Lee Ann and I took the kids to NYC last weekend. We expected the highlight of our trip would be seeing the musical Mary Poppins. But walking through Times Square in the rain for an 8 PM show, at which the girls pleaded to go back to the hotel for sleep by intermission, put that event in last place on our weekend scorecard.
Central Park was so much fun we did it twice. And a cruise out to the Statue of Liberty was a big hit. And lunch at Rockefeller Center followed by a view from the observation deck was also a winner.
And that’s where it struck me. As I was looking out on the Manhattan skyline after a security guard told me I could not perch Molly up on concrete ledge no matter how good a picture it was, I realized that while the Empire State Building was powerful and large, it’s also aesthetically boring. Sort of like one of my lego towers I built as a kid. Meanwhile close by, there’s the Chrysler Building with its cascading, art deco roof providing a much more interesting sight to look at.
No way you could build this out of Legos.
But the Chrysler Building did not have King Kong. Or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Or that woman who got hit by the car in that movie that everyone references but no one has seen. So, the Empire gets the publicity while the Chrysler Building continues to just stand there relatively ignored.
Why is this? Well, maybe my subjective preference is just my own. But I’m guessing it partially has to do with the fact that the Empire State Building is the tallest building in NYC (making it the home run hitting equivalent of Harmon Killebrew to the Chrysler Building’s better all around game of Roberto Clemente). But I think even more important to the Empire State Building’s association with NYC is that it has an observation deck whereas the Chrysler Building does not. People go to New York, wait in line, go to the top, buy a souvenir and then go home and tell their friends about it. It gets buzzed about, and has been buzzed about long before anyone started charting buzz effects via Twitter.
The observation deck is the connection to people around the world. And continues to place the Empire State Building at the top of the list of iconic NYC landmarks. Even if it’s not as beautiful as the Chrysler Building.
June 26, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I am breaking my long held code of blog silence to say, IT”S AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, AND EVERYONE HAS SEEN IT!!! Even if you haven’t, you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, which is the same thing. Sometimes you are such a boy.
June 27, 2009 at 9:38 pm
If Its an Affair to Remember, how come I can’t remember it?
July 1, 2009 at 10:27 pm
I think you have a song there-possibly country.
If it’s an affair to remember, why do I always forget?