I get queasy seeing that monstrous city below. Truly a place I never want to visit.
Oh, it’s a fascinating city. Don’t be prejudiced. I don’t want to live there anymore—or in any city—but it has wonderful, wonderful things about it.
I understand where you are coming from as I prefer the country life myself. However, I highly recommend a visit to Manhattan before you die. It is truly a memorable experience. Just make sure you bring plenty of money!
My career takes me to Manhattan on a somewhat regular basis and I've been there on pleasure with my wife several times over the past 30 years. While I would never want to live there, I do love going there to visit.
One thing that amazes me about NYC is how every single block is a city within itself. It would take you weeks to sample every bar and restaurant on any given mid-town Manhattan block and even when you think you've been to them all, there will be many more (known to the locals) that are hidden away in tiny nooks and crannies. I remember having lunch there one day during a business trip and my co-worker took me down a tiny alley, down two flights of steps, and into a soup restaurant where you had these gigantic bowls of delicious soup for just a few dollars. A tourist would have no idea it was ever there but the locals know. After all, the locals are not necessarily made of money and they need affordable places to eat. They are there if you know where to look. I was also taken to bars that had glasses of draft beer for a dollar. Again, not a place a tourist would ever find.
There are over 25,000 restaurants in New York City - if you ate at a different one every day, it would take you nearly 70 years to sample them all. Of course, the restaurants are always changing so even if you had all the time in the world, it would be physically impossible to visit them all.
If you visit New York City, I would recommend skipping the taxis and just walk everywhere. It will help burn all the calories you will be taking in. New York City has the best food in the world. Even something as simple as a slice of pizza or a hamburger tastes much better in Manhattan.
Surprisingly, New York City is one of the safest cities in the world to be a pedestrian in. As 90% of the traffic are taxicabs, you are dealing with professional drivers who are used to stopping on a dime. So if you jaywalk in NYC, you will get honked and cursed at, but they will always stop for you (watch out because the cops are quick to give pedestrians tickets for jaywalking).
Same with crime. Street cops are everywhere in the city proper so violent crime is very rare. So long as you stick to the main drags, you will likely never be hassled with. Do keep your wallet in your front pocket however as pickpockets abound and they are very good at their craft.
New York City is probably one of the few places on the planet where you can stumble out of your hotel room at 3 in the morning and get a decent meal or find plenty of other people to have a beer with. Las Vegas is probably the only comparable place I've been to where it is truly a 24/7 lifestyle.
I also like very tall buildings and Manhattan abounds with them. When I was a kid, I used to study the skyscrapers in the World Almanac of Facts and knew most of the major ones. It's a shame that other countries are now building taller buildings. I would like to see New York City start building some 200-story buildings that tower up to 3,000 feet in the air. That would definitely be a good thing and such buildings are very possible from an engineering standpoint.
I can appreciate those sentiments. I feel the same way about Las Vegas. But, let me assure you that NYC is a city of great friendship and comradery. It is a place where you can be alone in a crowd or a part of it, should you so choose. NYC is filled with 'neighborhoods' where you can enjoy the best Italian pizza, awesome Jewish deli fare, amazing Chinese cuisine ... and the list goes on and on. New Yorkers are resourceful and quickly figure out how to turn catastrophe into personal gain. When the power went out following the 911 attack, 'rickshaws' turned up on the streets to assist in transporting people around.
New York, New York .. a wonderful town!