There's an urban pot of gold 'neath the mountains and beside the sea. It's called the night, New York-style.
by Michael Moriarty Vancouver Sun
This is the story of two cities. My cities. New York and Vancouver. At four years of age, on the floor of my father's living room, I used to hear the music of Art Tatum and George Gershwin. While those divine chords and melodies floated into my ears, I stared at the covers of the record albums that brought these musical angels into my life.
They all had the skyline of Manhattan on them. And it was always night. The beauty of those lights against a pitch black sky, piled upon one another like the ascending chords of the jazz masters.
I had a few glimpses of the metropolis in my teens and finally made Manhattan my home when I was 22. Many enlightened and dark dramas dragged me from it a few times but, over-all, I lived there happily for 30 years. Then I left my city because of a very bad mayor: Rudolph Giuliani. The details of his destruction of the human centre of that city, including the disneyfication of Times Square, are well known.
I don't want the people of Vancouver to suffer through the same mistake -- destroying the city's humanity. I'm optimistic they won't: I believe Vancouver can be the new New York City -- the classic pre-Giuliani metropolis -- of this millennium.
The world needs a great city to replace Manhattan -- that island and four boroughs that have, perhaps irretrievably, lost their moral centre.
In New York, I lived under four good mayors -- Robert Wagner, John Lindsay, Ed Koch and David Dinkins. They didn't have to be great mayors to keep the city great: They just had to be good men. Then came the "miracle-working" (alleged lower crime rates and cleaning up the city) of Giuliani. Alas, if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is. I won't dwell on the particulars, but a great city lost its soul under his regime.
Happily, Vancouver is on the edge of a renaissance that may herald urban greatness. The thrilling and inspiring addition to this city of the people of Hong Kong is just the beginning. Their arrival not only kept Vancouver out of the last big recession but contributed cultural and social muscle. Now, wonderful things have happened in Alberta, too. Premier Ralph Klein, former mayor of Calgary, had a great deal to do with it. However, many say the oil boom explains most of that province's prosperity.
Well, there is a big oil well sitting right in front of Vancouver eyes and you only have to see it. It is called the Night.
The most profound reason for people jamming themselves together in high-rises and office buildings is to create a possibly and limitlessly exciting night. Daytime in a city is a waiting period.
Sure, you can pass time during daylight in a cafe or a museum -- but what we all look forward to is plying the night to be entertained at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre or thrilled by one of North America's great symphony orchestras at the Orpheum. Then, perhaps, dining in one of the continent's best restaurants, followed by dancing, and then whiling away the early hours at a jazz club.
By three in the morning, you'll want to hear the pianist play a classic torch song at very slow speed so you can, perhaps, weep in your drink over lost loves -- or even for a lost New York.
This is what a city is for. If Vancouver sends that message to the world, the world will look here for the new urban Mecca. The place will hum. When the city explodes in population, just hold your purse a little tighter and haggle about the price of everything. That's half the fun.
Like in all great cities, we will more than ever worship the night. This is the big time. We have the government and the infrastructure -- the city is ready.
We just await the momentum from Vancouver's citizens. Grab the oil. Grab the night.The other day I saw a small procession of the fire department down Burrard. There were two modern fire trucks and a couple of old but charming fire truck antiques. On the side of the antiques was written: BYTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Well, bye, town! Hello, city!
Michael Moriarty is an actor living in Vancouver. While in New York, he played a leading role in the television series, Law and Order.