Journals 1-4
1. Impressions of New York
New York City, known to be one of the largest city in the United States, is not only an architectural delight, but it is an urban jungle that has everything to offer to the pedestrians that are in and out on a daily basis. Individuals around the world visit this city of bright lights just to say that they took on the "Big Apple."
Living only a short train ride away, I only make the commute once or twice a year. Is living so close something I take for granted? It definitely is, and that is the reason I chose to take this class. The few times I do attend is right before Christmas, I love to get to experience the well known Christmas Tree, located at Rockefeller Center, and to be apart of the massive crowd at the Radio City Christmas Show.
The reason I do not have the desire to attend frequently throughout the rest of the year, is because of the lack of courage I have to venture out and explore. From personal experience, I can agree that the city of New York never sleeps. Walking out of Penn Station you see the crowds of never ending people, you smell ten different smells at one time, and when you look up, the buildings seem to never end. Time simply does not exist because the chaos is the same day through night. It's a very overwhelming feeling and an experience that one will never forget. By the end of this class, my goal is to become confident enough to navigate myself through the big city without feeling like a tourist. I also am looking forward to learning about the history and the different spots, other than the tourist attractions that not many people know about. I am very excited to start this adventourous experience and can only hope to meet and see new people and things along the way!
Living only a short train ride away, I only make the commute once or twice a year. Is living so close something I take for granted? It definitely is, and that is the reason I chose to take this class. The few times I do attend is right before Christmas, I love to get to experience the well known Christmas Tree, located at Rockefeller Center, and to be apart of the massive crowd at the Radio City Christmas Show.
The reason I do not have the desire to attend frequently throughout the rest of the year, is because of the lack of courage I have to venture out and explore. From personal experience, I can agree that the city of New York never sleeps. Walking out of Penn Station you see the crowds of never ending people, you smell ten different smells at one time, and when you look up, the buildings seem to never end. Time simply does not exist because the chaos is the same day through night. It's a very overwhelming feeling and an experience that one will never forget. By the end of this class, my goal is to become confident enough to navigate myself through the big city without feeling like a tourist. I also am looking forward to learning about the history and the different spots, other than the tourist attractions that not many people know about. I am very excited to start this adventourous experience and can only hope to meet and see new people and things along the way!
2. The Queen of Queens
7/2/14
The day has finally come! Our first day of this exciting journey labeled "Gotham City." The day started with a fun and exciting train ride into Pennsylvania station with my best friend Justine. We started the train ride at the Merrick Station and when we arrived in Baldwin, our friend Casey hopped aboard to join us. By the end of the ride, we left with a new friend named Alex. He built up the courage to come sit with us and start conversation. He explained that he was from Guatemala and wanted to practice his English. We winded up providing him with multiple different landmarks to visit during his time in the United States. It was mind blowing to hear how different his culture was from ours. After gaining a friend, we walked off the train and entered the chaotic Penn station. Justine, Casey and myself grabbed ourselves a bite to eat and metro cards so we could finally start the long day ahead of us.
