Have you ever wanted to kiss the ground in Aberdeen Township? I know that is a strange question to ask, but on the rare occasions when I travel to New York City, that is exactly the feeling I have when I return via NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line and disembark at the Aberdeen-Matawan train station.
To me, there is nothing quite as pleasant as returning to suburbia after an outing in New York City. Monmouth County is a great place to live, and that point is driven home after several hours spent wandering the sidewalks of New York .
Well, that is assuming you can walk the sidewalks of New York while avoiding the people who sleep there.
And so it was after my most recent trip to the Big Apple on Dec. 21, four days before Christmas.
My favorite part of the trip was the young men who greeted my friend and me on various corners in midtown. One enterprising individual offered me a CD he said he had recorded. The CD featured a catchy little tune with the title “We Takin’ Over.”
No judgments, but that is not exactly the type of music I am listening to these days.
But the conversation did not end with a free CD. The young man offered to autograph a copy of what he assured me would be a hit and asked me my name.
“Mark,” I said.
“That’s Big Mark,” he said as he quickly autographed a copy of the CD. Then he asked for something (money) in return, and that is when I had to disappoint him and tell him I would not be paying for a copy of “We Takin’ Over.”
He seemed disappointed.
Meanwhile, my friend was being chatted up by another potential hit-maker who offered to autograph a CD for her by signing it to “Busy G.” She politely declined the offer. We did, however, get busy walking away from that corner.
My son received a CD autographed to “N Nasty” (for Nate), and he contributed $2 to the entrepreneur with whom he spoke. Have you ever tried to buy hot chocolate in New York City four days before Christmas? Now I can say I have.
My friend and I entered a well-known coffeehouse and ordered the following: one hot chocolate without whipped cream and one hot chocolate with whipped cream. Our order was taken in under a minute, but it took 20 minutes for our names to be called and our drinks to be served. The waiting, as Tom Petty said, is the hardest part. To be fair, the hot chocolate was very good.
I have the following questions for the people in charge of New York City: When did it become one big street bazaar, and who decided that allowing vendors to sell, excuse the phrase, crap, all over the sidewalks was a good idea?
Hats; scarves; DVDs; metal signs imprinted with supposedly cute or clever sayings; artists who wear a gas mask and create some type of spray painting; and the latest craze, reproduced scripts from movies and television shows, can all be purchased alfresco.
Do the visitors from Iowa, Indiana and Illinois really need a pretend script from “Sex in the City” or “The Godfather” to bring home to their friends and neighbors in Ames, Bloomington and Peoria?
I know New York City has Broadway shows, wonderful museums, excellent restaurants and much more that makes it a worthy destination. In the end, my day was fun, and I don’t have any serious complaints about my visit.
For years, we have seen the “I (heart) New York” commercials. I would only suggest that someone might want to produce a button for those of us heading home to beautiful central New Jersey, which proclaims our (heart) for stops along the North Jersey Coast Line.
Mark Rosman is a managing editor with Greater Media Newspapers. He may be reached at [email protected].