Manhattan

What is the magic about Manhattan? This the question raised almost in my house. Manhattan is the center of New York City, It is one of the five boroughs that comprises New York City. With the exception of Central Park, it is all asphalt. Various neighborhoods make up Manhattan, and with different neighborhoods come different people. The different people can be races, nationalities, income variations.

There are middle class, lower class and extremely high-class areas. There are stores, department stores, movie theaters, the Opera and then there is Broadway. The middle of Manhattan is made up of mostly office building where the multitude of the population work.

There used to be the flower district, the garment district, areas where printing shops occupied spaces and then there was the meatpacking district where New York's meat supply was prepared daily and sent out to merchants. Because of the exorbitant rents most of these do not exist any longer because they were pushed out to make rooms for high priced apartment buildings.

Now, why am I writing this? Because Abigail and her friends are infatuated with Manhattan. If they could, they would spend every free minute of their time there. I worked In Manhattan for 40 years and at the end of the day I could hardly wait to get home to my suburban, tree lined street. These young people think that Manhattan is the holy land. Abigail believes that when the time comes that is the only place she is destined to work. Any mentioning about moving to another city, state brings up tears, screaming and bad arguments.

Another thing. Life in Manhattan costs more than in the suburbs. These young people don't even realize what it would cost them to live there should the need arise. I and a other people I know didn't see anything nice and inviting about Manhattan. The streets are dirty, the people are unfriendly, everybody is always rushing, and then there is crime. That place is a magnet for crime. Every day we hear terrible things that happen on the subways. Traffic is terrible, parking is almost impossible. 

Now why would anybody in their right mind would want to live there? These young people look at life, for now, through rose colored glasses. But eventually reality will hit them and will realize that us, the old people were right. I hope I will be around to see it.