There’s a new book out I saw on a morning news program – 101 Reasons to Leave New York.  I get it – most New Yorker’s do – that at one time or another we contemplate the notion of getting the hell out of here…away from the crowds, the noise, the constant barrage of life unfolding.

But my immediate response was the opposite – 101 Reasons to Stay in New York.  I scribbled notes.  I love this city – and want to defend her insanity.  I’m writing this book.

1.  It’s 3am and I need glue.
 Can you say that in Idaho?  Let’s say I’m working on building my kid’s dollhouse or my heel just broke off my favorite shoes and I want to wear them to work in the morning.  I can stroll out my door and find a store open with glue.  I can find a bar, a club, a deli, a gourmet restaurant and a train station all open at 3am.  It’s not the end of the night here…it’s the dawn of a new day.

2.  Raise your hand if you’re drunk.
You’re out for drinks with colleagues and some friends text you to meet them downtown.  You continue your night, fueling yourself with greasy bar snacks and one too many shots of Patron.  You’re tired and have to get up in the morning for a 9:30 conference call.  So what do you do?  Raise your hand, you’re drunk….and hail a cab.  Slur your words to the driver (he’s used to it) and find yourself tucked in bed in a jiffy. 

3.  Dress codes are for sissy’s.
When it comes to dressing the part, nobody does it like New York.  From tutu’s to tata’s, whatever you feel like baring gets bared.  Style is a matter of taste and culture.  One person’s fashion faux pas is another’s fashion trend.  And we’ve seen it all here – from the Naked Cowboy in his tightie whities in Times Square to Lady Gaga’s meat dress.  But I still don’t get the hip urban pants being held up by the belt around the knees look…I guess the penguin walk is in.

4.  You actually live here!
It is impressive.  When you tell someone outside of New York that you live here, it’s usually met with “Really, that’s cool.”  You ARE cool.  You live in one of the greatest cities in the world.  You walk down these streets, go to work, raise your kids, brave the seasons and come in contact with perhaps thousands of people every day.  Give yourself a pat on the back.

5.  Everywhere else is cheap
Happy hour prices are the like hitting the lottery – did you say only $5 for that beer?  $8 for that glass of wine?  Wow, when did I get so lucky?  The high cost of living in New York gives us a strong appreciation for everything cheap.  The mortgage on our studio apartment is equivalent to owning a small mansion in the midwest.  The cost of a can of PAM cooking spray in D’Agostino’s is the same as an all-you-can-eat buffet in Redding, Pennsylvania.  Taking your family out to dinner anywhere outside of New York is less than a full day’s pay.  When I go to Virginia, I have this strong urge to shout out at the diner, “Hey everyone, your grilled cheese is on me!”

More reasons to come….   

(Just for the record….my last blog was about professional athletes and performance enhancing drugs – I don’t condone it, but I understand it.  Just sayin.)

What we need…..all we truly need is love and respect.

I saw a great interview on CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend with Mike Tyson (of all people).  I say that because my general interest in him is small….thinking of him immediately conjures up images of an out of control man, who abuses women (went to jail for rape), who has fallen from the public’s good graces.

But the story was revealing and insightful.  It portrayed Tyson in a human light….which was obviously lurking below the surface all these years.  Is it an act?  I don’t know.  Hard to tell.  But it didn’t seem that way – and he’s been clean and sober for a little while now….so the clarity he seems to be experiencing appears real.

He’s come to understand who he was, what he wants, and what really matters.  He displayed his boxing belts and called them garbage…that they had no value to him anymore.  Because the truth is, they don’t have value in a true soulful sense.  They have monetary value, but no human value.  They shine in the sun, but have been a canopy of darkness in Tyson’s life.

He was an amazing boxer – that can’t be denied.  And it’s his tough childhood that propelled him there.  But in hearing him talk, the only thing that Tyson’s ever wanted was love and respect.  Just like us all.  Love and respect…the simplest and most vital of gifts.  And this is most transparent when he talks of his pigeons, which he houses in coops, and has done so since his teenage years.  He said he loves them (and I paraphrase) because they don’t ask him for anything…for things, for money….they just are his friends, pure and simple.  It is the draw of most pets – their unconditional love – that Tyson needed, wanted.  His connection to his pigeons is real….and honest.  He gets what he needs from them – acceptance and affection without asking anything in return.

It’s the greatest of lessons….to understand that we are ALL human…every last one of us.  We are ALL desirous of love and acceptance.  It is a human necessity to be cared about and cared for.  It is what drives each and every action….deep, deep down.  It is this need to be loved and respected that drove Tyson into the ring…that fueled his rise to the top of his profession…and also toppled his boxing dynasty.  And what a great gift he has been given if he’s truly realizing that he isn’t an animal, a monster or even really a boxer.  That’s what he did, not who he is.  Who he is, is a street-tough kid who fought to stay alive in his dangerous neighborhood and achieved fame and riches because of his fists…but would trade it all for the love and admiration of family and friends….hands down – there is no comparison.