Bigapplophobia

I have never been to New York City. What images and impressions I get from this great city is all from the media. Of course, the 9/11 tragedy put it in the world’s spotlight. I can see webcams of New York streets on the computer, updated every fifteen seconds. From time to time, various news events are reported with New York as the setting, and of course there’s the annual Macy’s Christmas Parade on Thanksgiving morning. There have been many television series set in the Big Apple. But the most enduring impressions that I get of America’s biggest city is from the movies. And from the composite picture I’ve built up from watching movies such as North By Northwest, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Midnight Cowboy, The Godfather, and Saturday Night Fever, along with many, many others, I come away with the feeling that it is inconceivable how any visitor could feel anything but utter claustrophobia in that place. And to actually live there? I shudder at the thought! Why would so many people allow themselves to be pressed so closely together like sardines in a can, when just a few miles away there are plenty of wide open spaces as well as communities with reasonably large populations to provide city-like services, if that’s what one desires. Is it just that some people live lives of inertia without seeing a future ahead of them that they can be a creative part of, including the part that dictates where would be the best place to live? Or maybe many of them are wired differently than me and thrive in such an overcrowded environment.

In spite of this media-induced, vicarious anxiety I feel about New York City, it would be a great experience just to visit there for a few days. But where would I go? Manhattan, of course, where the main attractions are. But what about Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx? What is the appeal of these areas? If I just stayed around Manhattan, wouldn’t that be prohibitively expensive? And I have a sneaking suspicion that once I’ve stood on a Manhattan street for a few minutes and have taken in the scenery and the feel of what it’s like to be in this city, then I’m going to say to myself “O.K., I’ve done it, I’m here. Now get me out of here!!!”