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| Letter from United States: look east | Letter from United States: look east |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| If you're looking up at the iconic art-deco buildings on New York City's Central Park West, then you're looking the wrong way. There's plenty of history behind The Majestic, El Dorado, San Reno and other gilded apartments that line one of the city's most famous streets, not to mention a few stars cached away inside. But the broad sidewalk on the other side of the street has much more to offer. | If you're looking up at the iconic art-deco buildings on New York City's Central Park West, then you're looking the wrong way. There's plenty of history behind The Majestic, El Dorado, San Reno and other gilded apartments that line one of the city's most famous streets, not to mention a few stars cached away inside. But the broad sidewalk on the other side of the street has much more to offer. |
| Central Park West is one of New York's seemingly endless avenues. Beginning at the bustling Columbus Circle and ending at Harlem, it stretches 51 blocks alongside Central Park through the Upper West Side. If you set off on the eastern side of the street you'll cross New Yorkers enjoying the shade of leafy trees stretching out from the park. Near Columbus Circle, on one of the many green benches that run along the park's edge, a lone man can often be found in the mid-morning thumbing away at clay statuettes. | Central Park West is one of New York's seemingly endless avenues. Beginning at the bustling Columbus Circle and ending at Harlem, it stretches 51 blocks alongside Central Park through the Upper West Side. If you set off on the eastern side of the street you'll cross New Yorkers enjoying the shade of leafy trees stretching out from the park. Near Columbus Circle, on one of the many green benches that run along the park's edge, a lone man can often be found in the mid-morning thumbing away at clay statuettes. |
| Further up the street, in the late afternoon, an eccentric, elderly couple regularly meet to scour over Where's Waldo books with magnifying glasses in hand. The man's long white beard, black shirt and red suspenders are hard to miss. Nearby a woman dips into a paperback, a young man taps out a message on his smartphone, and a portly gentleman puffs away on his fat cigar. As evening arrives, fresh runners head into the park as sweaty ones emerge victorious. | Further up the street, in the late afternoon, an eccentric, elderly couple regularly meet to scour over Where's Waldo books with magnifying glasses in hand. The man's long white beard, black shirt and red suspenders are hard to miss. Nearby a woman dips into a paperback, a young man taps out a message on his smartphone, and a portly gentleman puffs away on his fat cigar. As evening arrives, fresh runners head into the park as sweaty ones emerge victorious. |
| The sidewalk is also an express lane for those on foot. Yellow taxis stream by on the street and the A-Train rumbles beneath, but because there so few cross-streets through the park, pedestrians can also motor by without having to wait at stoplight after stoplight. Along the way the tall arches of the Lincoln Centre can be seen down 64th Street and a perfect sunset over the Hudson river on 72nd. | The sidewalk is also an express lane for those on foot. Yellow taxis stream by on the street and the A-Train rumbles beneath, but because there so few cross-streets through the park, pedestrians can also motor by without having to wait at stoplight after stoplight. Along the way the tall arches of the Lincoln Centre can be seen down 64th Street and a perfect sunset over the Hudson river on 72nd. |
| But most locals pay little attention to views offered down the brownstone-lined adjacent streets. They are too busy dodging families of tourists, nannies pushing the city's adored offspring and professional dog-walkers guiding groups of almost equally coveted canines. For all the action of New York, it's worthwhile to look down from the cavalcade of stunning towers above, and take in everything on offer on the east side of the street. | But most locals pay little attention to views offered down the brownstone-lined adjacent streets. They are too busy dodging families of tourists, nannies pushing the city's adored offspring and professional dog-walkers guiding groups of almost equally coveted canines. For all the action of New York, it's worthwhile to look down from the cavalcade of stunning towers above, and take in everything on offer on the east side of the street. |
| Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving our readers a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk | Every week Guardian Weekly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving our readers a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letter.from@guardian.co.uk |
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