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January Talking Meme: My New York City
Jan. 10th, 2014 11:42 pmThis is my third post for the January Talking Meme - and we'll see where this takes me.
January 10: masqthephilospher asked - I'd like to hear about "your" New York City. What your neighborhood is like, where you shop, what sorts of residences and businesses are on the blocks nearby, the feel of the neighborhood, transit, etc. What it's like living in that neighborhood, and other places you like to go in the City as a whole.
NYC believe it or not is the only place that I've deliberately chosen to live in. All the other places that I've lived, were either due to college, study, or family. But NYC I moved to without a job in place. And as of this year, it is now the place that I've lived the longest. 18 years this March. I moved here in 1996. And it has changed through the years in various ways, yet also stayed the same. We've been through a lot together, NYC and I, and as a result, I am a New Yorker, it is in my blood and in my soul. I love and hate it in equal measure. And it will take a lot to get me to move out of it. I believe the place you choose as an adult is the place from whence you came, not the place where you were born and really had no choice in.
At the moment, my New York is cold, rainy and drab and all I want to do is stay in my cozy little apartment. Perhaps that's the best place to start? The word apartment is sort of misleading, makes you think of well an apartment building. Flat may be a better word? It's an one bedroom at the top of a brownstone. Most of the buildings in my area are brownstones, the sort you might see in an old school Martin Scorsese or Woody Allen film or maybe the 1980s films Moonstruck or Do the Right Thing. And depicted in the Cosby Show. It's called a brownstone because of the color, but in reality they are all shades, or rather their entrances are, one has been painted purple, and look more like brick and mortar row townhouses. With big front stoops. There's gardens in front of each, and the streets are lined with trees. There's a huge oak tree in front of my bedroom window. And out my kitchen and living room windows - the view is a pseudo industrial landscape of transit bridges, warehouses, a bus parking lot, construction and cement plant. I can see the F and the G subways meandering their way over the viaduct bridges towards my subway station, and sometimes hear the dull rumble of the cars on the tracks. Yet amidst this rugged landscape of steel and concrete, is also a small pink house situated on top of a warehouse - below, the walls of the warehouse are painted green and blue. And there's a winding canal, called the Gowanus. This is the site of an EPA super-fund and amongst the most polluted canals in the state. Yet people canoe it in the summertime and there are apparently boat tours. Towards the far right, a church steeple, whose chimes rung out the song What Child is This this past Sunday. It's a rather large Catholic Church, Saint Mary Star of the Sea, in the overdecorated 18th century gothic style - lots of bleeding saints, and a rather graphic depiction of Christ hanging on his cross, with dark stained glass windows shining morosely on the congregants. Haven't been in it in a while, so it may have changed.
My street is residential, but if you wander a bit eastward, and over the little road bridge that crosses the canal you will run into the shiny and brand new Whole Foods store. Across the street from it are abandoned warehouses, with the following message spray-painted in big block white and black letters, at the very top of the 20 story buildings, "Protect Our Children, Say No to STOP and FRISK". Wander in the opposite direction, towards the West, you will eventually stumble upon the Transit Garden, a coop vegetable, tree and flower garden located directly opposite the subway which now lies below a 15 story luxury apartment building. Across the street from it - is the bodega that I've visited for well nigh 18 years now. It changed ownership recently and the products have changed as a result. Was owned by a Korean Family (who spoke mainly Korean) and is now owned by a Middle Eastern Family or Arabic, who speak that language. I don't go to it as often as I used to...due to my diet, even though its selection has broadened. Down the street from it is the Dona Joseph Salon, an Italian salon where I get my hair colored and cut, along with my nails manicured. Everyone speaks Italian with just a bit of English. It's expensive, so this is not done all that often. Also they have a lot of turn-over. Two doors down from it, is my laundry mat, where I've been taking my clothes for close to 15 years. They know me by name. When I broke my foot and hobbled past in a boot, the laundress, Margaret Chen, came out and asked in a halting English, how I was and if I was okay. She's from China, and speaks basic English. We gesture a lot. And beside it is another little bodega, where I used to buy chocolate and potato chips and soy milk. There's also a rather cool little shop of environmentally inspired art - with delicate origami earrings - made of colored paper in intricate little designs. Butterflies, birds, snowflakes.
