“New York, I think of nighttime, I think of Times Square and Broadway, and nightlife and the city that never sleeps.”—Jimmy Fallon
After visiting family members in Rutherford, NJ, Cecile and I checked into newly renovated New York Marriott Marquis, located in the heart of Times Square that includes the world famous Theater District, Rockefeller Center, and Radio Music Hall. At the recommendation of my brother-in-law Joe, we had dinner at the Brooklyn Dinner a few blocks from the hotel. We decided to share a juicy, tender Hot Pastrami Sandwich on Rye bread with a pickle and Cole slaw and an order of Pigs-in-a-Blanket with frankfurter. Cecile also ordered a chocolate egg cream, a popular drink from her youth. Everything about the pastrami reminded Cecile of her late beloved father, Harry Weiner who had a small food market and Deli in Chicago. He cooked the meat himself, and, it was a special treat for customers and family alike.
We decided to walk off our meal in Times Square on the world-famous intersection of 42nd Street. The name is synonymous with Broadway shows, various Disney characters, neon lights and gargantuan billboards. It Is New York’s most famous landmark and the liveliest area in the city. On a typical weekday, 430,000 people will pass through it. One would think that in one of the most heavily trafficked destinations in the world, you would hardly bump into anybody you from from back home. Well, as fate would have it, we heard someone yell out Cecile’s name. It turned out to be the mother of our daughter Michelle’s childhood friend. Speaking of Michelle, even though I grew up in Hoboken, a city on the Hudson that faces NYC, we really got to know it better when she lived and worked there for seven years before returning to California.
