My novels are set in New York City so I’ve decided to periodically post about 5 favorite things about NYC.

The People

You have to like people to live in NYC. I love running into friends randomly while running errands or out and about. I can’t say it happens often, but it happens enough. And I also love funny interactions with strangers. I definitely missed these interactions when we were quarantining in our house. I found it interesting that research shows that people’s moods improve after positive conversations with strangers. One of my favorite pandemic stranger interactions was when I was on the line to vote in the US presidential election. The poll worker tried to set me up with the guy behind me in line. “Are you with her? If not, you need to keep your six feet of distance. Maybe you can take her out to dinner afterwards if you want to get closer.” He kept his six feet of distance. 🙂

I also like overhearing snippets of conversations. I recently overheard one woman say to another: “It was the underwear on the floor that was the final straw.”

Central Park

Central Park is amazing! There are so many areas to explore from the lawns to the wilder parts up north, from row boating on the Central Park lake to ice skating, from wandering around in the Ramble to exploring all the different playgrounds. And I shouldn’t forget the Central Park Zoo. And here’s a tip about how to figure out where you are in Central Park. The green posts show the street number, so below shows that you are on East 72nd Street.

Late Night Availability

I love that supermarkets, corner stores, and some restaurants stay open late (besides the bars and clubs). This is one of my favorite things about living in New York City.

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will probably mention Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip cookies in almost every book I write, they are that good. Yummy. When I live in other countries, I miss American chocolate chip cookies. I am so glad I had to buy Levain bakery cookies to photograph them for this blog post. 🙂

Walking

I love being able to walk to wherever I want to go (or take public transportation). Before the pandemic, I walked around 5 miles a day on weekdays, between dropping the kids off at school, picking them up, and walking to and from work.

Let’s Talk

Because there’s so much I love about living in NYC, this is just my first blog post of 5 favorite things about NYC. Thanks to my friend and critique partner Giulia Skye for suggesting I post about this. Her novel Her Outback Driver is a RWA Vivian Contest finalist! She told me that she really enjoyed my descriptions of New York City in my books.

Have you visited New York? What are some of your favorite things about New York? If you’ve only seen New York in movies, what do you think of when you think of New York?