TRIPS TO NEW YORK CITY I've been to New York City four times and have truly enjoyed the city itself three of the four times. I always loved seeing the skyline, before and after the World Trade Center was gone. Here's a synopsis of my experiences in this wide open city that charges admission to enter.
1. School trip for a class my senior year - May 1995 During my senior year I took a very interesting class called "You and the Law". The trip was to see the historic police station right next to Central Park but just being there was enthralling. I had the time of my life, we went everywhere…Chinatown, the empire State Building, Rockerfeller Center, the Trump Towers, and F.A.O. Schwartz. We saw a music video being made and at two different times we were followed by a muttering crazy person, one guy who was muttering obscenities and the other repeating "Lawdy, lawdy, I love to pawty". Seeing the city from the Empire State Building was quite a sight, especially at sunset. The evening ended off with a theatrical production that paled in comparison to the sights.
2. Gay Pride March - June 1998 I was living in Ithaca at the time but I went with my former Cortland friends and a bunch of other folks. It was a long bus ride but worth it. They showed a movie about an event that happened in the seventies where the gay pride march turned violent. The march itself down 7th Avenue was the best part, it was a beautiful sunny day and everybody was very happy, except for the Christian protestors who were trying to get their message across to a bunch of cheering people by practically miming that all of us were going to hell. They were very entertaining, but I can almost guarantee they did not get their point across. Our moment of silence for victims of AIDS for our group of folks was right in front of the Empire State Building. There was a feathery float in front of us, apparently some sort of clothing company, that kept repeating "This is the house of Moshood" and that got a little old, but it was great touring Greenwich Village by myself after the parade was over. On the way back I was felt up by the person sitting with me on the bus. It was very dark and I could not see him well, because when I met with him again I noticed my judgement was off.
3. Being stood up at Port Authority - September 1998 I used to go on a phone chatline that was apparently popular all over New York because I talked with a couple guys from New York City. One guy who affirmed that he was muscular and liked smaller guys agreed to meet me at Port Authority. I rode the bus and listened to Led Zeppelin, hearing "The Rain Song" as the New York skyline approached. I was at Port Authority for quite a while and even walked Times Square before I got information on the next bus back to Ithaca. I also found out that Linda McCartney had died from a magazine in Port Authority on that trip.
4. A whole weekend for another Pride March - June 2002 I went with two friends this time, Nessa and Martin and drove most of the way except for in the city, seeing as how Martin was not afraid. We dropped Nessa off on this poorly constructed street and went off to the place in Brooklyn where Martin and I were staying, having Chinese food on the roof of his friend's apartment and seeing a bare minimum of the Manhattan skyline. I had a great time, I even saw my friend Toaph and learned the correct pronunciation of "Flatiron" (I was pronouncing it "Flat-EE-rahn") The parade was a little lackluster but very colorful and we took many pictures. When we got to Washington Square and the arch right before Greenwich Village, it was weird not seeing the twin towers looming in the distance. We had a great time after the parade and after dinner. We visited a bar that was playing r&b music and we danced to a funky version of "Killing Me Softly". Nessa and I snuck off to the bathroom to smoke illegally in the most disgusting bathroom in New York. While in the locked bathroom, people banged on the door and when we considered escape, Ness told me to go into the bathroom stall and she would peek out the door. I was drunk and stoned and didn't think of arguing, and instead of peeking, she left. A person found me out immediately and when I walked out of the bathroom there were suggestive "oohings". That's all right, though, I accidentally squirted lime in her eye later on.
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