SO, I'm sitting at home thinking of a neighborhood that I've never been to, and it just occurred to me that there isn't a neighborhood that I haven't visited; growing up in New York City makes that much of a difference in ones life.
I won't write a creative narrative about a voyage I had to an un-known neighborhood, but I will write a creative narrative about an ackward experience I once had in a very well-known neighborhood--let's just call it a narrative because it really isn't all that creative.
It was a cold winter day in the Lower East Side and I was walking to my internship, The New York Theatre Workshop. It was a day like no other; I was late to my internship and I had to make a quick stop to grab my bacon egg and cheese on a toasted bun, ketchup on the side and cafe-con-leche from a local bodega. East 4th street was busy as usual with all the Tisch kids dancing to class in their leotards, the hipster with their trendy fall jackets that they love to wear in 10 degree weather and the local junkies begging on the corner for their next fix.
As I turned the corner of the block on this very normal day, I noticed this man in between two parked cars in front of my internship building; again, I didnt make anything of it because the City has it's fair share of wierdos. I walked by and said 'Wassup' in a very cheery New York 'Good Morning' tone. But as I walked by him I noticed something very odd, you see he was reading a newspaper, slouched, with his pants down. It just hit me that this man was taking a dump on a busy street in front of my internship building.
It then occurred to me that this man taking a poop in between two parked cars wasn't the wierd part of this story; the wierd part of this story is that there were people walking by him not surprised that this man was doing the doo-doo in public! In fact, there were people who just smiled!
So as I walked up the stairs and entered my internship building, I couldn't help but stand there and watch this man finish pooping--oh don't worry, the janitor watched along with me.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
248th and Broadway by Devon McFadden
Three friends
Walking up the street
Past diners
Up hill after hill
My legs are killing me.
No one speaks
We just walk
Past restaurants
And a screaming baby
Girl 1 lights a cigarette
And I wonder
Is she happy?
A man yells
Want to get high?
But we walk by
No one even looks up
Girl 2 trips on a step
And I wonder
Is she happy?
On the subway
We squeeze ourselves in
And a man screams
About humans
And machines
But no one even looks up
He yells at me
They’re going to get you!
And I wonder
Is he happy?
We get off
And sit in a bar
Full of people
Looking for something
They’re not gonna find.
Conversations overlapping
But no eye contact
Millions of people
And no one connects
8 million people
But no one touches
A barrier between
You and everyone
And I wonder
Are any of these people happy?
A drunk kid
Pukes on the stairs
And some people on the corner
Laugh
Drunk kid
Just sits on the pavement
And I wonder
Is he happy?
Three friends.
Return to their boroughs
Half-hearted goodbyes
With false promises
About fake plans
That no one will keep
In the cab
The lady on the radio
Talks about dreams
And the cab driver
Talks about dreams
Where he flies
But it’s never good enough
Cause his arms get tired
Cab driver says sweet dreams
As I close the door
And I wonder
Is he happy?
And I crawl into bed
My whole body sore
And I can’t sleep
Cause it’s too bright
And sirens are blaring
And I lay there and wonder
Am I happy?
And I am.
I’m in the greatest city in the world.
As I walk out my door trying to think of what NYC neighborhood I should visit to complete this assignment I find my self at a lose. I have lived in New York my entire life and have visited most neighborhoods. Should I go to the Bronx where I have spent much time doing community service for the New York foster care system, Brooklyn where it seems all my friends have moved, Queens, lower Manhattan, the West Side or any other corner of the city. I don’t know. As I sit on a stoop a few blocks away from where I have spent most of my life I start to look around at the neighborhood where I grew up, the Upper East Side in a new light.