After finding Mike, Damian and the rest of the class, we all began our journey to the first borough we were going to be visiting, Queens! "Compared to most of the other boroughs of New York City, Queens very often is treated like a somewhat desirable stepchild (ENY, 157)" Due to all my aunts and uncles living in Ozone Park, and Howard Beach, I figured I already knew Queens, this was going to be nothing new. We took a subway to Corona, where we got to experience a walk through Flushing Meadow Park."The park is the fourth largest of New York's public parks (after Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx), and is larger in size than even Central Park in Manhattan" (ENY, 161). Mike and Damian stopped us for a quick discussion on the famous World's Fair. "World's Fairs were annual expositions held in different parts of the world from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries" (ENY, 163). Mike intrigued us all by introducing us to the word gentrification. He had mentioned he would further explain the key term as the day went on. After learning a vast amount of information, our group walked over to the monumental Unisphere. "The Unisphere is undoubtedly the Borough of Queens' most iconic structure" (ENY, 162). The structure of the Unisphere reminded me of something similar they have in Universal Studios, in Orlando Florida. Unfortunately, we were not about to enter an amusement park, so we entered the next best thing, the Queens Museum of Art. "The building that houses the museum was originally the New York City Building, created for the 1939-1940 World's Fair" (ENY, 165). The nice part about the Museum was the cold air that hit you walking in. Everyone could agree that it was a nice treat, after having to walk around in eighty degree weather. Damian started by introducing us to Andy Warhol, an important artist of pop art. Warhol was remembered best for his Campbell's soup can paintings but created other famous artwork such as the 13 Most Wanted Men. The tour guide finally took us into the Andy Warhol exhibit where we got to see the 13 Most Wanted Men.The paintings were originally hung outside of the New York State Pavilion, up until Robert Moses, designer of the World's Fair, had them painted over and taken down. The paintings were amazing big mug shot portraits filled with mystery. I was confused when I saw only nine, but the tour guide had mentioned that the four that were missing had been destroyed. This was not the only thing that amazed me. The next exhibit in the Museum that had really captured my eye was the panoramic view of New York City. I felt it tied in perfectly with our class because it gave Damian and Mike the opportunity to have the tour guide point out the different places we would be visiting. After seeing a birds eye view, I had a better understanding of how large each of the boroughs really are. Mike gave us an interesting way to remember the five East river bridges, it worked because now I can easily recite them all. "I drive my BMW and I am a QT." Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensborough, and Triborough. After all the fun we had in the Museum it was time for lunch!
We all headed back to the subway, where we would soon be on our way to our next destination, Jackson Heights. "Considered one of the most diverse communities in the country, Jackson Heights has a mix of residents from Argentina, Columbia, and throughout South and East Asia. The Indian community around 74th street is particularly large, and subsequently that part of Jackson Heights is now known as New York's "Little India" (ENY, 160). Mike and Damian decided to test our courage and take us to the Jackson Diner, an indian cuisine buffet. "The most affordable place to sample Indian cuisine is at the Jackson Diner, A Jackson Heights landmark, this buffet resturant was one of the first in the area to begin serving Indian food" (ENY, 173). The entire class agreed to try it, which shocked both Mike and Damian. As our large group started to get up to try the food, my nerves began to kick in. I was so nervous to try this foreign food, but I knew it was something I had to do! I tried the Tandoori Chicken, bread that really looked like pita, and a spinach with cheese thing. To my surprise, it wasn't bad at all. Mike tried to get my table to try goat, but let's be real, we weren't that brave! After we were done trying out this new food, me and a couple of the other classmates decided we would utilize the fifteen minutes we had left to go outside to roam and find some ice cream. We walked two blocks and found ourselves some well deserved king cones! We then walked back to meet up with the others to continue our journey.
Next stop was Astoria! I haven't heard much about Astoria. The only thing I do know is that when my mom drives in for work she calls us freaking out because she's lost. I thought this would be my perfect chance to become familiar with some of the streets so next time she calls I could help her out. To my surprise, Astoria was a beautiful up and coming community. "The most recent wave of immigration today into Astoria has been coming from Arab communities from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Morocco (ENY, 169). Mike and Damian had decided to take us to the Museum of the Moving Image, and was I glad they did. "The Museum-by far the most popular tourist attraction in Queens-boasts one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world" (ENY, 169). This Museum was my favorite part of the day. We had the opportunity to enter a voice recording studio, where we each took turns recording our voices over famous characters from movies such as, The Wizard of Oz, Babe, and Coming to America. This interesting process is called automated dialogue replacement. It mentioned on a sign before walking in that dialogue can be re-recorded in a studio after the filming is over. I also came across the interesting concept of how they use this process when a film is dubbed from one language into another. All you could hear in the studio was giggles coming from the group of us, It was actually nice to see everyone let loose and have some fun! By the end of our time in the Museum my stomach ached from the amount of laughing we had all done, and I was just about ready to lay down. It was time to leave the beautiful Museum of the Moving Image and continued our journey to our final stop of the day.
