Written by Yvonne Vavra
We are cute. Officially quite, confirmed by a real estate agent. Recent surveys have agreed that nowhere in the country is spring as beautiful as the Upper West Side, especially the Central Park area. Cherry blossoms and magnolias bloom in happy pink hues in front of the grand apartment complexes of Central Park West, making the entire scene seem like a piece of art. By any reasonable standard, this is beauty.
we knew. No attorney’s verdict was necessary. Of course, on stressful days, it’s easy to miss what’s around you. But the beauty of the Upper West Side cannot be ignored. Especially in spring, when the long lights, explosions of color, and warm air play with our hormones, suddenly every corner glows. We like popping out into our neighborhoods, noticing new things, walking around some more, and getting a little crazy about it all. I love the Upper West Side, knee-deep in muddy puddles with hail falling from the sides. But in the spring, I really want to hug my brownstone.
However, there are many different types of beauty. Sometimes it feels downright cruel. When I’m feeling down, dragging my feet, and slumping, the Upper West Side looks at me like, “Really?” Are you going to writhe in front of grand architecture as if nothing happened, in a neighborhood that has almost accidental access to perhaps the world’s most beloved urban park? Oh, your life is so hard, isn’t it?
Ridicule is bearable, but guilt is even more difficult to bear. I live in the most beautiful surroundings imaginable. If you could imagine it in your dreams, it would be exactly like this. The same vibe as Columbus Avenue in the ’80s, the same breathtaking Dorington Building and its gorgeous architecture, the same Broadway hustle and bustle, the same dogs sniffing around. And I make sure to have not one but two iconic parks, and the river that started this whole city.
Yet sometimes I manage to focus on the damp walls of the dark room inside my brain. It feels silly to stay there instead of being here under the cherry tree. It seems easy to stay happy on the Upper West Side. It’s bad.
Of course, life isn’t easy, and beauty alone usually doesn’t solve anything. But no matter where you stand, it can give you a little lift.
Still, if you’d like to join me, I’d like to talk a little longer about the burden of beauty. I think it feels a little tingly. As expected, last week was tough. I put on my summer dress on Wednesday and was back in my winter puffer on Thursday, but I didn’t feel any better.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper into the tragedy that will befall you “one day.” I remember when these streets were my “one day”. I thought that if I could live in this beautiful, uplifting environment on the Upper West Side, a whole new person would come out of me and I would feel different. But nearly a decade later, the evidence has emerged. Even though I am living in the most wonderful version of things, everything still feels as incomplete as ever. I’m still just me, damp room and all. And I have nowhere to go. Because, by some inexplicable stroke of cosmic luck, I’m already exactly where I want to be. Stuck.
Now that we’ve proven that Upper West Side beauty can send you spiraling, and we’ve all had a good laugh by filing it as “that stupid columnist needs a new purpose in life,” let’s get back to reality and talk about real beauty. Perhaps most of all, it’s found in places that don’t appear in coffee table books but define character. Love grows when we are invited to see the vulnerable, raw, less-picture-perfect side of someone or our neighbors.
My favorite is the Upper Dollar Shop on Amsterdam Avenue. Broom sets, flower pots, suitcases, colorful buckets, walking sticks, and more are lined up at the storefront. I love Broadway medians, and even though they often don’t look very pretty, I appreciate that they try to be that way. I love seeing the roots of old street trees break through the sidewalk, and I’m curious to see what’s going on. I enjoy every time I see a stationery store on the Upper West Side. Because I know they have a treasure trove of random pens that look like they survived the disco era.
The most beautiful thing about spring on the Upper West Side is that it brings us all together. Plenty of cafes, parks, squares and other public spaces give us room to linger, socialize, chat and enjoy life together. Not all regions are so lucky. Many parts of the city are designed more for passing through than for enjoying. This weekend, may your only burden be finding an empty seat to find something beautiful you never noticed before, and may you leave with the urge to hug your brownstone.
Yvonne Vavra is a magazine writer and author of the German-language book 111 Gründe New York zu lieben (111 Reasons to Love New York). The Berlin native has been an Upper West Sider since the 1990s (thank you, Nora Ephron). I came to New York in 2010 and seven years later made my dream come true on the Upper West Side. Since then, she has been walking around the neighborhood like crazy.
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