I love NY

The fact that I finally employed this prase is not an accident. I think I've been in New York long enough to use that overused cliche and actually mean it. Today is my 4-month anniversary in New York (much like a relationship, my affair with New York gets "month anniversaries" for the first year. Since I am the only willful member of the relationship, I can choose to recognize or not recognize these milestones at will...anyway), and I have realized this week that I really do love this city and all it has to offer. Allow me to expound (though I am sure I will not do so in full).

First of all, this week was week four at my new job, and I feel more useful, productive, and satisfied with my work all the time. I had worried that moving to the financial services industry would be less satisfying than any other work I had done because I have spent most of my life working toward "good causes." However, my former job made me realize that one must be happy in their work environment for the "cause" to matter anyway. As opposed to my first job, this job is a great environment for me, and I love team on which I work. Everyone is very hard-working, well-spoken and kind. They take time to help when I need it (and belive me, I do), and the use constructive criticism and praise liberally. Also, I have found that I can really find small ways to see the bigger picture of what I do. Whether it's helping a co-worker who is swamped with work or being the only friendly client that a vendor has spoken with all day, I really feel that I have flourished in my new environment, and I am thankful for that every day.

Along with my fabulous new job comes a new area of town to explore! I now work in the financial district, which is the oldest and most historic part of New York. Of course, Wall Street is the most famous landmark of the Financial district, but on Thursday I decided to find out what else there was to know about my new neighborhood. At the encouragement of my supervisor, I took a long lunch (yay!) and went on a free walking tour of the financial district. The day was perfect (70 and sunny in November!), so yet another reason to get out of the office. There were many sights to see on this tour, and our guide was kind enough to expound with stories and historic facts where appropriate. Here is a brief list of things I saw.

•Federal Hall - The site where Washington gave his innaugural address, where the Continental Congress met, and where the Articles of Confederation were written.
•The New York Stock Exchange
•Trinity Church – which interestingly is the 3rd largest land owner in Manhattan, having gotten most of it’s land from the government.
•Fraunces Tavern – the host of many famous early Americans and the site of the victory banquet for George Washington after the end of the revolutionary war.
•Delmonico’s – The first restaurant in America. Delmonico’s was the first restaurant to allow guests to order their food custom-made from a menu instead of being served whatever the owner was cooking that day.
•40 Wall Street – Which was the tallest building in the world for about a month before it was surpassed by New York’s Chrysler Building with its huge spire. This building is where Chase Manhattan bank was started, among other things. Annoyingly, Donald Trump somehow purchased the building and now has it titled “The Trump Building.”
•The Woolworth Building
•Bowling Green Park – the oldest park in the country and the location of the oldest still-standing structure in the country: The fence around it was constructed in 1773.
•The Charging/Wall Street Bull – This bull was created un-commissioned by artist Arturo DiModica. The statue weights 7,000 pounds and is worth about $1 million in bronze.
•Finally, it was interesting to see the original boundaries of lower Manhattan and to realize that about 50% of it is landfill and used to be water (the boundaries symbolized by Pearl Street, Beaver Street, and Canal Street).

Finally, this week I have had the opportunity to begin spending more and more time with some girls from the fellowship group that I have been attending, and they have been such a blessing to me. I am even going to start running in the mornings with one of them two mornings a week. I finally feel like I am starting to build some viable friendships in the city, and I am so thankful for that!

I must get to bed, but please feel free to leave a comment!