by Arlen Hollis Kane

Forget What You’ve Heard, We Want You to Come

Let’s say you want to visit New York but you don’t want to be a typical tourist, especially not in New York City where, or so you’ve heard, patience is short, people move fast, and tourists are  bounced around like beach balls on a rolling sea.

I’m a native New Yorker and I’m here to tell you all of New York awaits you – we love our tourists. Without you – the folks chomping at the bit to come here – we couldn’t claim to live in the best city in the world, now could we?

Despite having lived my whole life in New York, I am still wonderstruck at the sights and sounds that float about the city. An evening’s stroll to Lincoln Center reveals a colorful view of life both bewitching and mundane, blending seamlessly into one magical scene. Enchantments await down quiet brownstone streets, or when peeking into the impossibly whimsical Pomander Walk.

Naturally you’ll want to experience all the iconic sites such as, “the Statue”, as New Yorkers call Miss Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street, Broadway, and the many others. But don’t forget to stroll about, lift your eyes to a window, lower your camera, and for a time simply be a New Yorker – you never know what awaits you in the city that never truly sleeps.

A great way to experience New York as New Yorkers live it is to request a Big Apple Greeter. That’s like scoring a friend in New York. Big Apple Greeters are here to show you around like the in-law who lived in New York for years, always regretted leaving, and came back to stay. Except most of us never left. Would you?

Note: BigAppleGreeter.org is a FREE Welcome Visitor Service .

Arlen Hollis Kane is a Manhattan-based award-winning healthcare writer. After reaching 50 Plus years, she pursued a childhood passion and enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Technology.  She is now a designer and maker of handbags, scarves and jewelry.  Her design work in fashion blends perfectly with her art.  Her photograph, City Birds and her abstract acrylic “Big Bang,” were featured in juried shows in New York.  “Off The Wall,”  her one-woman show featuring both her photography and art was a major exhibit at the Gallery of the Borough President of Manhattan.

image source: Arlen Hollis Kane