The Paige Awards: The NYC Experience For Out Of Towners

By: Paige Vigil (University of Minnesota)

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This past Sunday night was the premiere of the 64th annual Tony awards. The award show took place at Radio City Music hall, which is ten blocks away from my Manhattan apartment. Having recently moved to New York, I have consciously been compiling lists of locations and/or things I have fallen in love with and been repulsed by. I moved to New York to accept an internship with MTV and will be returning in August to finish school at the University of Minnesota. I have no doubt that the June Paige awards will fall short in comparison to the August Paige awards list I will make before I leave. However, here it goes…                    

Best Burrow: Greenwich. Greenwich is home to the real-life Carrie Bradshaw and also the most beautiful burrow of New York City. It has an old village feel in the middle the big city. Fantastic bars and eateries to dine in surround it, only adding to its magnificence.

Best Bar: Tortilla Flats. Tortilla flats has Bingo on Monday nights and hula-hooping on Wednesday nights. As a proud hula-hooping champion, I appoint this best New York Bar because of it’s fun atmosphere and $30 margarita pitchers.

Best Gay Bar: No doubt about it; there are just as many fabulous gay bars in New York as there are straight bars. The best gay bar in New York is Boxers. The mascot is a fierce looking bulldog in a cleverly, funny position. The bar has a sports-like atmosphere, shirtless men and great drink prices.

Best Atmosphere: Shameless Plug here….Lucy’s Cantina Royale. The eatery is also home of one of my many jobs. I waitress at Lucy’s, but the reason I decided to work here is because of the vibe of the restaurant. The cantina is a beautiful contradiction with its surfer vibe in the middle of midtown. The women are all dressed scantily clad and the Mexican-style cuisine is addictive.

Worst Security Location: The Mcdonalds on 34th and 8th has the most over-paid security guard. Granted, he is probably paid very little. However, he would rather flirt with women and eat his cheeseburger than help a woman who lost her purse. Walk a few more blocks to the Times Square location for better service.

Worst Surprise: I get the same horrible surprise almost daily. About every third block in New York, I get a 10-second sniff of something that could only be described as three-day-old, unwashed ass that has been rubbed with the lard of Mcdonalds sausages.

Worst True-Tourist Stereotype: I see tourists everyday, while walking to work in Times Square. The thing I have grown to hate most about New York are the tourists that invade it and sadly, about a month ago, I was one of them. It is true everyone in New York is always in a hurry and that is because they can never get anywhere because the tourists crowd the streets, moving along like baby turtles blockading the paths of the New Yorkers. We look pissed because we can’t get to work because the typical tourist is taking pictures of the big buildings and bright lights.

I have only lived in the big apple for three weeks now and will probably giggle at reading my own opinions come August. Above is my opinion as an outsider looking in, yet come August, I’ll be an insider looking out.

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