We may not be married but I love New York more than ever

A few days ago we were supposed to be married and going on our honeymoon, but it’s not all bad, the weather in New York in September is amazing, writes Holly Baxter

(AFP via Getty Images)

I wasn’t supposed to be in New York right now. A couple of days ago was my original intended wedding day, which has now been deferred to May 2021. “Happy wedding day,” I said to my still-fiancé, when we rolled out of bed to start another normal day at work.

“Happy wedding day,” he said, yawning as he poured some boiling water into his coffee pot and started measuring out some chia seeds for a smoothie (yes, he is that guy).

Then, of course, we sat down, logged into our digital workspaces, and carried on. The next morning, my phone pinged to remind me to catch our flight to our now-cancelled honeymoon. Guess it didn’t get the memo. It was strange to imagine that alternate universe in which I had just walked down the aisle, wearing the unaltered wedding dress I have rolled up and gathering dust in my friend’s closet, surrounded by our unmasked friends and family who would hug us, eat beside us and generally share germs with us without a care in the world. And to then get on a packed flight to southeast Asia? Perish the thought!

Of course it’s poignant that none of our carefully-made plans came to fruition, even if we’re confident everything will happen next year on a slightly different schedule. Nevertheless, there is reason to be happy we’re still in NYC right now, and it goes back to that most British of conversation topics: the weather.

September is the best month of the year in New York, and it’s mainly because of schadenfreude. While all my British friends (so, about 90 per cent of my friends) are now posting pictures of themselves on social media dressed in jumpers and reclining under blankets indoors, I still have my air conditioning on full blast and dine outdoors into the evening in 30C heat. As the crazy desert heat of full August midsummer dissipates, we’re left with blue skies, shorts-and-T-shirts weather of just above 25C, and the promise of a mild and beautiful October to come. When November hits, we’ll start putting on our serious faces and getting the thermal underwear out of storage (seriously, I have more than one pair), but for now, we get to enjoy the best weather of any city on earth.

Continuing our habit of enjoying the tourist traps of New York while the actual tourists stayed away, E and I went to the High Line to celebrate our non-wedding day. Despite the one-way stickers and the timed entrances, it was still a wonderful experience – we could mosey through the abandoned railroad tracks with plants growing between them and admire the views of Manhattan’s best street art without jostling up against a single person. For half an hour, we sat in the sunshine alone on a huge structure made for 20 people and watched an average of two New Yorkers pass every 10 minutes. On the same day, my friend updated his Instagram with pictures of a deserted (and just-reopened) Museum of Modern Art, with Van Gogh’s Starry Night standing in an empty room, unobscured by the usual thousand heads of eager international travellers. Throughout Manhattan, the usual street sellers who would be hawking those ubiquitous “I <3 NY” T-shirts now sell the same ones refashioned for residents of the city, which now read “I <3 NY MORE THAN EVER”.

Yes, September is a beautiful month and New York is a beautiful city. Being trapped here, in a summer that hasn’t yet ended, is not too much of a hardship. We may have to wait a little longer to start our lives as a married couple – but given the circumstances, there’s no place on earth I’d rather be.