When I worked in Manhattan in the ’80s and ’90s, the place that gave me the most energy was Grand Central Station. Standing in there, I felt the energy of millions of commuters before me and after me. It was thrilling. It was business. It was life. Grand Central Station was the reason I moved to Manhattan. It beckoned me. Inviting me to live the energy. So I did.
I moved to a great place on the Upper West Side. A brownstone. If you recall the TV show “Laverne and Shirley” and the basement apartment with one window? The one where you would see people’s feet as they walked by? Yeah, that was my place. And oh, how I loved it. Although my parents hated me living in Manhattan, my family and friends refused to visit; I loved it.
At that time, what we now refer to as pre-9/11, Manhattan was so different. It offered such an eclectic mix of people. And in my world, uptown and downtown mixed.