Memorial Day in New York

Memorial Day is the best holiday weekend in New York. It is not so much that people empty out of the city, although that does happen. But it's not like those left disappear. They pack the brunch places, barbecue in the parks (riding the bike on Monday through the Latino sections on the trail along the Hudson was tortuous with the numbers and, even more, the numbers that let their two year and younger children wander on the path while they chat away with their object of flirtation) or just spill out into the parks. But the difference really is the change in traffic volume. Streets are as deserted as they ever get in New York. And those people remaining again, they move differently as they flood into the streets, restaurants, and parks. There is no rushing pressure, no hassled or worn faces. Summer has now yet broiled us down. It's an emergence after winter -- particularly this year with the very cool April and May --, a stretching and a civic languor. It's a brief couple of days when New York is not quite New York.