Saturday 02 February, 2003 1.00am
By Virgil Cameron

Impressions of the City

My impressions of New York City thus far have been, I must say, quite favorable.

One of my first views of New York City was this, of Penn Station (bottom) sandwiched between towering sky scrapers.

This city is really amazing. I find I have some sort of affinity with this place. I don't understand what this affinity relates to, or why I feel so comfortable here, but perhaps it is due to New York's resemblance to Melbourne, in terms of the diversity of culture that is apparent when walking through many of Manhattan's boroughs.

A New York sunset frames the Chrysler Building (centre) as the lights of the city are lit on a busy New York Avenue.

I guess I have been thoroughly conditioned with an impression of New York City that derives wholly from my lifelong viewing of Hollywood Blockbuster films. On the whole, so far such films seem to have portrayed a remarkable likeness to the New York that I am experiencing for myself.

The glitzy skyline of Times Square, New York City.

The yellow cabs of New York, coursing their way slowly through Central Park. These ubiquitous automobiles are surely some of this city's most distinctive icons, both in Hollywood cinema and in real life.

However, some aspects of New York culture seem to stray from my Hollywood impressions. Come to think of it, in fact, this city is not really as I had imagined in many respects.

Firstly, there are not as many people walking shoulder-to-shoulder down the streets and avenues of New York City as I had imagined. This could be explained by the fact that the city is still recovering from the Thanksgiving long weekend, which traditionally sees a vast percentage of the city's population traveling elsewhere for hot turkey dinners with family and relatives.


In contrast to the post-Thanksgiving lull in pedestrian traffic, the streets of New York City were filled to the brim with excited children and their willing parents on Thanksgiving Day, to witness the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade as it filed slowly through Times Square.



Virgil had the good fortune to partake in the traditional Thanksgiving Day lunch, complete with roast turkey and cranberry sauce, hosted in suburban Long Island by Daniella Ballou's uncle.


I also thought that in New York, people always carried their groceries home in brown paper bags (I must have picked up this notion from watching too many NYC-based TV sitcoms over the years). However, shopping and the consumer culture seem to be a very similar experiences in both New York and Australia!


Shopping at the amazing Greenwich Village Gourmet Garage supermarket with Daniella was a delight, although perhaps not what I expected of an authentic American shopping experience.