I've been spending some time off Staten Island lately. Many of you who read this...all 4 of you know how much I enjoy and love this city. It's hard to explain exactly why I do...I don't suppose there is one word, nay seven words that can explain why and how much I love this town...but there are examples.

Only in New York City will you see some guy dressed in just cowboy boots, briefs and a cowboy hat entertaining the masses in any weather. And only in New York City will he actually make sense and make a crappy day good.

Only in New York City will you see 55,000 screaming fans go from cheering for a baseball team to cheering for an insane fat man running down a stadium staircase.

Only in New York City would you find a museum devoted to mass transit and its history....in an old subway station.

Only in New York City will you get away with naming a town Flushing and not have to many jokes made about it.

Only in New York City will you run into an old friend...and another...and another...and another, and actually enjoy it, because it's one of those things that "only happens in New York."

Even before Rudy became mayor, people from all over loved this city. Some people may say they don't like it, some may be afraid of it, but for a long, long, lonnnng time now, we have always welcomed everyone with open arms (or in John Rockers case open fists.)

Some may not like to admit it, but they are proud of this place. I sure as hell am. This is why I enjoy showing it off. This summer i'm going to be showing more people around town then I ever have before, and for some unexplainable reason...i'm giddy as hell about the thought of it. I secretly love seeing the awe and wonder on peoples faces when they get off the subway in Times Square.

I love smelling the New York City air, however bad it may be while riding the Staten Island Ferry. And I love seeing people look over at the Verrazanno, jaws to the floor at how long it is.

And, cause it's me and I can't call this an offical blog post without someway mentioning my guys...I love seeing people wave at firefighters and ask for pictures. Cause you know that those outta towners...when they go home, they'll tell their friends and realitives, "I met a New York City Firefighter."

I got a friend in Texas, who told me she has a wall of New York City stuff. Another friend in Alaska, who is probably the most New Yorkiest Alaskan in the state. My friend Joe, though he may go to school in Pennslyvannia, has a sticker on the back window of his car that says, "PA Plate, NYC Driver", just to let everyone know that he is a pride Yankee, A born and bred New Yawkah.

New York City is...it's something magical. It may be a sauna right now, and it might as well be the tundra in January, but even at those times there are certain things that make it something to see...be it the helpful guys on the street ready to give you an umbrealla in the middle of a summer thunderstorm(even though theyre usually cheap and last 10 mins, but it really is the thought that counts here, just go with me.), or the random stranger who will help you push your car out of a winter snowdrift...it's the spirit of the city that makes it what it is.

Some say that our post 9/11 caring and thoughtfullness has gone. It hasn't...it's always been there, before and after that September day. Remember the blackout of 2003? The unbearable heat? The hours of darkness? Ok...now do you remember that stranger who helped you out of a dark subway tunnel? That was a New Yorker. Remember that really good movie you saw on your first date? The one where Meg Ryan was having a moment in the diner? That was Katz's deli in Manhattan.

We do things our own way here, we're more unique then unique. It's hard to sum up in words why I love New York City....but I think I just began trying.