It Touched Us, And Suddenly, Nothing Is The Same!!!!!!!!!

My recent posting about the possible closing of Manatus made me realize some important things about the inevitability of change. Generally speaking, I have not been much for embracing such, being a creature of habit, but I do have to acknowledge a number of things I have achieved that would have been impossible without some kind of change--living in New York, having Monsieur in my life, writing this blog, preaching homilies at Dignity (though I know there are some deceased relations who must roll in their graves, each time I speak!!!!), or seeing all the New York theater I have been fortunate to see.

So, change is not necessarily anything to turns one's back on, as it can have all kinds of benefits, some which may not be even known, at the time.

But there is also a sad component to change, and nowhere is this more apparent, than when you live in a city like New York. While the Broadway theaters of my dreams still stand, primarily, the bill of fare has evolved and changed to the point where the reasons I used to go to the theater hardly exist anymore. So many of the creators, performers, or choreographers who enriched my theater going over the years have either aged out, passed on, or simply retired from the biz.

And so it goes with landmarks. Rumplemayer's, that haven of the sophisticates for us sophisticated ice cream lovers, is but a memory for those of us who cling to it. Likewise, the original Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel, Le Cirque when it was next to the Mayfair Regent, or Lutece, right across from Sondheim and Katherine Hepburn, in Turtle Bay. And there are lesser things--the transformation of 8th Street into a kind of middle class mini mall, with not even the famous Hagen Dasz that dwelt there for so many years, and which I could not pass without purchasing something, as I got on the N Or R at 8th, to go home to Bay Ridge. Where I no longer live, being I reside in Woodside. And that is only occasionally these days.

Then there are changing attitudes. New York has always been a crowded place, with everyone the center of their own universe, but the Entitlement notch has gone up considerably with the advent of cell phones, blackberries, or the like, which pretty much convinces users they are the only ones in the world, so God forbid, if you are behind them trying to get on or off a subway. And if they are behind you, forget it; they will just shove you out of the way!!!!! I have said this before, and I will say it again, as the quality of technology increases, so decreases the quality of communication, and the quality of thought.

I honestly don't know how young people start out in New York these days. But, then, I remember an article 24 years before, where Blythe Danner said the same thing. The fact is the city changes a little each day we live in it, and the changes that come to us over time have been happening before our very eyes, only we have not been aware of them. So that, when we finally are, it seems like culture shock.

Is New York the same city baby boomers my age fled to for career and personal solace, when young???? Not at all!!!!!!!!! And while there are many things about that I will mourn--like Rumpelmayer's!!!!!!-- there are others, like the improved differences in me now from when I arrived that I cannot regret.

And there is still much to be enjoyed!!!!!!! I mean, Three Lives is still going strong, and more power to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This city offers more excitement than most any other. And there is still excitement out there to be had.

It should not stop generations of youth from coming here! It hasn't seemed to, yet!!!!!!!! But keep in mind, the city that you arrive in, when young, will differ for you from the city you will be living in 30 years later!!!!!!!!

I mean, even those "Sex And The City" hags aged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!