1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast 2 00:00:10,613 --> 00:00:11,773 Speaker 1: from News Talks at Me. 3 00:00:12,773 --> 00:00:15,013 Speaker 2: And I'm riding this in Central Park this morning. I'm 4 00:00:15,093 --> 00:00:18,373 Speaker 2: right up in the northeast corner, sitting on a bench 5 00:00:18,613 --> 00:00:22,173 Speaker 2: by the Harlem Mere, the Harlem Lake as it's known, 6 00:00:22,333 --> 00:00:24,813 Speaker 2: about one hundred meters or so from the apartment where 7 00:00:24,853 --> 00:00:28,373 Speaker 2: I lived for the second half of my twenties. It's funny, 8 00:00:28,413 --> 00:00:34,653 Speaker 2: it's so familiar, the warm evening air, people laid out 9 00:00:34,813 --> 00:00:38,493 Speaker 2: with picnic mats, a guy with a big plastic bin 10 00:00:38,613 --> 00:00:44,253 Speaker 2: of turos, kids chasing each other, squealing, skylarking, the sound 11 00:00:44,253 --> 00:00:48,893 Speaker 2: of traffic crawling down Fifth av across the road, steering 12 00:00:48,973 --> 00:00:51,533 Speaker 2: down the length of Central Park. Is what I think 13 00:00:51,613 --> 00:00:55,693 Speaker 2: is my favorite obscure building in all of Manhattan. The 14 00:00:55,813 --> 00:00:58,293 Speaker 2: views from this thing would cost enough to make an 15 00:00:58,293 --> 00:01:01,453 Speaker 2: oligarch gulp. But it took until just a couple of 16 00:01:01,493 --> 00:01:04,253 Speaker 2: years ago for New York City to finally convert this 17 00:01:04,373 --> 00:01:08,893 Speaker 2: building from its previous use as a low security prison. 18 00:01:09,653 --> 00:01:12,373 Speaker 2: It must have had the best views of any prison 19 00:01:12,453 --> 00:01:15,653 Speaker 2: on the planet. I haven't been in New York for 20 00:01:16,253 --> 00:01:19,413 Speaker 2: two years now. When I was last year post COVID, 21 00:01:20,293 --> 00:01:24,733 Speaker 2: it honestly, it felt a little bit dark. Yeah, back 22 00:01:24,773 --> 00:01:28,773 Speaker 2: in the day, I used to be so blase about safety. 23 00:01:29,093 --> 00:01:33,213 Speaker 2: I felt more threatened in Central christ Church late at 24 00:01:33,253 --> 00:01:37,173 Speaker 2: night than I did in East Harlem. But COVID changed that. 25 00:01:37,333 --> 00:01:42,013 Speaker 2: You could sense that people were fearful and untrusting. The 26 00:01:42,013 --> 00:01:44,333 Speaker 2: good news is that it's better now. It's better. It 27 00:01:44,333 --> 00:01:48,293 Speaker 2: feels more like the New York I remember. And so 28 00:01:48,373 --> 00:01:50,973 Speaker 2: when I landed this week, I did my usual thing. 29 00:01:51,373 --> 00:01:54,453 Speaker 2: I got a coffee and a pastry, I put in 30 00:01:54,493 --> 00:01:58,493 Speaker 2: my headphones and I warked. It took me a morning 31 00:01:58,733 --> 00:02:02,053 Speaker 2: until I kind of had the rhythm of the traffic 32 00:02:02,533 --> 00:02:06,733 Speaker 2: jaywalking with confidence and checking the right way up the 33 00:02:06,773 --> 00:02:11,253 Speaker 2: streets as I crossed. I rode the subway everywhere. I 34 00:02:11,533 --> 00:02:15,853 Speaker 2: mostly didn't need the map. It's amazing how you can 35 00:02:16,133 --> 00:02:20,373 Speaker 2: feel kind of nostalgic for the gentle resistance of a 36 00:02:20,493 --> 00:02:24,493 Speaker 2: turnstyle bar, or for the lurching and the screaming, the 37 00:02:24,533 --> 00:02:28,453 Speaker 2: shuddering of a metal subway car staring dead eyed through 38 00:02:28,493 --> 00:02:32,853 Speaker 2: the windows into the black. Even when a city is familiar, 39 00:02:33,333 --> 00:02:37,933 Speaker 2: taking time away and then coming in and visiting with 40 00:02:38,133 --> 00:02:43,133 Speaker 2: fresh eyes gives you a perspective you