A Weekend in the Big Apple

Today’s newsletter comes to you live from New York City, where I’ve spent a couple of days before heading down to Washington DC on an Amtrak train a little later to cover the King’s State visit for LBC. My shows on Monday and Tuesday will be coming from Simon Marks’s FSN studios. Washington has always been one of my favourite cities in the world. It knocks spots of New York, which I have to admit I don’t really like. Anyone who thinks New York is superior to London in any way has a screw loose. The congestion is far worse. It’s dirtier. The architecture is awful. Admittedly, I didn’t feel unsake, but then again, I don’t in London. I guess it didn’t help that it rained the whole day yesterday.

We arrived on Friday lunchtime and things did not get off to a good start which the friend who I am traveling with was apprehended at immigration. He was marched off to be interrogated with people who were sitting there in handcuffs, some in tears. It turned out to be over an unpaid speeding ticket from 2019 and was informed that if he didn’t pay the outstanding $192 he would be arrested and detained. His credit card came our quicker than you can say Jack Daniels. He was then nearly sick in the yellow cab driving us from the airport to our hotel on Times Square.

We went out for an insanely expensive dinner at a steakhouse called Frankie and Johnnie’s, just off Times Square. It was a bit empty, but given the prices, I could understand why, even though the menu was superb and the food excellent. I had a steak so big, I couldn’t finish it.

To be honest we were both so knackered we just went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Yesterday we went to Smithfield’s bar to watch West Ham v Everton with NYC Hammers, and was reunited with my friend of 34 years, Daniel Forrester. We met in 1992 when he was interning with Patrick Thompson, the Norwich North MP I worked for in 1980s. And we’ve been best friends ever since. I got a bit emotional! All was well, as West Ham scraped a valuable three points.

He then took us to Thomas Jefferson’s birthplace, which is a now a museum and we ended up in a store/restaurant called ‘Eately’ which sold all sorts of Italian food, and we wiled away the afternoon with some great conversation. We hadn’t seen each other for 14 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do, but we picked up as if the fourteen years hadn’t happened. That’s what true friends can do.

In the evening we went to see CHESS at the Imperial Theatre. It’s about the 12th time I’ve seen it, and I will do a review of it on there when I’ve got time during the week.

When we got back to the hotel I found out about the events at the White House Correspondents Dinner, an event which had I not gone to New York first, I might have been at! I did a love hit on LBC at 3.45am UK time with James Hansen.

I’m really looking forward to being back in Washington this evening and meeting up with my former Total Politics colleague and friend, TV’s Shane Greer tomorrow evening after the show.

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