Entering Long Island City, I felt exhausted but excited. My feet were just about ready to fall off. But, as they say the show must go on. And it did, we continued walking until we reached the MoMA ps1. "What makes this museum so unique-besides the often wild and occasionally controversial contemporary exhibits which it hosts- is that this museum still has the look and feel of a 19th century school building with former classrooms turned into exhibition space" (ENY, 170). It was so interesting to see two separate entrances, one for the boys and one for the girls. After getting a taste of the MoMA ps1, Mike and Damian led the pack towards Gantry Plaza State Park. The sky transitioned and so did Long Island City. This is the meaning of gentrification, the word Mike had mentioned earlier in the day. When we started out, we started by walking past run down buildings, after a little while of walking, it transitions into beautiful little shops, restaurants and apartments. We arrived at the park and the view across the river was breath taking. Mike had pointed out the art deco archetiecture while looking at the Empire State Building. The view of the Queensborough bridge could not have been more picture perfect. The lightening and thunder started to kick in and so that's when we started to wrap it up. We quickly viewed the Pepsi Cola Sign, "An East River Landmark and a symbol of Long Island City's industrial past" (ENY, 171). It was crazy that we had the opportunity to stand in front of a landmark that was so symbolic. The thunder reminded us we had to hurry back to the subway and head back to Penn. Casey, Justine and myself ended the day at Rose's Pizza. We enjoyed some delicious slices of pizza and a few cold beers. It was the perfect way to end a long and exciting day. We waited until we caught the 8:08 train home. Arriving home, I realized how much I had learned in just one day, and how useful all this new information is. Not many people get to say they travel beautiful New York for school purposes. I had such a great day and can not believe how many awesome people I had met along the way. I am extremely excited for the next class and can not wait for the journey that awaits!
An important reminder for next Wednesday: Wear different shoes!
The day has finally come! Our first day of this exciting journey labeled "Gotham City." The day started with a fun and exciting train ride into Pennsylvania station with my best friend Justine. We started the train ride at the Merrick Station and when we arrived in Baldwin, our friend Casey hopped aboard to join us. By the end of the ride, we left with a new friend named Alex. He built up the courage to come sit with us and start conversation. He explained that he was from Guatemala and wanted to practice his English. We winded up providing him with multiple different landmarks to visit during his time in the United States. It was mind blowing to hear how different his culture was from ours. After gaining a friend, we walked off the train and entered the chaotic Penn station. Justine, Casey and myself grabbed ourselves a bite to eat and metro cards so we could finally start the long day ahead of us.
After finding Mike, Damian and the rest of the class, we all began our journey to the first borough we were going to be visiting, Queens! "Compared to most of the other boroughs of New York City, Queens very often is treated like a somewhat desirable stepchild (ENY, 157)" Due to all my aunts and uncles living in Ozone Park, and Howard Beach, I figured I already knew Queens, this was going to be nothing new. We took a subway to Corona, where we got to experience a walk through Flushing Meadow Park."The park is the fourth largest of New York's public parks (after Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx), and is larger in size than even Central Park in Manhattan" (ENY, 161). Mike and Damian stopped us for a quick discussion on the famous World's Fair. "World's Fairs were annual expositions held in different parts of the world from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries" (ENY, 163). Mike intrigued us all by introducing us to the word gentrification. He had mentioned he would further explain the key term as the day went on. After learning a vast amount of information, our group walked over to the monumental Unisphere. "The Unisphere is undoubtedly the Borough of Queens' most iconic structure" (ENY, 162). The structure of the Unisphere reminded me of something similar they have in Universal Studios, in Orlando Florida. Unfortunately, we were not about to enter an amusement park, so we entered the next best thing, the Queens Museum of Art. "The building that houses the museum was originally the New York City Building, created for the 1939-1940 World's Fair" (ENY, 165). The nice part