don't have when 41 00:02:43,133 --> 00:02:45,893 Speaker 2: you're immersed in it when you're living it, and look, 42 00:02:46,013 --> 00:02:48,573 Speaker 2: I'm realistic enough to accept it probably means you look 43 00:02:48,573 --> 00:02:51,773 Speaker 2: at things with rose tinted glasses. But there is a 44 00:02:51,813 --> 00:02:55,653 Speaker 2: reason that all of my old friends here have moved 45 00:02:55,933 --> 00:02:59,453 Speaker 2: out into the suburbs. And the thing that has surprised 46 00:02:59,493 --> 00:03:03,733 Speaker 2: me most over the last couple of days is that 47 00:03:03,813 --> 00:03:07,413 Speaker 2: I think I feel it too. It's not that I'm 48 00:03:07,613 --> 00:03:11,133 Speaker 2: tired of New York. It's just that I'm not sure 49 00:03:11,173 --> 00:03:14,733 Speaker 2: I have the energy and the patients for the hustle, 50 00:03:15,453 --> 00:03:18,133 Speaker 2: for the horns, for the concrete, and for the little 51 00:03:18,253 --> 00:03:23,253 Speaker 2: studio apartments that cost four thousand dollars a month. One 52 00:03:23,253 --> 00:03:26,773 Speaker 2: thing doesn't change though New York is the best city 53 00:03:26,813 --> 00:03:30,293 Speaker 2: in the world. New York is the city, and for 54 00:03:30,333 --> 00:03:34,973 Speaker 2: two simple reasons I reckon Number one, diversity. There cannot 55 00:03:35,053 --> 00:03:37,693 Speaker 2: be a city on the face of this earth with 56 00:03:37,773 --> 00:03:42,653 Speaker 2: the greater spread and mix of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and 57 00:03:42,733 --> 00:03:47,813 Speaker 2: socioeconomic extremes. The thing that everyone has in common is 58 00:03:47,853 --> 00:03:51,373 Speaker 2: that everyone is different, and the result of that diversity 59 00:03:51,493 --> 00:03:56,173 Speaker 2: is the greatest concentration of interesting food, music, and art 60 00:03:56,533 --> 00:04:00,293 Speaker 2: on the planet. And the other reason I think it 61 00:04:00,373 --> 00:04:05,013 Speaker 2: is the great city is public space because almost everyone 62 00:04:05,133 --> 00:04:09,213 Speaker 2: lives in small spaces, Everything public is always busy, and 63 00:04:09,293 --> 00:04:14,573 Speaker 2: every public space is used, and there's a collective experience, 64 00:04:14,853 --> 00:04:18,133 Speaker 2: whether people are conscious of it or not. It means 65 00:04:18,133 --> 00:04:21,893 Speaker 2: that the tiny, tiny little strip of land on the 66 00:04:21,973 --> 00:04:24,573 Speaker 2: corner of Madison and one hundred and tenth Street, just 67 00:04:24,613 --> 00:04:27,653 Speaker 2: around the corner from my old apartment, has been converted 68 00:04:27,693 --> 00:04:31,693 Speaker 2: into a community garden. It means the benches alongside the 69 00:04:31,773 --> 00:04:35,453 Speaker 2: triangle of green at Broadway in seventy second are always 70 00:04:35,573 --> 00:04:39,613 Speaker 2: filled with people just watching the world go by. And 71 00:04:39,653 --> 00:04:43,573 Speaker 2: it means here tonight, on a random autumn evening, as 72 00:04:43,613 --> 00:04:47,613 Speaker 2: Central Parks leaves turn gold and the sun drops below 73 00:04:47,653 --> 00:04:51,533 Speaker 2: the west Side, there are hundreds of people out enjoying 74 00:04:51,573 --> 00:04:57,613 Speaker 2: the moment, socializing, playing, eating, relaxing. It feels vital, It 75 00:04:57,653 --> 00:05:02,133 Speaker 2: feels alive. It even feels a little bit magical. 76 00:05:02,893 --> 00:05:06,013 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live 77 00:05:06,093 --> 00:05:09,253 Speaker 1: to talks it'd be from nine am Saturday, or follow 78 00:05:09,333 --> 00:05:10,893 Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio.