So, I finally made my way to the mack daddy of US cities: New York City.   After having been to 15 other countries,  I am finally starting to visit places in my own back yard.

I made the trip with my Local Motors comrades, Jay and Tim. We set out EARLY (6:00am) on a Thursday morning to go visit a new startup called Aviary, who does advanced in-browser image editing, among other things. There products were most impressive, and I really liked their office (even though it was adjacent to a cemetery).

After meeting up with the Aviary guys, Jay decided that we should head over to Manhattan so I could get a feel for the city. It was mostly what I expected, similar to my beloved Chicago, but a little dirtier and a little more overpowering.

We entered the city in Midtown, and headed north up to Gino’s. We stowed the car in a garage on a side street and set off on foot for the restaurant. It’s an old Italian joint, with a delicious “segreto” (secret) sauce. Lunch was delish, and Jay, Tim and I had a great discussion about open source design and collaboration.

Post lunch we made our way back to our garage parked car and happily paid the $40 fee for 90 minutes of garage time. (frickin ridic). Then we made our way further north for a drive through Central Park. No surprises there, just less cement than the rest of the city. It made me appreciate the amount of usable nature that exists in Chicago.

That was my brief first encounter with NYC; I am excited to head back and check out the night life a little.

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