Margaret's Reviews > Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York

Great review, Mom!

Katie wrote: "Great review, Mom!"

So glad you had the book in the house.

Lovely review, Margaret. I like Chast a lot.

It's kind of sad that so many New Yorkers won't be caught dead visiting a tourist site. I lived in the city in my twenties and thirties, and I took friends and family to some tourist sites when they visited. The only time I ever went into the crown of the Statue, I was a surly seventeen year old who thought I was too cool for such things ... then realised how absolutely awesome it was. Later, I would visit the top of the World Trade Center, even going out onto the roof (which they used to allow), and many times the Empire State Building which is architecturally gorgeous and an elegant experience. All of these sites offer spectacular views off the city from different angles, and lift you up above it all. (Well, sadly, the WTC can no longer offer that experience.) Rockefeller Center in winter, when the skate rink and Christmas tree are up? Gorgeous. The tourist things that I believe are generally overrated are many of the Broadway productions (just cheesy), Times Square (was just tawdry and kind of fascinating in the past with the mix of XXX cinemas and prophets yelling about the End of Days, now cleaned up and totally commercial and boring), and Penn Station is functional but unattractive (unlike 42nd St Grand Central). Central Park is truly beautiful though of course dangerous at certain times, as is Park Slope in Brooklyn, both designed by Olmsted. The horse carriages out to be outlawed, in my opinion, but the Plaza is nearby and used to be gorgeous. I believe Donald Trump may have bought it though; if so, it's prob no longer nice but expensively trashy. Also, the Metropolitan Museums, the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center ... all great. But now I am just rambling! Sorry. :) Your review got me wandering down memory lane.

So true about Sixth Avenue. No one ever says Ave of the Americas. Good heavens that's a mouthful.

Chast listed many reasons she'd never gone to the Statue of Liberty; "too touristy" was just one. As for me, I've been to most of the so-called tourist sites. When you grow up in the city, you go to lots of those places on school trips. The Museum of Natural History was our rainy Sunday trip with the kids when they were young. We could get in the subway at our home station and not have to step into the rain again until we ended up back at our home station at the end of the day. And the museum offered so many kid-centered activities, we could stay all day.

Broadway shows are a mixed bag. A group of former colleagues and I get season subscriptions and have seen some great plays that way. And I do go to other shows as well, both musicals and straight dramas. Each Thanksgiving my family buys tickets to a show that would please the kids; we do musicals there mostly, Dear Evan Hansen last year. But I do agree about Times Square, especially some of those shows that are right there--lots of Disney and other kid stuff turned into musicals, etc. In all fairness, my older daughter who goes to lots of shows, swears that Sponge Bob Squarepants is a good play. I still resist--I cannot be in the same room with Sponge Bob Squarepants. Her most recent favorite was the two-night Angels in America.

The museums, cultural events, and the food are terrific. Great music and choices for movies. Coffee houses and colleges and cultural talks all over town. Just the 92nd Street Y on its own could keep a person mentally awake all year. I don't live in the city now, but I am in a close-in NJ suburb, a town with lots to offer on its own. The bus to Port Authority on 8th and 42nd takes 25 minutes. I even learned to drive in the city as I lived there (except for one year) until I was 31. (My NJ friends are astonished that I have no fear--other than having to pay exorbitantly for parking--of driving anywhere in town.) I feel blessed to be a part of it all. It's an international city with people from around the country and the world. And they've brought all their languages and cultures and foods with them,

Sounds like you are a true New Yorker yourself and hope you get a chance to come back and revisit.

Oh, and if you like the memory lane thing, take a look at the book.

Margaret wrote: "Chast listed many reasons she'd never gone to the Statue of Liberty; "too touristy" was just one. As for me, I've been to most of the so-called tourist sites. When you grow up in the city, you go t..."

Yes, you are right about the Broadway productions, in that they do vary a lot. I get frustrated though that they frequently put big names in the shows who are not trained in theater and do not know how to act on stage. Acting in film and TV is so different and one can be much more minimal. Acting on stage requires a whole other skill set. That began to get on my nerves decades ago but of course they want to make money like everyone else. The best straight play I ever saw on stage was a Broadway production though: Agnes of God starring Amanda Plummer, Geraldine Page, and Elizabeth Ashely. Amanda Plummer and Geraldine Page blew me away. (I was deeply involved in theatre from the ages of eleven to twenty but only as an amateur.)

Oh I used to love the 92nd Street Y! I still get to catch some of their talks on You Tube.

Margaret wrote: I feel blessed to be a part of it all. It's an international city with people from around the country and the world. And they've brought all their languages and cultures and foods with them.

I could not agree more. I am an old New Yorker at heart, it's true, and I miss many things about it; but my small-town Daylesford life suits me more nowadays. I don't think I could cope with the population density and the pace like I used to, as we have so many fewer people here in Australia and I've lived here for nearly fifteen years. I have lost my NY polish for sure.

I am willing to believe your daughter about Sponge Bob. I think that's a cartoon that punches above it's weight. :)

T.D. wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Chast listed many reasons she'd never gone to the Statue of Liberty; "too touristy" was just one. As for me, I've been to most of the so-called tourist sites. When you grow up in t..."

My best straight drama was the 2003 revival of O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night with Brian Dennehy, Vanessa Redgrave, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robert Sean Leonard. Breathtaking. And you're right about some folks not transitioning well from, say, television to stage. But others were born on the stage and do television to earn a living.

So glad you have found a place to be happy. You may think you lost your NY polish, but if you were to visit for a week or two some year down the road, I'm sure you'd feel at home again in a flash.

Margaret wrote: "T.D. wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Chast listed many reasons she'd never gone to the Statue of Liberty; "too touristy" was just one. As for me, I've been to most of the so-called tourist sites. When you..."

Oh my goodness, what a cast! I love O'Neill and I wish I'd seen that.

Thanks so much for your kind comments. I admire that you drive a car in NY and NJ and manage it with confidence. I didn't try it too often but when I did it scared me to death!