New York State of Mind

September 9, 2009





New York State of Mind

Tony Blair

Having dropped my nephew Chris off in Connecticut, I turned right around and headed back to Indianapolis. I would have preferred to fly back to Key West from the East Coast, but somehow returning a rental car in a different city makes the daily price of the rental increase from about $30 a day to over $200 a day, so driving back to Indiana saved me upwards of $1000. Thankfully, the folks at my job at RPM Nautical were very understanding and I was able to take a couple of additional days off of work.





Finding myself driving within a few miles of Manhattan proved to be too great a temptation and I found myself calculating having to drive a few extra hours into the night in exchange for spending the better part of a day in the city a tradeoff that I was more than willing to make.





So I drove through the Lincoln tunnel from Hoboken and parked on 42nd street near Madison Square Garden and headed over to Times Square. It was a mad scene as always, though I noticed that they have closed off a section of Broadway and created a much larger pedestrian mall complete with tables and a bunch of extra room for the masses of people who are there.



I can’t explain exactly why, but I love Times Square, it reminds me of Duval Street on steroids. The energy and exhuberance of the people there and the just strange goings on that happen there make for a wild energy. I wish that I would have had the time to catch a show on Broadway, there are a plethora playing that I would have liked to see. I think that Kathy & I need to plan a return visit soon.





Most of my favorite delis are located in Manhattan. My favorite is the 2nd Avenue Deli, but right up there, are the Carnagie Deli, Katz Deli and the Stage Deli. Since I was already in the vicinity I headed to the Stage Deli and enjoyed a fabulous Tiger Woods Reuben.

Biff

Tony Blair





While walking around, I came across a small gathering of paparazzi across the street from the stage door for the David Letterman show, where they were preparing to film a couple of episodes. I decided to wait around and see who was coming and was rewarded with the appearance of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who came over to sign autographs for small crowd.

Tony Blair

Tony Blair was soon followed by actress Julianna Margulies best known for her work on the show ER who was appearing to promote her new show “The Good Wife”. Next up was acting legend Michael Douglas, who also came over to sign autographs and greet the fans. Last up was the musical guest rapper Kid Codi, who was really nice and spent a lot of time with the crowd as well.

Michael Douglas



Kid Cudi

It was pretty interesting to see all the hubbub and it got even better when I later came across the filming of a scene for the sequel to “Sex and the City” at 58th & 5th (near the old Plaza Hotel). I was able to see the last bit of filming then have Sarah Jessica Parker role down her window and wave at me as she left the set in a black Escalade. For only spending a few hours in the city, it sure seemed like I saw a lot, but as much as I would have loved to stay, I had to get back on the road.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sex and the City 2 – On Set

Stage Deli