NY, NY – 1. What do you see if you only have four days?

 If you are going to a huge, world-famous city for just a few days, what can you possibly see and do in such a short time? That was my question when I knew I would be in New York city (NYC): I am only there for four days; what should I see?

NYC has everything, but what do I really want to see when I go there?

The Empire State Building (because it was in the films, ‘An Affair to Remember’, and more recently, ‘Percy Jackson’); 

Ground Zero (where the 2001 tragedy occurred a few months before my son was born);

Columbia University, NYU, CUNY, the intellectual center of the U.S.;

Some popular sports’ venues (in Winter, Madison Square Garden); and

Walking the streets to see the food, the vendors, the ‘villages’, Times Square, and the people.

I want to see all of those landmarks and sights that are common media images of New York, and test their ‘brand’ against the visited reality of the city. Is NYC exactly what we all expect it to be? Will I be mugged by walking around the streets? Are the deli’s really that good?

The next four days will be a Winter view of a city I have always wondered about.

NYC: Here I come; show me.