A view from Roosevelt Island

Since being back in New York City, or "the city" as locals like to call it, I've had access to the Kinnie's bike. I've been riding as much as I can, saving money on train fare and getting some good cardio in the process. Tonight I decided to take a stroll just as the sun was going down and I ended up at a strange little place called Roosevelt Island.

For those who aren't familiar, it's an island on the East River between Queens and Manhattan. For some reason it has a very strange stigma to most who live in "the city". There's only one train that runs there, and remember that scene in Spider-Man when Green Goblin lures Spider-Man to the top of the Queensboro Bridge by taking Mary Jane and a tramway car full of children hostage? Well that was the Roosevelt Island Tramway, which is part of your daily commute if you live there. Scary stuff if you believe Green Goblin could be real. Also, there used to be an insane asylum there. Also, it housed the prison before Riker's Island.

But as I rode my bike around the island, I was shocked and awed. It's not creepy at all. It's a completely functioning little city. It's quaint, it's quiet, it's downright cute. I really felt a strong sense of community, which is pretty rare in these parts. I found my way to a little grass hill right on the river and I just sat there...beholding the majestic quality of the city. Say what you will, believe what you will about New York City, but I assure you there is nothing else in the world like it. It's an immeasurable force on this planet Earth. Sometimes it's bad. Like Wall Street-disabling-the-world's-economy-bad. But sometimes, like tonight, it's just so inexpressibly good.

I wasn't a New Yorker 10 years ago. I was an Okie. I was in college. On September 11th, 2001, I had an early morning piano lesson with Marilyn Rosfeld. We heard the news. We had a very quiet and sobering moment together. To this day, she and I have a very special friendship. I know that we all experienced great fear that day. We all questioned many things that day. We all felt overwhelmingly human that day.

Tonight as I sat there gazing towards downtown at the two incredible beams of light piercing the sky, I lost myself in thought.  I wondered how it must have felt to have been here on that day, to have been sitting on that hill enjoying a cup of coffee and suddenly staring at a falling sky, to have attempted to go about my day, days. It humbled me. It inspired me.

Every New Yorker lost someone that day. Every New Yorker lost something that day. New York City is only great because a shit-ton of people truly believe it is. New York lost a lot of New Yorkers that day. And to all those lost New Yorkers, we remember you. We miss you. "The city" won't be the same without you.

TJ