I look up and watch the doormen dressed in a variety of uniforms opening and closing building doors, and people walk past them almost through them like they don’t exist. They walk back and forth from door to cab or town car opening doors and returning to the building as if they were part of a cuckoo clock. The season start to change before my eyes and the sidewalks are covered with leaves the leaves turn to snow and everything but nothing changes. Park Avenue gets its Christmas time decorations and lights up with a flick of a switch. You can hear the train rumbling towards Grand Central Station filled with morning commuters and again taking them home at night. 86th street like the Time Square of the Upper East Side is always crowded with people. On different corners scaffolding goes up and comes down just to go up again somewhere else. An elderly woman walks by with her husband and her hair died bright blue. A jogger runs past like all the joggers either go to or from the park or the river but this man is running in woman lingerie. As I sit and wonder what neighborhood I should write about I realize there is no place but here. This is my home. This is me.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Penn Station after a storm
There is nothing in the world like Penn Station at rush hour. The rush of people trying to make their trains is like an intricate dance of organized chaos. On Thursday after the storm that ravaged its way through
Greenwhich Village
Hilary Moyler
"Greenwich Village"
Making being in love seem so grand
On that sunny afternoon
I sat their and listened to street cars tune
"Beep Beep" all through the day
People in cars yelling, as if the other person can hear what they say
I sat in awe looking at the view
Thinking there's just so much to do
From Beautiful skyscrapers that take your breath away
To the trendy shops, where you know your gonna have to pay
And Cute parks for kids to play
All the different sights, smells and sounds
Make Greenwich Village my favorite part of town
DUBSTEP SATURDAY'S!
On Saturday September 11th, I found myself in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. There, I engaged in womping, which is a slang term that describes the dancing involved with Dubstep music. Dubstep, a genre of music which has developed into quite a rage amongst electronic music lovers, is growing but has not quite reached its potential yet. Aside from its appearances overseas and its brief presence at MadeEvents' Electric Zoo, in New York City, it is rare to see Dubstep performed live.
Living in New York City has many benefits, one of which happens to be accessibility to upcoming trends in music, fashion, theater, dining, etc. On the second Saturday of every month, Dubstep events are held at popular venues in Brooklyn. The DJ plays only drum and bass based electronic music. On September 11th, the event was held at Coco66, a relatively well known neighborhood spot for good music.
Greenpoint was a lot like the rest of Brooklyn, not many tall buildings and an abundant amount of garages and warehouses. However, the thing that struck me the most was the sense of community that I felt there. As I socialized around the bar, my friends and I discovered that the majority of the attendees were from the neighborhood, and had heard about the concert through the grapevine. Where as myself, who grew up on the Upper East Side, had to look it up on the internet for an unreasonable amount of time. The Upper East Side has become so crowded and so randomized that the sense of community has been lost. I admired Greenpoint for this, and I envied everyone who came together for this momentous occasion. This experience has enlightened me and makes me contemplate a possible move to Brooklyn.
p.s. if anybody wants to go to one of these, either talk to me in class or email me sjacobs@mm.edu . it truly is musical crack.
Soho!!
My friends and I decided to take a little adventure, so we hopped on the subway and got off in Soho. At first we were wandering around aimlessly with a couple pit stops, once to a brand new Chanel store and then to a MoMA store. We had fun playing with all the various and honestly somewhat useless items in MoMA (honestly who needs a taco shaped wallet) and realized we needed some food, fast. Brian, our tech guy, searched in his phone for a cheap place to eat. We ended up getting lost several times and we finally reached the Mexican restaurant we were searching for to discover it was a sketchy street stand. But we walked one more block and stumbled upon Cafe Select, a restaurant with authentic German food and a ton of German memorabilia, plus it was cheap! It was amazing because my roommate is from Holland and German food is something she is used to and she really enjoyed it. Plus we all got to try stuff we had never even heard of before. The afternoon just reminded me what makes New York so unique.
Kelly Brannan
Rochdale Village: Where the Heart Is
Jamacia. Queens. Suburia in the city.
Semi-legal two dollar vans.
Jamacian accents yell "Rosedale" in the midnight sky.
Wooden fences, zig-zag pathways.
The baseball field, the basketball court, tennis balls flying high.
