A New York Moment

It's been a rocky transition for me when I returned to New York. I've never wanted to live anywhere else but since my return I've been having a hard time remembering why.

Today I went on a bike ride with my friend Tim. Our only plan was to catch the sunset at High Line but our one hour turned into five! We rode from Queens, over the Queensboro bridge, crosstown to the West Side, and down the West Side Highway. We watched the sky change from blue to orange to pink to black over the New Jersey skyline. As I was riding alongside Tim on this nice, cool evening, taking in the view, I finally felt the love for this city again.



We rode all the way down the West Side and cut back across, headed to Chinatown for some Pho. As we were parking our bikes we stumbled upon the San Genaro Festival in Little Italy and opted for sausage and peppers, arancini, and funnel cake instead. Mmmmm. We walked down the street, past all the food vendors and carnival rides, and saw a sign for a viewing of a lady who has the body of a snake. I looked at the sign and said to Tim, "I never understood these carnie shows. How is that even possible?" Well for $1 each we found out. I'm not going to spoil it for you though. You'll have to waste your own dollar.

After we stuffed ourselves at the festival, we hopped back on our bikes (our faces covered in grease and confectionary sugar) and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge. On our way up the Queensboro bridge there was a guy riding in the opposite direction of us, zipping down the incline with his feet out to his side and his head ducked low and he was yelling, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH" as if he was having the time of his like on a roller coaster ride. Tim and I decided to try this as we reached the middle of the bridge and headed down the incline we both stuck our feet out and yelled all the way down. People thought we lost control of our bikes and jumped out of the way. I was laughing so hard my eyes teared up and I could no longer see where I was going, so it was a good thing they dodged us. The screaming made the bike ride so much more fun. I felt like I was 11. You have to try it! It's liberating like the scene in I Love You, Man where Sydney Fife tells Peter Klaven to give his best yell under the pier.

We rode all the way through Brooklyn and over the Pulaski bridge back to my apartment in Queens. My knees are swollen and throbbing right now but it was definitely worth it. It was really nice to ride around without a plan or a destination. Sometimes, in life, you have to go a little off course.

My love for this city has returned.