New York Diary
by our Patron, Lord Macdonald
My grandson Dylan has a passion for New York. He also has generalised dystonia. Our challenge was to leave behind his normal support systems and find ways to explore Manhattan. Dylan and his father Paul started their search months ago on the internet. With a few clicks they found Silverjet, one of the new business class carriers flying out of London. Silverjet seats all convert to flat beds; their flights take only a hundred or so passengers and at £500 each way are much cheaper than business class on scheduled airlines.
Another advantage is their Silverjet terminal at Luton where Dylan could drop off right outside the door, check in and speed with his wheelchair through security with no Heathrow hassle. The on-board arrangements were spacious and the in-flight entertainment made time fly for Dylan on the seven hour flight.
At Newark airport a wheelchair attendant whisked us through the immigration queues, helped with the luggage and dropped us at the Silverjet lounge just next to our taxi pick-up point. By mid afternoon we were in our hotel room on the 43rd floor. Brilliant!
Manhattan is like nowhere else with its breathtaking skyline and bustling canyons full of yellow cabs. Dylan found New Yorkers friendly, funny and generally helpful – special meal requests were ‘not a problem’. We wheeled through the grid-pattern streets with sat-nav precision to take in all the sights. Wheelchair access to the top of the Rockefeller Centre and in the Museum of Modern Art was excellent.
We also rickshawed through Central Park, sailed around the Statue of Liberty, helicoptered up the Hudson river and took a limo tour through Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Wall Street and over the bridge to Brooklyn.
With world leaders in town for the United Nations, a particular thrill for Dylan was to find our hotel swarming with secret service agents talking into their lapels.
As a precaution we had taken the full range of medication for dystonia and cerebral palsy, plus letters from Dylan’s doctors to consultants in New York should the need arise. Fortunately it did not. However, after we checked in at Newark for the flight back, US Customs must have broken open his suitcase for a closer look at his stash of drugs. Back in London, the damaged suitcase emerged swathed in security tape with a polite apology pasted on. For Dylan it was just a final memorable event in an unforgettable trip.