London Tops New York (and forget the rest)

LONDON.

 

GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD.

 

FACT.

 

 

 

I love the man; Boris, that is!

A few weeks before New York Mayor Bloomberg arrives here for an official visit, BJ takes off the gloves for a bare-knuckle welcoming High-Five (and 100 per cent backed by this fan and employee of his).

The rivalry between the two cities, and their supreme protagonists, is a healthy one, and jabs are delivered with good-hearted humour and free of any nastiness. The bouts are supported by the knowledge that, compared with the rest of the world, all other cities can bite the dust we raise.

 

THE MAN in his words:

"I hope I won't be accused of chauvinism if I say that London is the greatest city on earth - the commercial, cultural and artistic capital of the world. We have twice as many bookshops as New York, more theatres, a larger financial sector - and a quarter of that city's murder rate.

We have more museums and more Michelin-starred restaurants than Paris. We have more parks and green space than any other European city. And guess what: it rains more in Rome. In fact, it is officially NOT RAINING in London a stunning 94% of the time.

 

It is a fitting recognition of our historic role in either inventing or codifying just about every human sporting activity that London, in the past few weeks, has become the first city to host the Olympic Games three times."

 

In the next few days I will entertain those who dare to be apprehensive or skeptical with some illuminating comparisons between the two only global cities on the planet. To provoke your gusto I start with some culinary facts.

There are 36 Michelin-starred restaurants in Westminster alone! Teriyaki here is tastier than in Tokyo (according to a jury of Nippon-only members). Overall, Tokyo finishes third: brilliant at Japanese food, and great at everything else too. But half way around the world is a long way to go for sushi that is at par with London's servings.

Second is New York: it's nearly as good as London. Just not quite. And minus points (massive de-merits) for the gross hot dogs and all the other shite served by mobile vendors. Gold for London: from curries and kebabs to haute cuisine and wildly experimental - we do everything, at every price range, very well.

G'day!