A Humble Chaperon in NYC

When I was about 10 years old, my father took me to New York City for the first time. Throughout his life, he had a great deal of business in New York, and since it was on the company dime, the accommodations were always of the Central Park South variety. On that first trip, and on several others, it was the two of us – just me and my dad.

Those trips gave me indelible memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I remember my first New York City restaurant experience (Sea Horse Grill, Rockefeller Center), my first Broadway show (A Chorus Line), and my first New York everything. I was in love with this town from Hello, and I knew from a very young age that this is where I was going to live. This town was a knock-out to me (still is) and had a distinct vibe that we didn’t have at home. A town without an inferiority complex. There were cool impressions of New York on televisions and in movies, but I owe all those important first real-life impressions of NYC to my dad.

These days, “Uncle George” (that’s me) gets to pay it forward and show NYC to my nieces and nephews when they come to visit. I most recently had a fantastic 5-day visit from my nephew Patrick. My brother’s son, he’s 15 and about to enter his sophomore year at Saint Ignatius High School, my alma mater in Cleveland. Last summer, we started what looks like a tradition in which he comes to NYC for a few days and hangs out with me. I do my best to “show him a good time,” as it were. It’s a genuine thrill to have the opportunity to expose him to things he’s never seen (no strip clubs… honest) and to revisit some things I’ve taken for granted. This past visit, for instance, we went out to Coney Island, an NYC treasure that I had almost forgotten about.

Throughout Patrick’s visit, I had the opportunity to take some fun photos and videos with the iPhone, and upload them directly to Facebook and YouTube, which enabled me to share them almost immediately with friends and family back home. I’ve shared many of them below.

Playing tour guide is a tiring venture, but when it’s with a super kid who enjoys checking this city out as much as I did when I was his age and even younger, my fatigue is a happy one.

The Photos

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The Videos