Friday, December 24, 2010

Fairytale of New York

Was sitting next to two exuberant tourists tonight in a coffee shop when I remembered it's the 25th anniversary of my first trip to New York City, a whirlwind Christmas adventure with my friends Greg and Nina -- with a cameo by my brother Terence -- over the holiday break in 1985. While I had already figured out New York was the place I wanted to live when I was a young child -- the idea of not having to "go play in the backyard" seemed really appealing to me as long as I can remember -- it was the utter feeling of awe I experienced the first time I got out of a taxi in Midtown Manhattan -- "Gorham, please!" -- that sealed the deal. That Christmas in New York is the fondest memory of my adolescence, and each year around this time I have wonderful flashbacks of seeing Greg experience snow for the first time, Nina cracking up explaining how she convinced her parents that staying in a hotel room with three guys was perfectly OK, and Terence -- who had to fly later because he couldn't reschedule one of his finals -- announcing his arrival to the front desk after we specifically told him to come straight up to the room so we could avoid paying a surcharge for having an extra person. (We still love ya, T!) It felt like the city was all ours as we slid up and down the icy sidewalks. A quarter century later and Christmas in New York is still my favorite place in the world -- and I'm still in awe. Hope you have a great Christmas wherever you are!

Rockefeller Center by day

Terence and me freezing in the Village

Thoroughly Modern Kenny: At the Museum of Modern Art

Hamming it up at the Gorham Hotel

Stairwell to Heaven

Greg speaks softly and carries a medium-size stick

Terence in Central Park

Greg and I perform "Stop! In the Name of Love" in the Central Park bandshell

Lady Liberty laughs at the frozen boys from Arizona

Proof that we were where Susan was desperately sought

Late-night snack at Lindy's

Rockefeller Center by night

Central Park

World Trade Center

Lady Liberty in bondage


Empire State Building

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neat photos of the Statue of Liberty "in bondage" and the WTC during the construction that blocked my view from the westside (Jersey). Also, I don't see WT7 yet, so it must not have been too far along at that point.

Anonymous said...

Is your brother still a hottie?

Anonymous said...

What fantastic photos and, yes, Terence is a hottie!

Stephen said...

Thanks for sharing these. It brings back memories for me as well. I first went there in 1989, then again in 1992. That is a cool red watch. Is it a Swatch and do you still have it?

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@Stephen: It WAS! I don't have it anymore -- I think my cat chewed it to bits :-)