New York is rather annoying

I recently visited New York for work and was really looking forward to the visit.  I'd been there twice but never for more than a couple hours.  This trip was to be nearly three days including plenty of down time.  As a disclaimer to this post, I know that there is much more to New York than I saw; these are simply observations I had based on my limited time there.

New York, as I saw it, can be summed up with three words: culture and marketing and people. 

I stayed at the Grand Hyatt located at Grand Central Station about 8 blocks from Times Square.  Every language imaginable could be heard there and around Grand Central and throughout the rest of the city for that matter.  I later learned that some 40% of New Yorkers speak some language other than English as their primary tongue.  I met an old law school pal of my father's about 8 blocks south of the hotel in a neighborhood filled with about every type of ethnic restaurant imaginable.  There are different neighborhoods for the Polish, Chinese, Italians, etc..  The languages I heard and people I saw were much different from my home in Hillsdale, MI - a town with 1 culture.  It was quite an experience I must say and I'd never seen anything like it in any of the other big cities I've been to in the last 2 years with this job.

Marketing was everywhere and was really annoying.  Everything is big, flashy, and in your face with no breaks from the millions of people.  Visiting Times Square is a pretty sickening experience.  I strolled down there one evening by myself and was completely turned off.  There were tweens running around everywhere screaming and taking photos.  Tourists from every country were jockeying for position to take photos or to get to the next destination.  Even down in the financial district, tourists were everywhere. The famous bull statue was completely covered in tourists taking photos and climbing on it.  My colleague and I took a trip down to central park to play tennis on their very well maintained clay courts and were surprised at how many people were in central park.  Bikes, runners, softball games taking up every field, booked tennis courts (40), and filled benches typified the central park experience.  It is a neat spot, but there is no escaping the droves of people.

All in all, New York seems like a very stressful place to live.  My guess is there are some really unique spots away from the hustle and bustle of midtown, but it probably takes some digging to find.  We did find a really nead placed called the Russian Vodka Room complete with many flavors of vodka.  This place had about 15 jars of vodka filled with different fruits and spices.  The menu included garlic and horseradish flavored vodka.  I stuck with cranberry.  There must be scores of unique places like this one around New York, but a couple days just wasn't enough to find more of them.

If nothing else, it helped me realize that the city in which I live isn't nearly as important as the relationships I have with the people living there.

Interesting observations:

1. I got a tour of the Opus Dei national headquarters.  Yes, this is the Opus Dei that was featured in the novel "The DaVinci Code."  The priest that took me around told me that when the book came out, every media company wanted to visit with them and talk with them including Good Morning America.  I was told that they were disappointed to find out that there isn't much secretive about Opus Dei.  The book's release was several hundred million dollars worth of free marketing for them and really helped them get their message out.  Opus Dei is really booming because of this book.  I also noted that their national headquarters building is plush with what looked like cherry paneling.  Polished brass was everywhere.  Someone with big money is helping fund that place.
2. I visited ground zero.  There is nothing there save for a hole in the ground.  I didn't see any sort of memorial, though I'm told it's located in a church across the street.  The whole area is fenced off and the fence has some sort of lining making it hard to see what is there.  Come on, guys, it's been 7 years since 9/11 and there is nothing to show for it.  Whoever is in charge of that property should be embarassed.
3. The subway system is great.  We never had to wait more than just a couple minutes.  It is a little more crammed than DC's metro, but it is clean and easy to use.  A ride costs $2 no matter where you go in the city.
4. Central Park's clay tennis courts are very well maintained and were an absolute joy to play on.  If you are a recreational tennis player, it is worth the hourly investment to play on the dirt once or twice.