To reference Woody Allen, New York City is MY town. It always has been and always will be, particularly that enchanting part of it named Manhattan. There’s something about it that I love. The jazz, the views, the culture, even the rude taxi drivers have a distinguishing charm. The smells of hot dog carts in the busy streets haunt me. And I like the fact that practically nobody owns a car in this city, except for the cab companies of course. I wasn’t born here but I’ve lived here and it’s my favorite city. It’s home. It’s fabulous, stimulating and fun. A melting pot like no other. Contradictions seem natural, even wise in this city. My music, my books, my films…all of them are here. Rizzoli is my getaway; the Paris Theater is my refuge. Even the closed Plaza Hotel sends its charm, as if the ghosts of a past where ‘joie de vivre’ was the hip thing were still living there, trying desperately to get out of the hotel and into the world. If that’s the truth, they don’t need to go much further. The synthesis of the world lies in New York. Quite a merit, if you ask me. Just go catch a Chick Corea or Ron Carter gig at the Blue Note or at Birdland; you’ll find Americans, Europeans, Brazilians and something that will always be there: a table full of asleep asians. That they’re asleep is not what matters. That they’re here, living in harmony with the rest of the cultures of the world…that’s something to savor. New York has it all, and it’s for everybody, even though some find it a cold, strange city. Well, the biggest piece of human warmth here is the city itself. The nicest person you’ll meet when visiting New York is New York itself, and this is a complement to a city that deserves much more than a simple gesture of kindness from someone like myself, someone who loves it dearly and cannot go through a single day without thinking about New York, the town that has become such a deep, important and intimate part of me. Just to let you know how deep and long my connection with New York has been, I’ll tell you one thing: on September 11th, 2001, the day that terrorism attacked the US in the most monstrous way possible, I was here. I was in New York on that particular day. And when Paul McCartney gave the first concert at Citi Field (the new Mets stadium), I was also here. This is New York to me. History, culture, art, music, fun and so many other little things that make it the paradise it is. Because to me, that’s what New York is: Paradise.
Copyright 2011 Emilio Sánchez Enterprises Inc.
