I Heart NY

I Heart NY

A couple years ago I finally got to New York. By finally, I mean finally in the sense that I had a shot a year or so earlier to go all expenses paid for 6-8 weeks, but just fell short of making the cut to get to go. By Just fell short I mean I made it through to a final round of NBC interviews to be on the first season of The Apprentice, which had included a screen test and interview where I stumped the NBC screener with facts about Trump she didn’t know (New Jersey Generals trivia) …

So, I finally went there in June of 04. I got to hang out with a couple of old buddies, see a Yankee game with the Bleacher Creatures, experience a red carpet (Nicole Kidman waived to me), see a Broadway play starring an Oscar winner, realize just how awesome comprehensive mass transit is, checked to see if Yoko was around, and I got glimpsed on the Today show. I also got a chance to view and walk around the World Trade Center site.



It was clear who the locals were, they don’t look at it. They walk past it or come up the stairs from the train with complete blinders on. How could they look at it? The daily reminder that hole must bring would be overwhelming to face up to every morning at 6:57 AM. But, look us non-New Yorkers did. I walked around it. I took pictures of it. I needed to get a personal feeling to go with the images I had witnessed. I needed to hear my friend tell his story of that day. And then, I avoided it completely and walked around it. I felt dirty. I felt like a voyeur. I find it distasteful enough to watch injury accidents, those people deserve their privacy. I could not pose for a photo with Ground Zero in the background like I did at Lady Liberty or atop the Empire State Building.

Yes, I bought the t-shirt.