Another day of apartment hunting, followed by some walking & shopping time in the city around 57th Street. I had forgotten what a hellish tourist trap that part of the city is (we had gone to Planet Hollywood for the Captain Crunch Chicken appetizer we both like) and was kind of taken aback at what an impression New York must leave on visitors, especially foreign visitors.

Also interesting to see was the fire escape at Carnegie Hall which highlights just how impressive architecture in Manhattan can be– the fire escape itself is actually attractive, as Helen pointed out to me. Next time I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll snap a digital picture and post it on here.

Less exciting was the fact that I saw homeless people all over the place down there, more than I’d seen during the entire time I lived on 92nd. I guess now I know where Rudy put them all. The cynic in me suspects that they were driven there by the fact that many cash-laden tourists (presumably with generous Midwestern hearts) frequent the area.

Of course, Disney is so powerful, they actually can scare all the indigents and transients away from Times Square these days. They’re basically a combination of the Communist Party and the Catholic Church, with those three circles of Mickey’s silhouette acting as their swastika. But other than that, I like them…

Erratum: Anita emailed me and let me know that there are in fact two holidays in August, India’s Independence Day (15 August), and Krishna’s Birthday. I stand corrected. And of course, there’s her birthday, 17 August, when she will be 90 years young.