One day, I was sitting around brainstorming with myself (somebody had to) and I suddenly wondered: What makes a discerning New Yorker? Or, rather, what makes a New Yorker discerning?
Is it money? Couldn’t hurt. Birthright? Possibly. Does it take years of transplanted living to become “properly” discerning? It might. Is it frequenting only the “right neighborhoods” and the “right establishments” with the “right people?” And just what and who are those anyway? And is everyone discerning? Maybe just by virtue of being a New Yorker at all is, itself, discerning? Or … Is it having a priceless Al Hirschfeld drawing of oneself? I mean anyone can own a Hirschfeld of a celebrity, but to be one of the great unwashed and be immortalized by the late icon himself? Now if that doesn’t make a true-blue, discerning New Yorker, I don’t know what does.
And yet, if I can direct my fawning hand away from my deserving back for just a moment … Despite my pride and joy, I am not quite satisfied with that (not altogether) facile conclusion. I do, though, believe there may be only one real way to find out … and I am definitely going to need your help.
Just as with New York City (and my own life here for more than three decades), I can only imagine that DISCERNING® will forever be a work in progress. Changing, expanding, challenging, amusing, irritating, surmising, critiquing, and bestowing its caveats and benedictions like so many beneficent coins tossed amongst the ancient throngs. (Boy, is it me, or has the light gone awfully purple in here?) What I can say for certain, however, is that DISCERNING® will not just be seeking out interesting answers, but endeavoring to seek out interesting questions. And that’s where you come in.
Thank you for joining me in this adventure. I am truly looking forward to going places with you, and growing … together.
With New York wishes,
Pamela L Berman
Publisher
