As my teenage son starts his university studies at New York University, we decided to accompany him, so for a month we have moved into an apartment on the 42nd floor in Times Square.

We moved in July 4th, barely missing the Pride parade, but catching the 4th of July fireworks from bed.

After enjoying a vegan burger at the nearby Bare Burger, porridge at New Wonjo in Koreatown, and shopping at an Asian supermarket it didn’t take long for us to remember why we love AND hate this city.

In any case, a couple days later we helped my son move into his dorm near Union Square, and had lunch with him at Momofuku Ssäm Bar. Of course, we crossed the street to buy a compost cookie at Milk Bar.

Time to start walking fast on the sidewalks avoiding the crowds, paying attention to subway train schedule changes, having an extra dose of attitude, trying to cram as much as we can into each day in the city, and avoid the consumerist temptations all around us… while enjoying people and building watching.