There’s a type of writing assignment that never grows old:
the city guidebook.
One type is really comprehensive, covering all the things
that make up the city, from aquarium to zoological garden, if the city has
them, and heavily into restaurants, theaters, and that sort of thing.
Everything a tourist would want to see and the Chamber of Commerce would want
him or her to spend money on.
There’s another type which, if it doesn’t exist, should. It
would convey the spirit and mood of the town rather than the mundane facts of its
geography and physical features. It would look like this.
A Visitor’s Guide to New York
New York is everyone’s favorite city; it’s the
friendliest. You want neighborly? There’s no place you can get closer to your
neighbors, quicker, (or they to you) than the IRT subway at 5:30 on a Wednesday
evening. Sample it at its best, on a humid summer day.
That “big city” image? It’s only PR; New York is really
just a series of neighborhoods strung together. Each has its own attractions
for the visitor who can speak the local language or is adept at a martial art.
Just think about this: New York has, in one city, two of
the best-known tourist attractions anywhere.
Times Square is maybe the most famous single location in
the world, and I understand they’ve cleaned it up wonderfully.
Central Park – well, you still want to be alert there
after about 6 o’clock, and you don’t want to go there at all in the evening,
but it’s spectacular from the penthouse of the Plaza Hotel. Check out the
closing credits of “All in the Family.”
I grew up in New York, but I
haven’t been back in years (decades, really).
Things can change a lot in that time, and I don’t know if this advice
would still be useful. I may have a nostalgic view of it, but that was my New
York
