New York is one of those cities that I
don't think about as a particular geeky city. That is until I got the
chance to spend a few days there. When I got to thinking about it,
New York City has been in my pop culture world my entire life.
Everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Spiderman to
Ghostbusters who all used the city almost as a character instead of a
setting. It's easy to see why creators pick this city as a backdrop
as you walk down its streets. There are all walks of life from
tourists, to residents, to people who are down on their luck.
There are so many things I think of
when I think of New York. One of the things I had to see was the
Plaza Hotel. You might ask “Why would you just want to see the
outside of a hotel?” Well, the plaza hotel has been seen in many
movies but it was featured in one of the my favorites sequels of all
time. The plaza if you remember was practically a main character in
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. Equally, important in that film was
Central Park which also played a big part of Kevin's escapades. But
alas I did not find the pigeon lady lurking about.
I heard the Ghostbusters headquarters
firehouse was closed for viewing due to renovation. Apparently if I
wanted pictures of tarps and scaffolding that would be place to go
but that was not the case for me. Also, it was a bit of ways away
from where we were at so I deemed it not worth trying to make the
venture over there.
Another thing that had to make the list
of things to see was Midtown Comics. Yes, a comic book store was one
of my destinations in a city full of some of the most amazing sights
known. Let me explain. As I grew up in the 90's reading comics and
Wizard magazine one thing was always certain. Somewhere in one of
those things or all of those things was an ad for Midtown Comics in
New York. Comic Book stores are tough to keep open let alone taking
ads out in major publications so I always thought of this as the
mecca of comic book stores.
This was not a normal trip to the comic
book store. It was awe inspiring to be honest. I have never seen a
new release wall that look like this. Variant covers and comic books
from companies I had never even heard of. A trade paper back
collection that puts most book stores to shame with its variety and
just sheer amount of product. And then there is the second floor.
Yes, a comic book store that had two levels which is almost unheard
of. That level had the figures, clothing, and other options available
so most of my time was spent on the first level.
I happened to go twice on the trip and
the second time was around ten o clock at night on Tuesday.
Unbeknownst to me this was the Tuesday before the release of DC's
Rebirth and the next day I would find out if I would have stayed I
could have met Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder who each have major roles
in DC's Universe. Apparently, they hung out for a bit and passed out
pizza to the crowd for the midnight release of the big comic book
event. This was all according to instagram anyway.
We did a few other touristy things
including going to the Empire State building which was great to go
to. At first I was just going to say I got to go to the top of the
Empire State but as I walked through it and rode the elevator up,
something about it just clicked with me. It was truly a one of a kind
experience and the size of this building cannot be known until you
are in it and on top of it. I say we were at the top but we really
weren't. There are two levels you can go to, the 86th
floor and the 102nd floor. The main differences are that
on the 86th floor you can actually go outside and on the
102nd floor you can't. However, on the second choice you
can obvious see much farther and other states if I remember
correctly. It's also quite staggering to think about the people that
worked together to build the Empire State Building in just a little
over a year.
So overall the trip was a great
surprise to soothe my geeky side while spending time with the most
important person in my life. I don't know if I will ever get to go to
the city again but I know to embrace its geeky side if I do.
-R.T.
No comments:
Post a Comment