vip in the city

New Year’s Eve travels

This morning, we received an early New Year’s gift from the City of Boston when the parking enforcement officer, instead of issuing us a parking ticket, alerted us to the sign near our car indicating that the street on which we had parked was reserved for Bay Village residents only. Oops. I had to suppress a smile when, as if on cue, she advised us in strong nonrhotic tones to “pahk the cah” not in “Hahvahd Yahd,” but on “Chahles.”

After services, JE and JC showed me to a Chinatown bánh mì shop, where I picked up some reinforcements for the Greyhound bus ride back to the city. After bidding adieu to the family, I was off.

I pulled into Port Authority in the midst of where the New Year Eve festivities were just beginning. The ambitious first wave of the expected million spectators had already arrived, securing their spots along the streets for the 100th midnight dropping of the ball in Times Square.

But not for me. First stop: the (farther) Upper West Side for DB and JS‘s party, where there was an open fire crackling on the garden patio and balls aplenty: risotto, meat, rice krispy, popcorn and donkey. (Well, the last was part of a party game.)

Some fruity champagne cocktails and vanilla bean-and-anise-infused vodkas later, we wished our hosts and new friends well, and set out once more into the night.

Migrations by Christopher Wynter (1999) at the 110th Street/Cathedral Parkway subway station. According to the artist, “the panels represent the ideas of uprooting, migration, and progress.”

In this spirit: onward, onward… to Chelsea!

On the ride downtown, we met this hardy couple — one veteran and one newbie — all geared up to hit 2007 running at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park. This New Year’s Eve 4-miler has been a city tradition since the first running in 1979. The New York Road Runners Club hosts the late-night gathering of sneakers and sweat, which begins at the Central Park Naumburg Bandshell. The event is co-sponsored by Emerald Nuts and also features activities for non-runners: champagne toasts, a costume parade and contest, a live DJ spinning dance tunes, and finally, fireworks timed to launch precisely at midnight to kick off the start of the race. The event helps raise money for the NYRR’s community services programs.

We arrived at JK’s to find the party in full swing. Lots of familiar faces, and soon enough, MB, LW, AC, DF and E bounced in. What youthful exhuberance! With mere minutes to spare before the stroke of midnight, there was little time to mourn missed connections before we had to make our way through winding hallways, packed elevators and a final flight of stairs to the rooftop of The Chelsea Mercantile.

10… 9… 8…

Except not really. Nobody has a watch with a seconds reading anymore! Staring at a cellphone, waiting for “11:59” to become “12:00” isn’t quite the same. But then suddenly, the streets below erupted into cheers, and brilliant fireworks from Times Square lit up the sky. From our vantage point, we had a clear view of similar displays launched from downtown and in Jersey. I popped the cork on the bottle of Veuve JK had pushed into my hands downstairs, and among friends old and new, we toasted to a new year and new possibilities.

Happy 2007, everyone!

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