Thunderstorm in NYC

Everything New York City does is crazy.
From the garishly beautiful bright lights of Times Square to the young man with sunglasses and a jaunty hat who serenaded me with his guitar whilst I ate my lunch today, through to the size of all their portions to the clash of cultures in peaceful harmony in East Village and the flow of aggressive creativity in Brooklyn, everything that goes on in NYC edges towards the extreme and mildly insane.

I am constantly surprised by the craziness of the city, and the way in which it is like no where else I have ever been. Everyone says it, but it is so true; New York can't really be described and the first time you visit is certainly special.

So of course, when it rains in NYC it clearly doesn't just rain.
Today the oppressive heat was (partly) broken by the biggest thunderstorm I have ever seen. From the 25th floor of Hearst Tower I watched it rage over the city, with strikes of lightning scarring the skyline with graphic intensity. It was terrifying, but also one of the most amazing things I've seen in New York so far.
It wasn't just the strength of the storm that made it incredible, although that really was extraordinary, but also how long it went on for. It started about an hour after I returned from lunch, and was still raging by the time I walked home. I love how extreme weather makes people come together, even in New York, where they're used to extremes. I looked after the bags of a highly groomed woman in the shelter of Hearst Tower whilst she ran to see if her car had arrived, and laughed with a young black man who caught my eye as we both cursed our wet feet after wading through an ankle deep puddle of warm water in order to cross the road, and chatted happily with a German girl who was querying her choice of white top which had turned entirely see through in the wet.
As ever, it felt just like a film.

The rain made me feel slightly at home, but, as ever, New York did it better; the sudden extravagance and magnitude of the storm's rage can hardly compare to the moderate dampness of London drizzle...