Two sides to a city

Anyone who follows the blog knows I love New York City. Of all the visits I have made...each has it's own stories and great memories. One stands out to me because it is the only negative experience I have had in Gotham....actually two...in one 24 hour period.

I was just across the Hudson for a business meeting so on a free day a friend and I went into the city. By mid afternoon, we were ready to claim a table, talk and watch the city roll by before us. We spent the afternoon watching the human diversity of the urban scene play out as we sat safely behind the railing of an outdoor cafe. With the beers and conversation the time passed and before we knew it...night set in. The SOHO/Greenwich Village scene is rich with my generation's music history and pop culture. I have always visited the area on each visit...but always in the daylight.

Once night fell...the passers-by morphed from remnants of the 60's and 70's culture to present day inhabitants of the streets. These two naive Mid-Westerners were caught in an atmosphere of rival gangs strutting past with their pit bulls, chain belts and testosterone overloads. The street scene had changed very quickly. For the first time in the city...I felt very uneasy with my surroundings...a situation that I didn't have the tools to deal with. The sight of yellow was never more welcomed...a cab stopped outside the cafe and without thinking we jumped the rail and took sanctuary in the cab. We had escaped what could have been a dicey situation.

Heading out of the SOHO area at a stop light a youth walked up to our Indian driver and motioned for him to roll down the window...with the window down, he began to ask directions...once our driver was sufficiently distracted the youth jammed his arm in the window and grabbed a roll of bills out of the drivers shirt and ran off into the night. The driver said that had happened to him before...his wages for the night gone in an instant.

After making it safely back to the hotel, I realized I had learned a lesson about the city or any large city for that matter...always be aware of your surroundings...they can change in an instant.

Dan