Some other New York observations:

Expensive or cheap? For what is supposedly one of the most expensive cities in the world, I sure did find (and buy) a lot of cheap things. Three pairs of socks for $5, a huge umbrella for $10, two slices of pizza, a salad, and a bottled water for $7.50. If it weren't for the rents, I bet you could get by living there for next to nothing, if you knew where to shop.

I must've seen twenty or thirty broken umbrellas just lying in the street like mangled peacocks. Apparently the thing to do if your umbrella breaks is to just drop it.

I love walking around the town just for all the cultural references that pop up. From movies, we walked by Bloomingdale's (Moscow on the Hudson), FAO Schwartz (Big), and the Empire State Building (Sleepless in Seattle), among dozens of others. And songs pop into your head all the time -- I found myself singing all of these lyrics at some point or other, just from chancing across the relevant landmark:

Well you can stand on the arms of the Williamsburg bridge crying hey man, well this is Babylon... Soul Coughing, "True Dreams of Wichita"

I can't give it away on 7th Avenue The Stones, "Shattered"

53rd and 3rd, standing on the street The Ramones, "53rd and 3rd"

I can slip on the East River and crash into Queens, all skittering Soul Coughing, "The Idiot Kings"

I don't want to go to Chelsea Elvis Costello (okay, he's talking about London, but still...)

The say the neon lights are bright, on Broadway Who does that song?

Won't you please stand clear of the closing doors? Soul Coughing, "The Brooklynites"

When we walked through Little Italy... PJ Harvey, "Good Fortune"

On a rooftop in Brooklyn, one in the morning PJ Harvey, "You Said Something"

I've been walking Central Park Singing after dark People think I'm crazy The Stones, "Miss You"