First impressions: an Englishman in New York

After a lame attempt to kick this series off in June last year we’re going to do it properly this time. We even have guest posts ready for publication, believe it or not… The topic this time out is first impressions; a number of different authors tell us how it went the first time they visited a city or town. Did it live up to their expectations? Were there any big surprises, shocks or strange differences they weren’t expecting? Was there any truth to the stereotypes they had heard about? My first impressions of New York surprised me.

Despite the fact that we’re a relatively well-travelled bunch here it won’t be long before we exhaust the possibilities we personally have to offer; and this is where you, dear reader, come in. If you want to, of course. We’re sure you have a story to tell, that first time in Paris, Cape Town or Ouagadougou.

Why not share it with our audience? We’d love to hear from you with your ideas, for this or any other articles for the site as we are trying to build Grown-up Travel Guide into a community site with as much input from you guys as from us.

All you have to do send an email to andy.higgs@grownuptravelguide.com and let us know what you’d like to write about.

In the meantime, we’ll get the ball rolling here with the tale of a Brit finally getting it together and grabbing a flight to New York after 40+ years.

My First Impressions of New York City

Image (c) Andy Higgs, Grown-up Travel Guide

Watching the Big Apple turn over

Apologies to Carter USM for shamelessly stealing their title there. In May of 2011 I fulfilled one of my many travel goals by travelling to New York (and indeed America) for the first time. With a place to stay (a friend’s apartment in Manhattan, no less) for the first few days and a hotel booked for the remainder of my stay, I was really looking forward to seeing what the city was really like. Despite a rather rough flight over and the first signs of jetlag kicking in, my spirits were as high as I was in the sky as the skyscrapers poked through the clouds as we descended.

The approach to JFK

The views when circling the city and coming in to land at JFK airport are spectacular, having flown over Long Island I could clearly make out several of the most famous buildings of central New York. As I was right at the back of the plane I decided not to stress about getting out quickly; I took my time and was the last to disembark. Which was a mistake, as I was then at the back of the queue when we’d passed through the sweaty tunnels on the way to the immigration hall.

The immigration process

I could see it was going to take time as the entire human content of our 747 was waiting in line in front of me. Apart, that is, from the lucky Americans, or the even more lucky Americans who were members of Global Entry, a scheme through which they are pre-screened for an annual fee and get to sail through a fast-track procedure.

There was little to do except wait, we were at least entertained by a video selling the delights of New York on a continuous loop on one of several television screens. The actual passport check procedure was quick and painless, although I did find it unusual to be both photographed and finger-printed.

The view on the way from the airport

Terminal 7, which British Airways use at JFK is a little run-down but small and manageable. The first sight to greet me on exiting the baggage hall was of a Starbucks and a McDonald’s. Years ago this would have seemed like a ‘Welcome to the USA’ in itself but these days it could be practically anywhere in the world.

With both signs and announcements warning not to use dodgy taxis but to go to the taxi offices, I took the hint and found a classic yellow cab to take me into Manhattan at the standard fixed fare. Next time I’ll get things sorted in advance by using a company and pre-booking my transport. 

On the way I noted how most Americans drive the same kind of cars as we do in Europe, though a few big Jeeps, a couple of stretch limousines and lots of those vans favoured by both FBI agents running surveillance and serial killers abducting their victims. At least in the movies, that is. But the real ‘wow’ moment was when I saw that iconic Manhattan skyline as we crossed the Queensboro Bridge with the sun setting. I had arrived…

Image (c) Andy Higgs, Grown-up Travel Guide

The skyscrapers

I woke early the next day in my mate Pete’s apartment. The view from the living room was certainly not quite what I was used to, being 29 floors up as opposed to, er, one. The Midtown location was amazing, right round the corner from the UN building and surrounded by even taller buildings. I think this is the first and most obvious sign of someone who has just arrived in New York – that they keep looking up all the time. Now it was time to check out the city in daylight – and with the benefit of a few hours of sleep.