about the Museum was the cold air that hit you walking in. Everyone could agree that it was a nice treat, after having to walk around in eighty degree weather. Damian started by introducing us to Andy Warhol, an important artist of pop art. Warhol was remembered best for his Campbell's soup can paintings but created other famous artwork such as the 13 Most Wanted Men. The tour guide finally took us into the Andy Warhol exhibit where we got to see the 13 Most Wanted Men.The paintings were originally hung outside of the New York State Pavilion, up until Robert Moses, designer of the World's Fair, had them painted over and taken down. The paintings were amazing big mug shot portraits filled with mystery. I was confused when I saw only nine, but the tour guide had mentioned that the four that were missing had been destroyed. This was not the only thing that amazed me. The next exhibit in the Museum that had really captured my eye was the panoramic view of New York City. I felt it tied in perfectly with our class because it gave Damian and Mike the opportunity to have the tour guide point out the different places we would be visiting. After seeing a birds eye view, I had a better understanding of how large each of the boroughs really are. Mike gave us an interesting way to remember the five East river bridges, it worked because now I can easily recite them all. "I drive my BMW and I am a QT." Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, Queensborough, and Triborough. After all the fun we had in the Museum it was time for lunch!
We all headed back to the subway, where we would soon be on our way to our next destination, Jackson Heights. "Considered one of the most diverse communities in the country, Jackson Heights has a mix of residents from Argentina, Columbia, and throughout South and East Asia. The Indian community around 74th street is particularly large, and subsequently that part of Jackson Heights is now known as New York's "Little India" (ENY, 160). Mike and Damian decided to test our courage and take us to the Jackson Diner, an indian cuisine buffet. "The most affordable place to sample Indian cuisine is at the Jackson Diner, A Jackson Heights landmark, this buffet resturant was one of the first in the area to begin serving Indian food" (ENY, 173). The entire class agreed to try it, which shocked both Mike and Damian. As our large group started to get up to try the food, my nerves began to kick in. I was so nervous to try this foreign food, but I knew it was something I had to do! I tried the Tandoori Chicken, bread that really looked like pita, and a spinach with cheese thing. To my surprise, it wasn't bad at all. Mike tried to get my table to try goat, but let's be real, we weren't that brave! After we were done trying out this new food, me and a couple of the other classmates decided we would utilize the fifteen minutes we had left to go outside to roam and find some ice cream. We walked two blocks and found ourselves some well deserved king cones! We then walked back to meet up with the others to continue our journey.
Next stop was Astoria! I haven't heard much about Astoria. The only thing I do know is that when my mom drives in for work she calls us freaking out because she's lost. I thought this would be my perfect chance to become familiar with some of the streets so next time she calls I could help her out. To my surprise, Astoria was a beautiful up and coming community. "The most recent wave of immigration today into Astoria has been coming from Arab communities from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and Morocco (ENY, 169). Mike and Damian had decided to take us to the Museum of the Moving Image, and was I glad they did. "The Museum-by far the most popular tourist attraction in Queens-boasts one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world" (ENY, 169). This Museum was my favorite part of the day. We had the opportunity to enter a voice recording studio, where we each took turns recording our voices over famous characters from movies such as, The Wizard of Oz, Babe, and Coming to America. This interesting process is called automated dialogue replacement. It mentioned on a sign before walking in that dialogue can be re-recorded in a studio after the filming is over. I also came across the interesting concept of how they use this process when a film is dubbed from one language into another. All you could hear in the studio was giggles coming from the group of us, It was actually nice to see everyone let loose and have some fun! By the end of our time in the Museum my stomach ached from the amount of laughing we had all done, and I was just about ready to lay down. It was time to leave the beautiful Museum of the Moving Image and continued our journey to our final stop of the day.
