Well, I am more than half-way through my stay in New York, and I think it’s time I expand on my favorite bits about the city.

Helen’s Top 10 Favorite Things about New York!

1. Jews! Especially Hasidic jews. I sat next to one on the plane yesterday who was wearing shiny new Js… epic.
2. Tasti D-Lite It’s like eating ice cream without actually eating ice cream.
3. Magazines. Every magazine. Every country. Every street corner. Salivation.
4. Me. I may not always be friendly or polite. But compared to (most) native New Yorkers, I am the friendliest person I know. And also, because I am so NOT New York, I can always seem to get a laugh from my BET coworkers by dropping a little white-girl “Thug Life!” cheer.
5. Freegans There’s a big community of Manhattan Freegans who welcome newcomers and show them how to never pay for food again. Delish.
6. Fashion (And also David Bowie) New York is pleasantly infected by rampant superficiality. Therefor, one (ahem, I) might always feel the need to look good. I feel the freedom to try wearing new things and take risks. And unlike some midwestern states, I never get a second look for wearing what I feel, and not what I think would look best. And also, I KNOW David Bowie lives in this city somewhere. I hope that someday, if I ever see him, he might say, “Hey, nice hat. Nice freaky, freaky hat.”
7. Free music The River to River Festival is one of many opportunities to see free, live music in the city. It’ everywhere! And I don’t see enough of it!
8. Sobriety Don’t you know that rehab and sobriety is totally in right now??
9. The $10 manicure God bless Harlem. Enough said.
10. 5 AM Some days, when I work the Early Show, I have to walk from the SW corner of the park to the SE corner sometime between 5 and 6 AM. I’ll put on some Ella Fitzgerald and walk to the beat on the empty sidewalks. The park almost looks untouched, despite the occasional sleeping street person. Grown boys are delivering papers to markets or putting trash out on the sidewalk. I might see someone on the other side of night, heading home in a full-length cocktail dress. 5 AM is the equalizer. And I feel a rush of what I imagine would be the feeling of Classic Manhattan: Serenity and anticipation as I watch the city rub the sleep from its eyes and stretch out its arms to greet the new day – all set to a slow, jazz melody.