The feeling of being on a film set

This is a classic cliché that most returnees from New York talk about – but like a lot of clichés it’s also true. The Big Apple is of course the backdrop to countless movies and TV shows and you’ll find something that you recognise or which looks familiar round most corners.  You’ll see those yellow fire hydrants, newspaper vending machines and ‘Walk/Don’t Walk’ signs but probably not hydrants spraying water onto laughing kiddies or steam coming up through the vents from the subway. It probably happens somewhere in the city though…

The sheer level of noise on the streets

When you walk along the busy streets of New York it’s like somebody turned the volume up to 11. It’s also (to my ears) amazing how people just do not care who hears their conversations, whether in person or on the phone. Or maybe that’s the point? In any case you get a fascinating insight into the private lives of New Yorkers in the form of ten second clips as you pass and they move out of range. Oh and they like to swear. Loudly. A lot.

Image (c) Andy Higgs, Grown-up Travel Guide

The yellow cabs

Yes, the iconic ‘Taxi Driver’ style yellow cabs are being replaced by modern designs; but there are still plenty of the classic models as shown above; you can also see the apartment building where I stayed in the background (it’s the tall one on the left). It also shows that a super wide-angle lens is pretty much essential if you want to fit everything in your shots, and how distorted the end result is. But I kind of like that.

The size of the food portions

I thought about writing ‘the size of the people’ but dismissed it as a little callous. Let’s just say that you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out that there’s a pretty clear cause and effect here. In the five days I was in the Big Apple I only ate twice a day and even then could not always finish off what was on my plate. As with most big, multicultural cities I’m sure New York is not representative of the country as a whole but it struck me that here it was one or the other – either people were borderline anorexics/fitness freaks or they took up two spaces on the subway.

At the time, Mayor Bloomberg seemed determined to get tough on oversize portions and bucket-sized drinks containers but I’m not sure it made a nig difference to be quite honest.

The subway announcement

Rather than the often curt (or unintelligible) announcements on the London tube the subway makes use of a very happy-sounding recorded message. I was planning to record it myself but of course it got forgotten; however it didn’t take long to track this down on YouTube, thus saving me the effort of describing it:

The whole tipping thing

You generally get fabulous service in restaurants and there’s a reason for that. They want – and need – your tip. You should leave at least 15% and if buying a beer in a bar add an extra dollar. I think I’d prefer it if staff got a decent wage and health benefits because if they gave the same service I’d tip anyway, but when in Rome and all that.

If it seems complicated, just double the sales tax which is on your bill and comes to 8.625% and bingo, you’re over the 15% level with margin enough not to be considered a cheapskate. Thanks to Pete for that lifesaver tip there.

The size of the toilets

Perhaps I have an eye for the slightly odd things, but American toilets are huge. I’m talking about the diameter of the bowl here. If I was being unkind I’d say it was all related to the whole food portion size / local person size formula I mentioned earlier, but that’s just conjecture. I guess it must be really easy for bullies at school, anyway…

The number of TV channels

What was that about “thirteen channels of s**t on the T.V. to choose from” Mr Waters? That’s one way the lyrics to The Wall are showing their age. I had at least 100 from my hotel room, and at times felt a similar urge to put something heavy through the screen and toss it out the window. Fox News is even worse than you can imagine and the way adverts appear without warning every few minutes is something else. Add into the mix that I was in New York when Bin Laden was killed and you can understand my desire to avoid watching the right-wing news. I should add that I didn’t witness any mindless patriotism at all after the event itself.

Image (c) Andy Higgs, Grown-up Travel Guide

The scale of the place

Finally, it’s only when you get up high that you fully appreciate how mind-blowing New York architecture really is. Both the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center (sic) offer fantastic views and both are recommended. Next time I’m planning to save my pennies for a helicopter ride over the city; that would be the ultimate way to see New York. As my plane left the tarmac for my return flight I was already thinking about coming back, this time with my family. New York lived up to and in fact exceeded my expectations – it should be on everyone’s list of places to visit.

As we mentioned in the introduction, we want your stories too! Let us know your first impressions of New York or any other city from YOUR perspective. Add your comments below and don’t forget to sign up for email updates so you never miss a thing from Grown-up Travel Guide!