setting the record straight

Countless times after I'd moved to Alaska, and in earlier years whenever I traveled, people have asked me where I am from. When I replied "New York" people have always assumed that I mean the city. They often following by telling me either that they love New York City or that they've never been to New York City but that they suspect they'd love it. Historically I have not loved New York City. In all of my visits the primary impressions that the city had made on me were: this place smells like garbage; people in NYC are a bunch of grumps; NYC feels like a huge shopping mall, which is bad. Other than the navigational ease provided by the City's grid structure I'd never been too impressed with NYC. Often when confronted with a conversation about New York I would say in a derisive tone "New York is alright, but I much prefer Boston, or Toronto, or even Montreal. They smell better, and the people aren't as arrogant". Probably I was also a little resentful of all of the attention that the City gets while Upstate seems not to exist for most people. I can recall times when I've explained that I wasn't from the City, that I was from Upstate, and to the questioner this meant I was from Poughkeepsie.

Now though, after just over a week in the City, I'm willing to ignore those complaints and to apologize for my earlier scorn. New York City is beautiful, both as a collection of huge buildings and as a huge collection of people. I'm leaving the City tomorrow for a brief visit to Upstate, but I'm looking forward to coming back.

The New York Public Library is incredible. It's big and old and beautiful. Just being inside it made me feel proud to be participating in such a valuable, important social institution, even if my participation these days is solely on the borrowing end.