I'll Take Manhattan

All of it! The lawyers in town for a little conference and a lot of Christmas who thought they may have seen Matt Lauer. The maitre d' who pinned an unsuccessful purse snatcher to the floor while the bartender successfully served cocktails to the onlookers. The NYPD and the guys wearing NYPD hats. The hostel on West End Avenue for $113 a night and the hotel room at the Sheraton for $400, both with the same square footage. Craftbar and Kenny's Broome Street Bar. Old friends Eileen Fisher, Barney, Kate Spade, Max Mara, and Bloody Mary, and new acquaintances Maribelle Chocolate, The American Craftsman, and Rosie O'Grady. The line at TKTS that snaked around the Marriot Marquis like it was Disneyworld, and the line to look in the windows at Saks and Macys. Grey Gardens' Christine Ebersole who was Jackie O's aunt in Act One and her cousin in Act Two, and who was almost Joe Kennedy's wife, but ended up the crazy daughter of a crazier mother. Betsy Bray who saw Renee Zellweger at the Miss Potter premiere, and was on her way to see Chicago. A friend of a friend from Texas and Betsy's nephew from Brooklyn. The tree at Rock Center, and Tom Geoffino's library at New Roc City. ABC Carpet & Home and Alphabet City. Central, Gramercy, Madison and Washington Square parks and a parking ticket for $115. Models in SoHo, out-of-towners in Midtown, and everyone in Times Square. French, Spanish, English English, Chinese, and Brooklynese spoken and no one being heard. Hummer limos for six and subway cars for sixty. Taxis stuck in traffic and people stuffed into pedicabs. A public toilet from Charmin in Times Square, and public displays of affection everywhere. Babies dressed up like band boxes riding in strollers like Cadillacs. Christmas trees for $400 and Christmas lights on every tree. Is it all too much to take? Give Manhattan 72 hours and she'll give you the world!