Hip-hop playing from the terrace floors.
The swing and sprinkler sets bring back childhood memories.
Walk a little further past the community garden and a silihuette catches your eye.
The gazebo: massive, brown, beautiful like a person of its own
Its own stories to tell, its own soul, its own memories.
Beyond the flowers, yeah you know the ones, the ones you blow on to make a wish.
Beyond the sunflowers, beyond the edge of the world almost you can see it.
The green benches underneath where you sit and think: sometimes a little too much about the world.
My world, THE world, your world, our world.
That big brown gazebo has seen it all.
The annual festival: the gospel chior, the dance troupe, the african jewelry
The fried fish patties, the baked goods, the passing people.
ALL....NEAR...THE BIG BROWN GAZEBO
Union Square!
Union Square is one of the populist area in New York City. It is very diverse and full of many cultures, and trends. Many people come to union square to socialize, shop, and tour. New York University is spreaded throughout Union Square and the lower east side. I enjoy going to Union Square because it's full of various types of people and entertainment. You would always find some form of entertainment happening. Usually when I go to Union Square it's because I am going to visit my friend who dorms around Union. The night life there is amazing! There is always something to look forward to. As mentioned earlier , Union Square is very popular, and is one of the best places I enjoy being!
Roosevelt Island
Shutter Island, also known as Roosevelt Island, is a pretty spooky place. I had never been there until just recently because my boyfriend lives there now. Maybe I am being a bit too mean with calling it Shutter Island but it kind of scared me! From the minute I got out of the subway, I knew I was in a very different place. It's so weird because it is so close to Manhattan but a completely different world. There are few people living on the island, so it's way less cluttered which is really nice. It's just a little too dead for my taste. I had to wake up early in the morning the next day to leave and come back to the city for work and it was a crazy experience. I was up at about 5 in the morning and I did not see one single person on the way to the subway. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON! It was the weirdest feeling. Writing about the subway also reminded me of just how awful it is to actually get to or from Roosevelt . The only way to get there by subway is on the F train. The F train is literally located in hell. You go down three very long flights of escalators down to the subway. It is scorching hot and everyone is being cooked alive. Another way to get to Roosevelt Island is with the tram on 59th St. Too bad the tram has been down since early this year because it is being repaired. It was supposed to be complete by August but it is now September. The saddest part about this whole tram situation is that the actual tram machines are in a building right next to my boyfriends dorm and they have not yet been touched. The tram really makes it a whole lot easier to get to and from the island but it is currently down and will be down for a while..
Now, as you have been reading this, you have probably come to the conclusion that I am a very negative person and just mean but I'm really not. I just wouldn't be able to live on that island for more than a week. It's quiet a lot of work and it would be a huge tease! You can see a view of the city that is to die for but just reminds you that you aren't in the city! It did make me sit and really have a moment of awe for the city. I realized just how much I love the city I live in and how I get antsy or anxious just from being a way from it for even a few hours. But like I said they are VERY different places. There is no store or any kind of place that is open past 12 on Roosevelt Island. There is one chinese takeout and it's pretty good but once again, there is only ONE.
I really respect people who do live on Roosevelt Island for all the trouble they have to go through each day. Like, my boyfriend for instance, his life is in this city but his bed is on Roosevelt. It sucks. There is no better or more proper way of putting that. It just sucks. He has to go through about an hour and a half to two hours of traveling every single day.
So, I will end with a message(warning) to the freshmen in this writing class who have the option of living on Roosevelt next year, DONT DO IT. Yes, the living spaces are incredible but that is the ONLY upside.
I'm happy in the city and would not want to live anywhere else, even if it is nearby. Nothing can compare to this place.
-Michelle Rinehart
Fashion's Night Out 2010
As a fashion lover and a New Yorker I am embarrassed to say that I have never really gone to SoHo before. When I had first heard of plans for Fashion’s Night Out I was excited, not only to shop but to also maybe bump into models and celebrities. Getting ready for the night was the most difficult part, so many clothes, so many shoes and not really enough time to decide what I would have liked to wear. When I had finally made up my mind I was wearing, it was time to go. With no time to waste, I hurried to 59th Street to take the N to Prince Street.
