WE TOOK MANHATTAN
Sonali Shah spends a weekend in the city that never sleeps.
Looking down from the Virgin Atlantic 747 onto the Manhattan skyline, all thoughts of work were wiped from my mind in one fell swoop. Yellow cabs, smoky pavements, skyscrapers – we were landing in the thick of it. Jon, my fiancé and travel companion, pinched me to make sure I was awake, although with screaming babies in each ear it was hard not to be. Still, lack of sleep was the last thing on our minds as the wheels hit the runway of John F. Kennedy airport. We were ready for a weekend in first gear in the city that never sleeps!
LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE
After an unfortunate incident on our recent flight from Birmingham to Madrid, we decided to rent a powerchair in New York rather than let the baggage handlers play ball with mine. So we e-mailed Scootaround – a wheelchair and scooter rental company (www.scootaround.com). For $265 I rented a powerchair for four days, with delivery to and pick-up from the hotel included. It meant that we didn’t have to waste time doing boring things like finding a wheelchair repair shop open on an Easter weekend but we still had to deal with the fact that airport wheelchairs come with patronising porters who push disabled passengers from the checkout, abandon them at the relevant gate and then go off with the empty wheelchair!
Once we had checked into the accessible and friendly Millennium Broadway Hotel on the corner of Times Square, the whole airport wheelchair episode was just an annoying prick in my memory. This was the perfect hotel for me: not only was it surrounded by theatre (my favourite hobby) but it had a team of genuinely helpful staff, meaning that I could avoid some of the usual problems I encounter as a disabled traveller. Without Tom, the hotel’s maintenance man, I would have been driving the rented powerchair cross-armed because I’m left-handed and the chair was not, but after receiving telephoned instructions from Scootaround, Tom produced a set of allen keys and swapped the armrests.
A HEARTY START TO A SATURDAY
Saturday morning started with a hearty American breakfast in the cholesterol heaven commonly known as the Red Flame Coffee Shop. We had a plate-sized waffle topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and a mountain of scotch pancakes with two fried eggs, sausage and bacon – but it was ok because we also had freshly-squeezed orange juice!
Next stop, the Empire State Building – that should burn a few calories! It was a lovely warm, sunny day so unsurprisingly the queue to visit New York’s original symbol in the sky was more than three miles long. But little did we know we had our own ticket to ride: a wheelchair! A two-hour wait to be security checked, purchase tickets, and go up to the 86th and 102nd floor observation decks took us 15 minutes. The best thing about it is that no one kicks up a fuss, gives you accusing looks or makes you feel guilty for not waiting in line. Maybe it stems from the stereotype of disabled people being needy and dependent on charity - but hey, if it works! It did, and what a spectacular view of the city.
We considered lunch, but were still full of American breakfast, so decided instead to take a peaceful stroll in Central Park. We were thinking we might pop in on Woody Allen for a cuppa – Jon had bought his new book especially – but the horse and cart rides were too tempting for me to resist. I had been planning to book a horse and cart for our wedding, and although Jon thinks it’s a bit too ‘Footballers’ Wives’ I hoped that a romantic ride in Central Park might change his mind. Unfortunately things did not quite work out that way: the horse got spooked, the tour guide jumped off, and Jon and I were left in the cart, attached to a freaked-out horse. I had visions of being dragged all over New York City by a mad dapple grey! Luckily reality was not as dramatic as my imagination, and we managed to get back to the drop-off point, and my powerchair, in one piece. I have now decided I am more than happy to have a wedding car!
HITTING BROADWAY
I was conscious that time was ticking by; it was Saturday evening and we had not yet got tickets to a Broadway show. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity but the cheapest tickets we could get from the theatre box offices or the agent at Millennium Broadway were $88 each (about £45). Then we got chatting to a local theatregoer in an Italian restaurant who mentioned Tickets, Tickets, Tickets – a booth in Times Square which sells returns and cancellations. It was a great tip-off, and on Sunday we got matinee tickets, at $15 each, for the Clifford Odets play ‘Awake and Sing!’ starring Zoe Wanamaker.
Before the start of the play we took a brisk walk/wheel to Chelsea, famous for its gorgeous gay men (I think we missed them) and literary figures such as Dylan Thomas and Arthur Miller, who hung out in the Chelsea Hotel with other bohemians in the 1950s and 60s. We returned to the Belasco Theatre in time for the start of the 3pm performance, but the excitement of finally seeing a Broadway show was slightly quashed by the fact that, even though the Belasco is an accessible venue (unlike several I have visited in London’s West End) the $15 tickets were for balcony seats, up 25 steps. Taking a deep breath, I hooked arms with Jon and a fellow theatre-lover and slowly but surely climbed the 25 steps, stopping for air twice. Oh well, at least the fried egg sandwich I ate at Grand Central Station that morning wouldn’t stay on my hips!
Shopping was the last thing on our agenda. This was coupled with testing out the public buses. Every bus has hydraulic lifts for wheelchair users and a very helpful driver who knows how to operate them. So we took a bus to Soho for a spot of shopping and enjoyed a veggie pizza in Little Italy while we were there. We then hurried back to the hotel where a car had been booked to take us to the airport. This turned out to be a ‘Sopranos’ style black Lincoln, and we felt like we were on our way to a Mafia hit as we took a detour through Brooklyn and Queens to avoid the freeway traffic. We arrived with time to spare, and due to a wheelchair shortage at JFK we had to wait around for a while, but eventually we were whisked to the plane and back home.
Sonali travelled with Virgin Atlantic. Visit
www.virgin-atlantic.com or call 0870 380 2007 for further information. A number of other airlines also fly to New York from airports across the UK. Prices start from £350 for an economy class return ticket in August.
Sonali stayed at the Millennium Broadway Hotel. Visit
www.millenniumhotels.com or call 001 212 768 4400 for more information. A standard room in August for two people costs from $239 (about £130).
A trip up the Empire State Building costs $16 for adults (around £8.50), $14 for children aged 12 to 17, $10 for children aged six to 11 and entry is free for children under five. Visit www.esbnyc.com or call
001 212 736 3100.
Official New York State Tourism can be contacted via
www.iloveny.com or by calling 001 518 474 4116.
July/August 2006
