Last time I was in New York, I was 23, and with one of my best friends. We had both participated to an exchange program with an obscure college in Missouri, had lived abroad for the first time, had lots of fun, met many interesting people, fallen in young love (with other people), and had a happy time of it.

After the three months in Missouri, New York felt like back to civilization – proper cheese and proper bread, art, culture, and the tremendous liveliness of the place. I felt in love instantly, and told myself I would live in Manhattan for a while someday.

This time I’m 34, and on my own. I’m no closer to living in New York than I was then, maybe even farther away. So I was a bit apprehensive coming here – would the city be less attractive through the eyes of the person I had become ?

At first it seemed that way – my hotel in Chinatown right next to the train tracks, the smells of the overheated town …
But then I took a walk, and I felt the attraction again. What mostly makes the charm of NY city is the crowd. Ever moving, ever changing, always something to see. It’s 30 levels of people compressed into one level of street.

And of course, the monumental city forming the scene for all this human comedy. I took a swim through the crowds of Times Square, Central Park, Fifth Avenue …

On tuesday I started from Greenwich Village and walked through Soho. Greenwich Village has a certain amount of contrived charm, with chess tables on small crowded streets. Soho is a shopping district with nice architecture.

Then I walked over Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn. Last time I only criss-crossed Manhattan, so I’d promised myself to see Brooklyn (and maybe Queens).

Brooklyn has a very different feel from vibrant Manhattan. It’s clearly a more residential neighborhood. The streets are narrower and greener, the brownstone houses well kept, more children in the streets. The walk along the coast facing Manhattan affords a nice view of the financial district, but Brooklyn Heights itself is worth a wander, too.

Then, since the weather was fantastic, warm with a sea breeze, I piled on the sunscreen and went to see Coney Island. I took a long subway ride to get there, through nondescript apartment block country.

Coney Island is described in terms going from ‘tacky’ to ‘seedy’. They’re not wrong. You get off the subway and you’re at the entrance of an old-fashioned theme park, with great wheel and rides and everything.

The theme park transitions smoothly to beach, the beach being lined with many multicolored stands selling drinks and foods.

The beach itself is nice and sandy. While I had a lot of fun photographing the extreme kitch, I did enjoy spending a few hours lying in the sand with a book. One can only absorb so much city. Something can be said for having a beach so close to home.

Back in Manhattan I concluded the evening by going to an Ukrainian restaurant, ending beautifully with a lethal piece of cheesecake.

Now tell me, what’s not to love ?