( Read more... )
January 10: masqthephilospher asked - I'd like to hear about "your" New York City. What your neighborhood is like, where you shop, what sorts of residences and businesses are on the blocks nearby, the feel of the neighborhood, transit, etc. What it's like living in that neighborhood, and other places you like to go in the City as a whole.
NYC believe it or not is the only place that I've deliberately chosen to live in. All the other places that I've lived, were either due to college, study, or family. But NYC I moved to without a job in place. And as of this year, it is now the place that I've lived the longest. 18 years this March. I moved here in 1996. And it has changed through the years in various ways, yet also stayed the same. We've been through a lot together, NYC and I, and as a result, I am a New Yorker, it is in my blood and in my soul. I love and hate it in equal measure. And it will take a lot to get me to move out of it. I believe the place you choose as an adult is the place from whence you came, not the place where you were born and really had no choice in.
At the moment, my New York is cold, rainy and drab and all I want to do is stay in my cozy little apartment. Perhaps that's the best place to start? The word apartment is sort of misleading, makes you think of well an apartment building. Flat may be a better word? It's an one bedroom at the top of a brownstone. Most of the buildings in my area are brownstones, the sort you might see in an old school Martin Scorsese or Woody Allen film or maybe the 1980s films Moonstruck or Do the Right Thing. And depicted in the Cosby Show. It's called a brownstone because of the color, but in reality they are all shades, or rather their entrances are, one has been painted purple, and look more like brick and mortar row townhouses. With big front stoops. There's gardens in front of each, and the streets are lined with trees. There's a huge oak tree in front of my bedroom window. And out my kitchen and living room windows - the view is a pseudo industrial landscape of transit bridges, warehouses, a bus parking lot, construction and cement plant. I can see the F and the G subways meandering their way over the viaduct bridges towards my subway station, and sometimes hear the dull rumble of the cars on the tracks. Yet amidst this rugged landscape of steel and concrete, is also a small pink house situated on top of a warehouse - below, the walls of the warehouse are painted green and blue. And there's a winding canal, called the Gowanus. This is the site of an EPA super-fund and amongst the most polluted canals in the state. Yet people canoe it in the summertime and there are apparently boat tours. Towards the far right, a church steeple, whose chimes rung out the song What Child is This this past Sunday. It's a rather large Catholic Church, Saint Mary Star of the Sea, in the overdecorated 18th century gothic style - lots of bleeding saints, and a rather graphic depiction of Christ hanging on his cross, with dark stained glass windows shining morosely on the congregants. Haven't been in it in a while, so it may have changed.
My street is residential, but if you wander a bit eastward, and over the little road bridge that crosses the canal you will run into the shiny and brand new Whole Foods store. Across the street from it are abandoned warehouses, with the following message spray-painted in big block white and black letters, at the very top of the 20 story buildings, "Protect Our Children, Say No to STOP and FRISK". Wander in the opposite direction, towards the West, you will eventually stumble upon the Transit Garden, a coop vegetable, tree and flower garden located directly opposite the subway which now lies below a 15 story luxury apartment building. Across the street from it - is the bodega that I've visited for well nigh 18 years now. It changed ownership recently and the products have changed as a result. Was owned by a Korean Family (who spoke mainly Korean) and is now owned by a Middle Eastern Family or Arabic, who speak that language. I don't go to it as often as I used to...due to my diet, even though its selection has broadened. Down the street from it is the Dona Joseph Salon, an Italian salon where I get my hair colored and cut, along with my nails manicured. Everyone speaks Italian with just a bit of English. It's expensive, so this is not done all that often. Also they have a lot of turn-over. Two doors down from it, is my laundry mat, where I've been taking my clothes for close to 15 years. They know me by name. When I broke my foot and hobbled past in a boot, the laundress, Margaret Chen, came out and asked in a halting English, how I was and if I was okay. She's from China, and speaks basic English. We gesture a lot. And beside it is another little bodega, where I used to buy chocolate and potato chips and soy milk. There's also a rather cool little shop of environmentally inspired art - with delicate origami earrings - made of colored paper in intricate little designs. Butterflies, birds, snowflakes.
( Read more... )