Nasty and nice

This is only my second time in New York, my first being a brief visit in 2008 just after Obama was elected.  I've seen and done a lot more this time.

Among the nicer things I did this time: visited the Museum of Natural History (I somehow managed not to pay – I think I just went in the out door by mistake); walked along the High Line (a tree-lined park on a disused overhead railway line); drank a beer in the Stonewall Inn (where Pride started) and cocktails in Chelsea and Soho; lunched in Brooklyn (vegetarian); strolled along the boardwalk and beach at Coney Island, (where I officially completed my coast-to-coast trip by paddling in the Atlantic Ocean); had hot and spicy soup in Chinatown; ate a fab hamburger in TriBeCa (where they serve beef, pork, dairy products and vegetables from their own farm in up-state New York); dined in the Princeton Club (very plush!); viewed the city from the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center (it's hard to write that word like that); saw a Broadway musical (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder).

On the down side: I got stung at the French Roast café for a couple of rounds of cognac at $5 more per glass than the previous night ("we served you the ordinary one last night but we've none left left so we served you the Hennessy VSOP" – without warning me).

But that was minor compared to the ignorant shits who drive buses in this town! I know it's not good to generalise, but anyway... I thought the first one was bad enough when he wouldn't let me on the bus about one metre past the bus stop, where he was stopped at a red traffic light. But the second just astounded me with his meanness: he told me I had to swipe my card in the machine beside the stop before entering. When I stepped off to do so, he immediately closed the door and pulled off. I wish I believed in karma.

But overall, I have to say I found New Yorkers to be helpful and polite, even those who were not expecting a tip.

Now I'm crossing the Hudson to New Jersey to visit my cousin.

The guys on Broadway, in Herald Square and on 42nd Street can rest assured that I'll be there again ere long!