For the love of the Manhattan Skyline

I will never stop being fascinated by the New York City skyline!

I am riding a train to the city today. It snowed last night so everything is cold, white, and beautiful. People huddled at the station as they waited for NJ Transit to do its bit for their lives. Manage schedules, and define coffee runs, providing a sense of predictability in the everyday.

It is a weekend so it is not that hectic. You can tell from the slow pace of the platform. The smiles, people holding hands, nodding, looking forward to the train that takes them to their fun day.

We board the train. As always I find myself a window seat. I love windows on all modes of transportation. You pass cities, roads, skies. It makes me wonder. What would it be like to live in these places? To not just pass by but grow up there? Who worked at that abandoned factory? Who does the blue pickup truck, now buried in snow, belong to? Patio chairs covered in snow on someone’s yard, a swing, the sun, the sky. Lives zoom by at the window.

I get distracted, absorbed in curiosity and wonder. I turn my attention back inside. People around me are chatting. Students, lovers, friends. Then there are those riding alone. Some are reading, some catching up on their sleep and some like me are sitting in quiet contemplation.

As we get closer to the city, the landscape changes from the wild patches of the suburban town I live in to be more industrial. More warehouses, more graffiti on the wall, more apartments or condo buildings as they call it here.

And then, just suddenly you see it, the Manhattan skyline. Standing tall, stoic, and seemingly impervious to judgment. Twinkling ever so slightly in the dim sun. It looks prettier at night with all the lights but during the day, it is representative of everything that people have come to associate with NYC. There are the usual dreams, hopes, and aspirations. And then there is cutthroat, business, no bullshit, and constant churning that defines the city. Changing, morphing, adapting to the best and the worst that time has to give but never still.

I first came to the States in 2009/2010. It filled me with wonder. I walked down Fifth Avenue soaked in nostalgia and a heart bursting. I had seen Friends, and You’ve Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle. I had imagined Breakfast at Tiffany’s and read Fountainhead and Kane and Abel.

I had seen the Twin Towers fall and change an entire generation. Cementing the fallible and yet sturdy nature of the city.

As I walked past the Dior, and Tiffany Blue, and stood in front of the iconic Apple Store my heart was full. My dreams and imaginations had come to life.

The Manhattan skyline. Every time I pass it, I hug and pinch myself a little. A lump catches in my throat. I remind myself, that I am here. Here at this moment, looking at the shine of the city, getting familiar with the grime. The sounds and smells. The energy. The dogs and their owners walk on a weekend.

We are almost at the station, a few more minutes, and people are chatting. The nappers have woken up and people bundle up once more. The tunnel gives way to the bustling Penn Station.

I make my way through the labyrinth and emerge on 33rd Street. A street cart vendor is selling hot dogs. "The most amazing but might also kill you if you ate them" hot dogs. I take a step on the sidewalk. I pause to check my phone. I am meeting my girlfriends for lunch and ballet.

I catch my breath as I struggle with a very cold nose. I stand in front of Madison Square Garden. I look up at the billboards, the people walking, tourists clicking pictures.

I look. I breathe. My heart lets out a small yay! My heart will forever be in love with New York City.