Recently I wrote a blog article about Manhattan losing its soul ... and now I am here to say I changed my mind. I just hadn't seen enough of the borough to find what I was hoping was still there. Walking up Broadway on the Upper West side, it is disheartening to see chain stores replace small businesses. It meant to me that Manhattan was inadvertently encouraging us all to conform to the ways of the rest of America. Well, who in NYC wants to do that?! I saw the main artery of the Upper West side experience the ugliest spiritual transplant.
But last weekend, I experienced a lot that changed my mind about Manhattan. I could just delete my old blog post and write a new one, as if I never saw things differently ... but then it would not present both sides of the same story to readers. Besides, changing one's mind or admitting to being wrong is a rare but very valuable quality in a person. So I am here to say, Manhattan's got soul!
Last weekend, I explored past Broadway onto Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues -- smaller but ever-developing avenues that run parallel to Broadway. There, on less crowded avenues, I still found many small businesses that sold unique items. The difference between now and once upon a time is that rent has gone up. These store owners sell more expensive items, but they are still independent stores. Strolling up Amsterdam and Columbus, taking a two mile walk without even trying, you can see fancy baby clothes, street vendors selling gloves, the site of a Farmers Market and Crafts festival, small bakery/cafe stores, a catch-all pharmacy, and much more. I had to look more closely than I once did, to find Manhattan's soul underneath the money, but it was there.
I did not yet have the benefit of finding the perfect little gift for someone as I did as a child for my mother; but more than once I saw the potential. My fingers itched for the wallet, but refrained so close after Christmas. I saw the purple fake fur scarf that I thought my niece would love; I saw whimsical and retro gifts for my smaller niece and nephew; and I saw small boutiques, one of which could sell my sister her new favorite jacket. I saw these stores, and made a mental note. Manhattan's soul didn't get sold, it moved!
Ten years ago, a popular book came out called Who Moved My Cheese. It is a book that uses mice in the cheese maze as a metaphor for people finding happiness. The general message is, if what you want isn't in front of you, move. Your cheese moved, and instead of asking who moved my cheese, just move with it. That is the lesson that I forgot when Broadway became commercialized. It was my loyalty to Manhattan, though, that allowed me to find my cheese anyway.
I've also heard tourists say that what they once heard about Manhattan isn't there. Well, the next one who says that to my face is going to get handed Who Moved My Cheese and a walker's map of Manhattan. Because the good news for us is, Manhattan's still got soul.
