nyc day 1: acclimation

today I woke up at 1:00pm after sleeping the previous night at 3:00am. This is super late for me since I typically am a morning person but whatever.

After getting up and having no toothbrush, I changed out of my sleeping clothes and into regular clothes, swished some toothpaste around in my mouth and I was good to go. Went upstairs to Nick's room for the key and apartment buzzer and was on my merry way.

1st stop: Target

Target was a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute bike ride, so I opted to grab a Citi bike (I just wanted to try it). You can get an unlimited ride membership for $205 annually ($17/month) but I wasn't sure how often I would be Citi biking so I just paid the $4.89.

The bike ride there I learned that the bike line is a hybrid between car and pedestrian. You're on the road but you can go through red lights as long as no car is coming. Not sure if that's legal but I saw every other biker do it, so I'm going to assume it's legal.

Anyways, pull up to Target and it's a very interesting layout. Like everything here, it's vertical. Fair, because it's NYC but interesting because in the suburbs, Targets are just humongous. I was lost in the store since everything is not where it is at my local Target, but eventually found all that I needed. Picked up conditioner, body wash, two sets of Smartly toothbrushes (best toothbrush out there), a towel, washcloths, melatonin, blueberries, and a 4 pack of grape Uncrustables. Total came out to $55.51, so honestly not bad.

I biked back and finally showered and brushed my teeth. Felt heavenly. Then I changed, got all my new things sorted in the restroom, and ate all 4 Uncrustables and half the blueberries.

At this point, it's 3:30 and I have the rest of the day to myself. I've only been to NYC for 3 days before this, so I decided to check out potential neighborhoods to scope out if I would like to live there. So I just got out and started walking.

I walked from the East Village, up through Union Square, Grammercy Park, Kips Bay, Murray Hill, Sutton Place, all the way up to the start of Lenox Hill. East Village, Union Square, and Grammercy Park feel homelike and residential, while Kips Bay, Murray Hill, and Sutton Place seem more corporate. It makes sense because these neighborhoods and closer to Midtown, which is where a lot of corporate offices are, but not sure if I would want to live there.

Lenox Hill seems more residential and chill, like the first neighborhoods I walked through. Overarching theme, things are more residential the further away from corporate offices you are. Crazy.

During my walk I discovered the Flush app to find two restrooms which was amazing, checked out the office building I'll be working at, saw Bryant Park, walked through a little bit of Central Park, and decided that was enough walking since it was getting dark and I was getting tired.

Took the subway back stopped by Katz Deli for dinner. The pastrami sandwich was $25.95 but the apartment is super close and I thought I would try this iconic place. It took like 30 minutes to get my sandwich, but in the end, it was pretty good and worth the wait to try. I would rate the sandwich a 7.7/10.

Would not go again, but cool to try. After eating, I walked back to the apartment, talked to my Mom, watched the Celtics & Heat game, and relaxed until I slept.

Not a bad first day in NYC.