My girls and I took a big, juicy
bite out of the Big Apple last
summer, writes
Karmel Schreyer
.
F
or years I dreamed of visiting
New York City, but wondered
if it would be a good idea
with two pre-teen girls in
tow. Finally, this past summer, and
with both my girls being heavily
ensconced in dance and dramatic
arts, I decided it was time to stop
dreaming and start doing! I planned a
week-long stay for us in the Big Apple
to see the iconic sights we’d heard so
much about, as well as indulge in some
Broadway, the East-European cuisine
of my own family heritage that the city
is renowned for and, yes, maybe even
a bit of shopping.
First things first. Because we were
arriving late in the evening from Hong
Kong, I opted to book an airport
sedan online to take us to our hotel.
The comfortable Camry was just
what my girls needed after the long
flight, and to calm our first-time-in-a-
new-city nervousness. The driver, an
Iranian immigrant, gave us a “guided
tour” as we made our way through
Queens and Midtown Manhattan,
and we were all impressed to see
the sights lit up at night. He assured
me that the city was very safe and
said something that we were to hear
numerous times during our stay: the
reputation of NYC as a safe city can
be broken into time periods, “before
Giuliani” and “after Giuliani”. Rudy
Giuliani, the famed former mayor,
is the one credited with cleaning up
the city and making it a place safe for
residents and tourists alike.
Times Square
We alighted at the New York Marriott
Marquis in Times Square just after
midnight. The iconic plaza was
absolutely swarming with tourists and
partygoers, and lit up by the lights
of Broadway like a carnival. In fact,
Times Square
is
a carnival, with the
peak party-time of 4pm to 4am. I
know this because during my first few
jet-lagged nights, I would look down
on the square from the 42
nd
floor of
our hotel. I couldn’t hear anything
from such a height, but I could
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