I was walking with my friend Jackie toward the Bryant Park subway station. It was a hot July night. We’d just seen a Britney Spears-based Broadway show and then dashed across a steamy Times Square, pumping with tourists, sounds, and smells.
“There’s still something magical about Manhattan,” I told her while we descended the subway stairs. As I spoke the words—stars in my eyes, hope in my heart—a hefty, gray rat ran across my open-toed shoes.
“AHHHHHHH!” I screamed and we both took off running down the rest of the steps.
Three boys wearing polos and backpacks laughed at us as we scrambled onto the platform, Britney Spears bracelets blinking on our wrists like we’d come from a rave. They asked about our flashing bands, and we explained the premise of the show. I thought they’d continue to laugh at us, but instead they wanted to know if we’d seen the latest news: Britney Spears had been slapped! Or had she slapped herself? Either way, it was on camera, and they had opinions.
As we continued walking down the platform, I thought about what I’d been trying to say before a rat had rudely walked across my toes.
I’ve lived here a long time.
I don’t really like Times Square.
And I loathe rats.
But there is something magical about Manhattan on a summer night. There’s simmering electricity in the air, a holdover from a hot afternoon. And it feels like there’s a certain freedom to this season. Summer makes people say, “yes.” Summer makes people do things they normally would not. I don’t know if it’s the late setting sun, the break from the heat, or something cosmic that no one understands.
I’ve always felt magic weaving through a warm evening. Maybe that enchanted feeling is just unabashed spontaneity—what will happen next? Whatever it is, the sensation is nearly tangible when you’re walking the streets of New York City.
I hope you feel it—I hope it overwhelms you.
I hope you say, “yes” into the air.
“I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night, and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove.”