe I can even sucker a few of my friends to do them with me.

1. Walk the length of Central Park, from 110th Street Central Park North to 59th Street Columbus Circle.
2. Photo document every section of Central Park (even the ones not on the map)
3. Attend a Shakespeare in the Park performance.
4. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
5. Visit the African Burial Grounds.
6. Visit the 9/11 Memorial.
7. Go to the top of the Empire State Building (outside observation deck this time!)
8. Spend the day at the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park.
9. Go down to Wall St.
10. Visit The High Line.
11. Kayak on the Hudson.
12. Visit the New York Public Library (the really big on 42nd Street with the lions out front)
13. Visit and/or revisit as many museums as possible (plus, I have my art class that starts soon, so I’ll have to go to these.)
14. See the current public art installation on Park Avenue.
15. Visit Grant’s Tomb
16. Visit Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens

I’m sure there are a lot more things to do and places to see. I just have to find them. Suggestions are welcomed and I’m probably going to add to this list as I get new ideas. I’m kind of excited for this! And I know already that I can do most of these things in a day. Hum…I suppose I should add learn to ride a bike on this list, but it’s not really New York City related (that and I haven’t fully convinced myself that I am going to learn how to ride a bike yet).