new york city – strictly old school

8/8/2019 New York City – Strictly Old School

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New York’s Old School Old School

What else is there new to say about good old New York City? Thearchitecture, the art, the people, the attitude; we know all about that. Butmaybe there’s one things that isn’t so apparent and of which I’m becomingincreasingly aware. It’s the genuine ‘old-school’ nature of the place.

When I talk of ‘old school’ I don’t mean ‘old-school-as-appropriated-by-the-new school’, (think P-Diddy) or even ‘old-school-as seen-through-rose-

tinted-spectacles’ (think of Scorsese) I mean ‘old-school-old-school’ – as inbehaving in a way out of kilter with our contemporary experiences.

In many ways New York is locked in the past.

I was a little surprising when I first realized New York is quite an innocentplace. By reputation those two words don’t seem to go together, but that’s

what I conclude.

Madison Avenue is certainly old school. Forget Mad Men. The 1950’s midtownadvertising scene is alive and well in 2010. On warm July mornings you canstill see the occasional advertising exec, in his crisp seersucker suit passingthrough the gilded lobbies of a grand old agency. Even I got to wearing astraw trilby to work one summer.

Of course, New Yorkers have an attitude. Don’t expect them to putthemselves out for you. You’re probably not going to have a door held openand if you want directions you’re more likely to get a vague wave than astop and chat. But don’t be fooled. I got to understand this coolnes was lessabout being rude and more to do with New Yorkers being lost in their ownlittle worlds. No wonder so many movies have been shot in NYC. Everymorning 8 million personal movies are played out in the heads of its citizenson their way to work. The central character in the plot played convincinglyby the shmo standing next to you in the subway. iPods have done nothing tohelp.

That bluntness is strictly old-school: no malice intended. You can see thiswhenever the personal reverie is broken. The sight of a stroller-pushing



mother struggling down a subway staircase (virtually no working elevatorsnote) will wake a dozen bystanders from their internal dialogues. Thesesuddenly animated volunteers will including old folk, kids and even othermothers with strollers. Once called to action, no task is too big or onerous.

This response to others is far more direct and simple than in most Europeancultures, which tend to be laced with cynicism. That’s why American gossipmagazines are so much less cutting (or fun) than their UK counterparts. NewYorkers really don’t do schadenfreude. They can be catty and cruel, butthey can’t muster much energy for it. Too engaged in trying to succeedfor themselves to get involved in someone else’s failure.

And there’s a very real and genuine pleasure they get from seeing othersenjoying themselves.

Having children can be a liability. When we first moved to Manhattan our

four-year-old was freaked out by the number of gushing strangers who’dcomment on his rosy cheeks, his ‘tow head’ or his sheer all-over ooby-goobycuteness and I’m not just talking about spinsters of a certain age. You canadd 5 minutes to a short walk from the subway, thanks to the policeman, thehotel concierge and the lady at the stop light wanting to bend down and askhim how’s life and where’d he get his hair - followed by an unwanted rub.

All of these simple exchanges take place in, or perhaps because of, a NewYork City that’s a surprisingly creaky and run-down. There’re big holes inthe roads, the public amenities seem always on the verge of collapse and somany of the buildings look like they’re falling down.

Let’s face it, this town is physically beautiful but it was largely built inanother time, pretty much between 1935 and 1965. The same could be said

of the characters who live here. In stark contrast to London, this isn’t adeconstructed environment and these aren’t post-modern people. It isn’tcomplicated. It’s all out in the open. WYSIWYG.

So, on reflection, if someone was asking me to say something new aboutNew York I’d have to say my most lasting impression of the City isn’t itsarchitecture or art or even that famous New York attitude. It’s the



innocence; the out-and-out openness of its people; a lack of guile. Agenuineness. And it’s in this respect, rather than anything physical orstylized that New York is genuine old school.



New York City – Strictly Old SchoolCREATEDATE 9/18/07

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CREATEDATE 9/18/07 10:14 PM

CREATEDATE 9/18/07 10:14 PM

new york city – strictly old school

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