A newish post is up on my other blog:
I am blessed to be able to go to New York at least 3 or 4 times a year- for either business or pleasure. I can say, with no shame, guilt or qualification that I love New York. As I have said before, I’ve had my love affairs with London and Paris, but I always come home to New York as my favorite city. It is the most alive place I have ever been.
I know people go to New York to escape where they are from or who they may have been before. That’s part of the magic. Nothing is as it really seems. From Broadway to the Bronx, you create your own reality in New York. But it is always alive and you can’t hide from life in New York. At least not easily.
In other parts of the country, you can isolate yourself. You can’t do that in New York. You can only have so much delivered. You have to go out. And when you go out, life smacks you in the face.
See, one of the reasons New York is both so Democratic and democratic is that you can’t help but interact with people who are different from you. You are all in it–life in New York– together wether you like it or not. You run into a multitude of diversity on the subway. Walking down the block to the bodega on the corner. Sure, each neighborhood is a unique little space, but you still aren’t isolated from the bigger space. This makes you think and understand the people are both different, but the same, and that you need to work together to make life better for all of us.
One of the reasons the South other parts of the country can be so inbred and ignorant of diversity is that it’s so easy in those places to only socialize with “people like you”. That type of isolation can only happen in New York if you are very, very rich. And even then, with the influx of so much New Money, it’s still more diverse than it once was…
That’s why September 11th will always haunt that city. It was a flash point that is still real and raw. New York always goes on and goes forward. Nothing stops New York. But this last trip to New York, I was more aware of how September 11th still haunts the city than I had been in some time.
MORE: Click link below for the complete post.
Chapter 21: A Southern Boy’s Reflections on New York on September 11th | My Southern Gothic Life.
Lost in the 21st Century 
My recent trip back to NYC concurs with your observation about 9/11. There is also frustration among New Yorkers that after 9 yrs. there has been little progress of rebuilding at Ground Zero. Politics, public sentiment, the victim’s families have all played a part into this scenario. My parents and I took a drive from Queens where they live to lower Manhattan to celebrate my father’s birthday at South St. Seaport. We were unsettled by still seeing the surrounding tarp-fence-barricades encircling the space where the twin towers once stood. My mother commented, “what a shame.” Your right when you say it’s still haunting. As an aside, although folks not from the NYC love it because they can be exposed to new realities and free themselves from the mundane. Well, as a former New Yorker here are some things about New York I despise: you can’t find anyplace to park with or without a meter, and if you choose to use a parking garage then be prepared to pay up to at least $14 for an 1 hr! I realize taking the subway or mass transit is an option, but it wasn’t for us, so we didn’t. The other thing I loathe is the traffic! No matter what time of day, NYC roadways are always congested and they’ve had roadwork projects that have been going on for decades. Note: Avoid the BQE like the plague! You pay tolls for anyplace you want to get to within the five boroughs , unless you want to go toll-less and fight traffic, then take the Bklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, or Queens-59th st. bridge and you’ll see what I mean. Everyone in NYC has an opinion about everything, and so that makes them ex-officio Mayor of NYC! Listen to any AM talk radio show and you’ll get the idea. They entertain, but ultimately annoy the hell out of me!
There is still racial & territorial tension in NYC, and that includes their politics, but overall, there is no place like it in the world. Enjoy!
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