New York, New York! – A City That Never Sleeps

CEBU, Philippines - AvilaNew York City has always been known as the melting pot of the world, because it plays host to almost all the ethnic races the world over: Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Africans, Mexicans, Middle Eastern, Europeans and, yes, Filipinos. This is very evident upon landing at the John F. Kennedy International Airport and in lining up at the Immigration Control. It is immediately noticeable that the white Caucasians are just a small minority in this great American city.

New York City was home for me way back in 1972 when I stayed with my brother Rene for nearly six months. I was also in New York a year after the 9/11 terror attack in 2001. And then, just recently, I was back in the Big Apple.

I expected nothing much had changed, except perhaps the eerie absence of the twin towers at the now Ground Zero. But our hosts, Mr. John and Inda Gage (who live in Stamford, Connecticut, an hour away by train from New York’s Grand Central Station) made sure that this time around we’d see a part of New York City that we didn’t see before.

The day after we arrived, John and Inda drove us to the Queens Museum, in a part of Queens Borough that was the site of the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. Since it was the 50th anniversary of the museum, we were visiting the facility. What we saw was just amazing.

The Museum had a Panorama of the entire New York City and its five Boroughs and waterways. It gave sightseers a simulated view from 20,000 feet elevation. It was one of the main attractions during the World’s Fair in 1964, but went in disrepair in the early 70s, the reason why I didn’t get to see it when I stayed in New York City in 1972.

Today the Queens Museum is once again a must-see tourist destination, from where tourists can grasp the immensity of New York City and its five boroughs. Of course, going across the East River to Brooklyn is one of the best ways to see the two famous bridges of the city – the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge – and the United Nations complex. There’s also this place called DUMBO, short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge, where my cousins Eduardo and Marisal Dizon-Santiago brought us to enjoy the good view.

No visit in New York City can be complete without dropping by Times Square, the city’s nerve center of cultural activities. It is a short walk from the Rockefeller Center and the St. Patrick’s Cathedral across the street. Unfortunately, you cannot see much of the Gothic-inspired St. Patrick’s Cathedral because it is presently being renovated.

For World War II buffs like me, it is something to visit the Exxex Class Aircraft Carrier “Intrepid,” which is of historic significance to Filipinos as she fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and in the Visayan Sea and later saw action in the Vietnam War until she was assigned as a recovery ship for NASA space program. The “Intrepid” has iconic aircrafts on display, like the SR-71 Blackbird, the Concorde Supersonic Airliner, which was placed beside the carrier because it was too large, and the space shuttle “Enterprise.”

But the epicenter of New York City is Times Square, where the neon lights are lit up 24/7. Located in West 42nd Street to West 47th Street, the place is called Times Square because the New York Times once had its offices there. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily and thus it is considered the world’s busiest pedestrian intersection. To New Yorkers, it is the center of the universe. It is the site of the city’s famous New Year’s Eve celebration and the annual ball drop, traditions that date back to 1907.

A visit to New York City is not complete without watching a show in Broadway, a very short walk from Times Square. In this recent trip, we watched the hit musical “Jersey Boys,” which had been running in the Wilson Theater for nine years. This was based on the life story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, who sang the famous songs, “Cherie,” “Walk like a Man,” and “Can’t Take my Eyes off you.” It has now been made into the movie that is currently showing in the US.

After watching “Jersey Boys,” we decided to see “The Phantom of the Opera.” It was actually the third time for me, as I had already seen it before in New York City and then in London. The lead actor this time was Norman Lewis, the first African-American to play the Phantom in the musical’s 26-year history, the longest running musical on Broadway. Of course the prices had already increased much, to an average US$100 per ticket for a balcony seat.

There really is so much to see and hear and taste in New York City. There’s Nathan’s Hotdog, for example, served in the city’s sidewalks, the Serendipity 3 Café, which was featured in the 2001 movie “Serendipity,” and, of course, New York City’s top tourist destination this time – the 9/11 Memorial Museum, which just opened in May this year.

It was good to be back in New York City after a while – and I am already looking forward to another trip back to the Big Apple.