Preliminary observations from Midtown:

• Tourists really like to shop near the Empire State Building in the same chain stores they have at home.

• A Bank of America on every block! A chicken in every pot!

• I really need to pick my favorite salad/sandwich/pizza/sushi bar deli place so the servers can get to know my preferences. Seems every worker up here has their place, and their orders down pat. I used to resent these types of white-collar-worker cafes until I realized they are just a new version of the old luncheonettes or lunch counters that New York office workers frequented in the mid-twentieth century. Makes me feel like I’m the recipient of a tradition.

• I count 10 Starbucks locations within a five minute walk of my office, including one in the first floor of my building! I don’t go to Starbucks as a rule, but now I know I can spend far too much on a latte without risking the elements.

• My building is way cool because it’s set at a 45-degree angle to the Manhattan street grid. Of course, it apparently replaced some neat old armory, but what can you do.

(My building and the East River from the Empire State Building.)

Photos by wallyg and Arve Johnsen on Flickr.