My father first arrived in this country as a Jordanian immigrant in New York City. And most of the people my age in the family left Florida and moved to New York for a better opportunity. I've always been enamored by the city from portrayal in film and television: the massive skyscrapers, the lights, the glitz and glam... but the real New York is a heck of a lot different. A lot more urban, a lot rougher... and a million times better.
So, yeah. This actor is... my cousin! Unfortunately, he was very busy with college when I was a kid, so I mostly hung around my other cousin, Shady Kerko! Both invited me into their home for a birthday vacation of a lifetime. Seeing both together for the first time in a long while was incredible. When these guys left, my life got a whole lot less interesting.
When I first arrived, I knew I had 6 days, and I started off with something of a plan:
Eat authentic New York Pizza
Enjoy contemporary art at MOMA
Visit 9/11 Memorial
Ride the Cyclone at Luna Park
See the Gulf War Gameboy at the Nintendo World Store
I first arrived at my cousins' doorstep 5:49pm Friday night. They lived in Brooklyn, right across from a Jazz cafe. There was jazz music in the night, and it was beautifully "decorated" by some talented street artists. Photo below of the club, taken on a different day.
No, my first photo, and the first thing to cross off my list:
Eat Authentic New York Pizza
*Not thin sliced. But totally 100% authentic New York Pizza, the best pizza in the world (or at least the best I've ever tasted in my life) is Ace's Pizza in Brooklyn. Specifically, their sweet pepper pizza with pepperonis. Yep, we can definitely cross that off the list. New York Pizza isn't just a thin pie, it's the ingredients, the people, the atmosphere, the food itself is New York Pizza when it earns the title New York Pizza. And this did a hell of a lot more than that. The sweetness of the peppers with the amazing bread and cheese, it's hit the mark for something special just with the base ingredients. Well, I loved it.
On the way home, they took me through Williamsburg, Domino Park. And BAM, you'll walk right into a beautiful waterfront with Manhattan glistening in the distance. Unfortunately, my Rebel T7 is really NOT good at night. So... it was tough trying to get a picture that wasn't a blurry mess. This is the closest I got. The picture of the bridge is up for sale!
Stopped for Gelato on the way back, and boy was that one of the best ice creams I ever had! It was truly a fantastic night.
The next morning we took the trains to Manhattan to hit MOMA and the Nintendo World store! You're walking in kind of dark, dinghy subway stations, the J to the M to Delancy, then you walk out and all of a sudden, you see this.
My first view of New York... and MAN what a view that was! The buildings were so tall they gave me vertigo just looking up at them!
You cannot comprehend the scale of New York from a single photograph. The sights, the sounds, the smells, New York is all around you.
Enjoy contemporary art at MOMA
My friend recommended visiting the top floor of MOMA first, which began in the 1920s. The way they defined "Modern" art was from the period after the impressionists. So we saw a lot of cubism, a lot of beautiful colors and paintings. All of the images in our textbooks? Yeah, they came from MOMA.
You see... furry art does belong in museums!
Pink Panther by Jeff Koons
Banality series, 1988
And this was just the start of my trip to NYC. More parts coming soon!
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