President’s on Broadway!
WELCOME TO THE COLUMN…NEW YORK CITY CONNECTION..!
What a better way to begin the section than with a visit you don’t see every day: no more, no less than Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America himself, went for a walk to the Big Apple! Not to attend an international summit at the United Nations, or meeting a high level dignitary… but to enjoy a genuine Broadway musical show! Specifically he went with his family last Saturday July 18th to see Hamilton, the well-known hip-hop production inspired by the life and feats of the Founding Father and Treasure Secretary Alexander Hamilton. A perfect election (pun intended!) for the most influent political figure alive, no doubt! The expected security deployment previous to Obama’s arrival completely crammed some of the most iconic streets of Times Square, with hundreds of people (myself included!) gathering the place camera-in-hand with the hope of grasp, even briefly, the face of the most powerful man in the free world. Luckily, the event took place without any incident, and it looks like the President was delighted with the show.
Bastille Day celebration: savoir faire NYC style
Less distinguished, but equally crowded (more crowded, actually!) was the massive celebration of Bastille Day, a vibrant feast to French culture and gastronomy that during Sunday July 12th filled with crepes, macarons, baguettes and other gauls delicatessen 60th St. along Fifth, Madison and Park Avenues. Live music, succulent raffles, freebies and a wide variety of choices to satisfy hunger in any of the available booths or in Central Park nearby. Vive la France!
An alligator in Manhattan!
To put a cherry on the top, we have one of these stories that seem drawn from popular folklore, as well-known 
as apparently impossible. After all, who hasn’t heard occasionally about the mythic crocodiles that roam New York City’s sewage system? The city’s underground alligators are one of the most appealing and worldwide known urban legends, but, as any New Yorker already knows, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. That was precisely the case of the inhabitants of the remote neighborhood of Inwood, in northern Manhattan, who found on July 23rd a 2 feet long alligator roaming freely in the intersection between 205th St. with 9th Avenue. Sadly, life in the big city proved to be too much for the unfortunate animal, which died a few hours later in spite of the attempts to integrate it in an proper environment and leaving us with the unsettling enigma of it’s own origin.
That’s all folks, see you soon
Javier Peinado