Rats.

Ah, New York City. The Big Apple. The Capital of the World (according to the sign at the entrance to the Lincoln tunnel)! Broadway, Times Square, Wall Street, the UN, Central Park, MOMA, somebody stop me! Yes, what can I say about New York that you haven't already heard? The list of famous people from this town is mind-boggling. Its firsts, its unique stuff...there is too much!

I lived in NYC for awhile, so instead of giving you the regular tourist line here, I'll tell you what I know about this city. I spent my first year living in Brooklyn, which is a delightful borough. Because I was a starving student I traveled either by train, bus or foot. The first thing I learned about New Yorkers is that they are not rude, as everyone assumes. No. They are late. You walk 6 blocks to the train, wait 10 minutes for it to arrive, crush yourself into a spot so tiny you become convinced you just cracked a rib, change trains, crack another rib, ride the wave of humans up the steps to the streets, take a moment to figure out which direction is north again, walk another 5 or 6 blocks to your destination and see if you've got time to greet all your neighbors and apologize to every person you bump into. I took to listening to my walkman at all times (iPods hadn't been invented) and always reading. I felt compelled to mostly listen to the Beastie Boys while living in Brooklyn, because I was one of those people "going places on the D train". If you're going to NYC, visit Brooklyn. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, meander along the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights. Visit Prospect Park (like Central Park, designed by Olmsted, originally intended to stretch all the way down to the sea) and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. And listen to the Beastie Boys. No! Sleep! Till Brooklyn!

After a year in my apartment in Brooklyn, I opted to cede the place to the roaches. They had gotten so impudent they didn't even bother to scatter when I turned on the lights. On one particularly disturbing occasion, I found one lounging on my pillow. No lie. I would bomb the place from time to time. When I did, the roaches would all spend a couple days in the next door apartment while I sat in my temporarily roach-free space, breathing noxious fumes and probably knocking years off my own life. So, to Manhattan we go!

When people would come visit me in NYC I'd take them on the Cool Grocery Store tour of the city. No, really, it was fun. The cool grocery stores spanned the island of Manhattan and included such places as Zabar's, Gourmet Garage, Dean & Deluca, Fairway and the now gone Balducci's. Each place has its own unique thing about it. Fairway, for example has their cold stuff in one, giant walk-in refrigerator and they hand out big coats to customers as they go in to buy meat. Because the stores are all over, you get to see large portions of the city. And all of them give out samples of delicious foods and beverages from around the world. Yes, yes, we'd hit all the museums and Central Park and the Bronx Zoo and the Cloisters too. But if you're going, check out the markets.

There's a lot to be amazed about in NYC. The buildings alone, never cease to enthrall. Once, rushing from Rockefeller Center to 59th street, I passed 3 camels that were walking down the alley. But what really blew my mind there were the subway rats. Holy cow those things are huge. I used to watch them run around on the train tracks while waiting for the A train at Columbus Circle. Those tracks are pretty far down so the rats just don't seem that big. But one day I saw one come running down the tracks with a mouse in its mouth. The mouse looked like a tiny little poof of gray. I think that rat was bigger than my cat. Another time, I was walking across Central Park to the train at night. It was just me and this hulking biker-looking guy out there. I felt something hit the inside of my calf (I was wearing a skirt) and thought I'd stepped on a stick. When I looked, I saw a giant rat scurrying off into the park. The biker lookin' guy hurried past me, pausing to say "that was horrifying". The thing had run right between my legs while I was mid-stride. I've got news for you, rodents of unusual size? They do exist. And it is totally worth seeing them, so don't get all squeamish on me now!

Oh, you were just wondering what Engle Martin's NYC office is doing for Labor Day in May? Very well, I'll tell you! Lisa Dellacorte (and the tiny Dellacorte on the way), Brian Fell, Greg Nissen and Steve Wanamaker will be spending the day with Wild Metro. Wild Metro exists to protect nature right there in the middle of the bustling city. Have a great day, NYC!