Walking up the stairs to street level, I could hear tons and tons of people. Everything seemed so alive, and I could understand why. At this point I could not understand why I had never visited SoHo before because in this one little area was all of my favorite stores. I felt like a kid in a candy store, every time I entered a different store, whether it was Guess, Prada, or Armani. Free things also make every experience much more exciting, so when I was handed free drinks and food at every single store, I felt kind of special. The Flashing lights from cameras also add to the excitement of the night. Wearing my best clothes, getting my picture taken and dancing along with numerous amounts of people can make you feel like you are someone, someone important that is.
Entering Guess by Marciano made Fashion’s Night Out a night to never forget. I bought a fabulous shirt here, after trying on way too many things. Along with the receipt and a bag of free things such as makeup, nail polish and hair product, I was handed just a plain black shirt and was told to put it on by the cashier. After doing so I was sent to the front of the store where my plain t-shirt would become much more than just that. I stood on a platform, watched by all whom entered the store as my shirt was cut and ripped. Feeling transformed I thanked the artist and headed for the door with all my bags in hand. I left the store a happy girl, with a ripped shirt, a new shirt and new love for SoHo.
--Ariana Alter
Southern Boulevard
A foreign place.
A place away from Manhattan,
the skyscrapers and the tourists.
The people here simply walk,
as if aimlessly.
Just as anywhere in New York,
everyone has a place to go.
The movement is always constant.
Never thought South Bronx would look this lively
on this rainy Monday afternoon.
Countless cars and buses line the streets as I
search for what is beneath the surface
of the life of this place.
The elevated subway platform is at the center
between the sky and the streets, carrying
different people to different destinations.
As I depart from Southern Boulevard
I immediately see graffiti lining on the border
of a blank billboard.
The colorful artwork stands out amidst the gloominess,
taking after all of the people in their desire to belong.
- Marianne Casas
A place away from Manhattan,
the skyscrapers and the tourists.
The people here simply walk,
as if aimlessly.
Just as anywhere in New York,
everyone has a place to go.
The movement is always constant.
Never thought South Bronx would look this lively
on this rainy Monday afternoon.
Countless cars and buses line the streets as I
search for what is beneath the surface
of the life of this place.
The elevated subway platform is at the center
between the sky and the streets, carrying
different people to different destinations.
As I depart from Southern Boulevard
I immediately see graffiti lining on the border
of a blank billboard.
The colorful artwork stands out amidst the gloominess,
taking after all of the people in their desire to belong.
- Marianne Casas
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Staten Island Ferry
"Your Heaven"
4pm
The afternoon rush
It's that time
Hold on to your bags, phones, food
Prepare for the bustling line
We're all going the same way
In those few minutes we're one
While the young teens run for the seats you're after
I decide to stand with you in the sun
While elderly reminisce on their youth
Newly weds, young lovers embrace, no care for the audience
Children forget safety, run around as they always do
I befriend nature, soaking it in
I watch your hair blow, as we pick up speed
Reaching out to the wave as if its a need
This is your moment, your little piece of heaven
How lucky I am to share it
Your eyes closed, you only want to hear
the secret of the waves, like a seashell held to your ear
All chaos is silenced, at least in your mind
You don't notice the crowd, me, or the time
Smell of salt awakens your senses,
like when the bomb drops near the soldier in the trenches
You grab hold of me, as if to own it,
but its your time, your heaven, your moment
The alarm goes off
Everything stops
Your hair falls flat
Smile drops
You ask 'is it over'
I don't wanna reply
My silence answers you
Then you cry
Workers yell 'everybody off'
I grab your hand
We quickly walk
You're back now
home
20 minutes from Your Heaven
Written by,
Chelsea Norton
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