My most unforgettable and craziest shopping memory in New York City took place on a cool November evening in 1965. I had just left work in the garment district of the city and was feeling very proud of myself because my plan was to start my Christmas shopping early for once in my life. I walked a few blocks to the Gimbels Department Store that was located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Thirty Third Street. Gimbels was Macy s biggest competitor in those days and their sales were legendary, especially their famous basement bargains.
As soon as I headed into the main floor, which was already crowded with evening shoppers, I took the escalator up to the ladies lingerie department where I intended to purchase some sleepwear for my best friend. The saleslady, as they were called back then, was not very helpful and after showing me one or two lacy nightgowns that had been displayed in a glass showcase, I realized that these were not quite the sleepwear I had in mind. Turning around to leave, I decided to take the elevator back down to the main floor instead of riding the escalator. This turned out to be a momentous decision.
When we reached the street level, the elevator operator opened the doors and announced the main floor (yes, they had human operators, no push buttons, in those days). As I stepped out, the lights went out and the entire building was enveloped in total blackness. I heard people calling for help because some riders on the escalator had fallen when it jerked to a stop as the power failed. I didn’t know it at the time but the entire Northeast area of the United States and a great deal of Canada had been blacked out. It became known as the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965.
It took a little while before the store personnel gathered their resources and flashlights to help us customers get our bearings. Finally, they began to escort us to the outside doors. For an instant I hoped that the store would let us spend the night in their bedding department, since there was no transport available. I thought that my walk home to Seventy Second Street and First Avenue might be fraught with danger, what with looting, rioting, etc. Amazingly, there was very little crime that night.
The worst part of my shopping experience, besides not having bought any Christmas presents, was the walk up seventeen flights of stairs after walking home.
It was the hottest day in August of 2003. My mom, my brother, and I had just gotten off the bus; cart in my hand ready for our first shopping experience in New York City. Then it began to rain. It was not just droplets of rain, but buckets of pouring rain. I head into one store to pick an umbrella and a few wraps for my hair. I was certainly not going to let this ruin my day.
The next shopping adventure came when we went into one of the small vendor stores on Canal Street to look at sunglasses. A sweet old lady came up to me and asked if I wanted to see a Prada purse. I was shocked at her question and before I knew it she had pressed a button and the walls opened to a smaller store. I could not believe what just happened. She actually had fake designer purses behind a wall. It was like a scene out of a movie. I refused her offer. Thankfully my mom and brother were with me at the time or I may have been tempted to indulge in the shopper’s paradise that laid within the store walls.
mom and brother grab a hotdog and chips and water for all of us. We walked a long as we ate and spotted a very cute outfit in the window of a small store. And since I had been relatively unsuccessful so far today, I decided I had to have it. After some time, I convinced my mom to buy me the outfit; she hurried to finish her snack and then entered the store while I happily watched her buy it, content with my mango on a stick. As she was exiting the store I yelled for her to run. Behind us were two young men coming out of the store next to it fighting. It was a close call because a crowd of people were running towards us trying to get away from the fight. We would have been trampled (or at least my little brother).
New York City is one of the liveliest places on Earth. There are a million things to do there. One of the most underrated but 
New York is one of the most popular metros of the world. Name anything and New York has an immense significance in that particular field.