It can either sap your energy or fuel your adrenaline; have you sweltering in insane humidity or frozen out by the cruel winds that blow in across its rivers and whip around street corners; it can be friendly or rude; louche or chic…
Yet, regardless of the downsides, what is it about the city of New York, with its indefinable X-factor and constant surprises, that makes it our world favourite? This is a question we constantly ask ourselves. It is partly how it makes us feel, which is why we love returning time and time again. We have been visiting New York regularly for the past 40 years and, if anything, the love affair keeps growing. We were there earlier this month enjoying temperatures which started out at around 80 degrees and had dropped to the mid-50’s within a few days, just in time for our departure.
A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe, and fifty times: It is a beautiful catastrophe.
New Yorkers constitute an ageless, eccentric and open society, over-spilling with positivity and drive and that is part of the stimulating experience of being there. Whether strolling in Central Park or shopping on exclusive Madison Avenue; visiting the incomparable contemporary art galleries of West Chelsea; walking the High Line or dining Down-town, little beats that New York dynamism.
We know the city is crowded, the streets often dirty, prices have increased, taxi drivers can be brusque, traffic jams have worsened and the honking of car horns can drive you crazy…
Who cares? This is all part of being in New York and we know how it feels to be there, especially when staying in a favourite suite and dining at a favourite restaurant. For us it is like two cities in one as we are equally happy in Uptown and Downtown.
And let’s not overlook how easy it is to access beautiful countryside in either Upstate New York or Connecticut as well as to reach the Atlantic Ocean and the wild open beaches of the Hamptons. Come winter it combines easily with Miami or Palm Beach; is accessible within three hours’ flying time to the Caribbean or Mexico, or a little longer to the mountains of Colorado or the coastline of the Pacific.
If you are planning a trip, and thinking of starting or ending it in New York, you need to talk to us for the latest in how to do it in style. To get you thinking we present below some imagery and invite you to make contact.
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There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless.