My latest Notes from a Polite New Yorker column is now online at Kotori Magazine. I was inspired by a former co-worker’s request of things she should do before she left New York.
I kept my list to 10 things, and tried to be more general in some cases. The list of things one should do before leaving New York could be endless. It would be an interesting exercise to try if you haven’t tried it.
Some things I thought about including but didn’t:
Eat a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli. I didn’t think I could include Katz’s without including the Carnegie Deli, and that would bring up the Second Avenue Deli as well (though it is no longer on Second Avenue). Then I’d want to include a trip to Grey’s Papaya on 6th Avenue and 8th Street, and my list would get bogged down in a food fight.
Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are great and interesting, but it can be very time consuming, expensive and aggravating. You will pay about $15 for a ferry ticket to a private company to take you to Liberty Island, a national federal park. Swaggering U.S. Park Police will bellow at you as they hustle you through metal detectors so you will know how important they are. You’ll have to go to Liberty Island and take another ferry to Ellis Island. If you stay on Liberty Island, there will be very long lines to visit the Statue of Liberty. The Statue’s crown will not open again until this July. From the Staten Island Ferry, you can get great views of both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, for free.
Go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a nice Cathedral, but so is the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and so is Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. There are a host of synagogues, temples, churches and mosques that would be interesting as well. Once you’ve been to The Vatican, no other Cathedral will really impress you as much.