Entering Long Island City, I felt exhausted but excited. My feet were just about ready to fall off. But, as they say the show must go on. And it did, we continued walking until we reached the MoMA ps1. "What makes this museum so unique-besides the often wild and occasionally controversial contemporary exhibits which it hosts- is that this museum still has the look and feel of a 19th century school building with former classrooms turned into exhibition space" (ENY, 170). It was so interesting to see two separate entrances, one for the boys and one for the girls. After getting a taste of the MoMA ps1, Mike and Damian led the pack towards Gantry Plaza State Park. The sky transitioned and so did Long Island City. This is the meaning of gentrification, the word Mike had mentioned earlier in the day. When we started out, we started by walking past run down buildings, after a little while of walking, it transitions into beautiful little shops, restaurants and apartments. We arrived at the park and the view across the river was breath taking. Mike had pointed out the art deco archetiecture while looking at the Empire State Building. The view of the Queensborough bridge could not have been more picture perfect. The lightening and thunder started to kick in and so that's when we started to wrap it up. We quickly viewed the Pepsi Cola Sign, "An East River Landmark and a symbol of Long Island City's industrial past" (ENY, 171). It was crazy that we had the opportunity to stand in front of a landmark that was so symbolic. The thunder reminded us we had to hurry back to the subway and head back to Penn. Casey, Justine and myself ended the day at Rose's Pizza. We enjoyed some delicious slices of pizza and a few cold beers. It was the perfect way to end a long and exciting day. We waited until we caught the 8:08 train home. Arriving home, I realized how much I had learned in just one day, and how useful all this new information is. Not many people get to say they travel beautiful New York for school purposes. I had such a great day and can not believe how many awesome people I had met along the way. I am extremely excited for the next class and can not wait for the journey that awaits!
An important reminder for next Wednesday: Wear different shoes!
3. Brooklyn Bravery
7/9/14
Today I woke up filled with excitement due to the fact that we would be visiting the famous Coney Island! "Today Coney island is home to 60,000 inhabitants, but continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attractions" (ENY, 137). Justine, Casey and myself arrived in Penn at 10:47, which gave us ten minutes to get ourselves situated and meet the rest of the class at our usual meeting spot. We took a quick attendance and started our adventure to the next borough we were going to be visiting, Brooklyn! "With 2.5 million people, Brooklyn (officially referred to as Kings County) is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs as well as being the second most densely populated county in the United States (after Manhattan)" (ENY, 135). While walking to the subway, I was granted the opportunity to have my "one on one" time with Mike. He asked me simple questions about myself, expecting me to give unique honest answers in return. The purpose of these one on ones are for him to get a better understanding of who we are. My one on one went well and came to an abrupt stop when we boarded the subway to Coney Island.
The best part of the subway ride into Coney Island was the air conditioning. It was going to be a hot day and all of us could agree we needed all the cool air we could get prior to all the walking we had in store. Getting off the train you could tell everyone was excited. The first thing a group of us did was run to the well known roller coaster, the Cyclone. "The wooden roller coaster at Luna Park that has been thrilling adventure-seekers since 1927" (ENY, 139). I was happy I took on the Cyclone, it was something I did just to say I did it! It was both fun and thrilling, and not one person on the ride was silent. After this adrenaline rush, a couple of us headed over to the boardwalk for some sight seeing. "In summer months the entire stretch of the Coney Island boardwalk is thronged with a vibrant mix of people of every race and ethnicity playfully enjoying a few hours of leisure with their fellow New Yorkers" (ENY, 139). There was certainly a mix of cultures, it was obvious that people from all over came to have a day of fun on the beach, and what a perfect day to do so. Time was ticking so we made our way over to Nathan's Famous to enjoy some hot dogs, fries and cold drinks. Before setting out on our journey, Mike had strongly advised us to try and get the vibe of Coney Island. As I sat and ate my hot dog, I thought about how run down the area really was. It would be more of a sight to see if they cleaned up the garbage and did some updating. It was still such a great experience and I'm so happy I got to experience it with such great people. After we ate we started to pack up our stuff and hurry over to meet the others. Coney Island and riding the Cyclone were two memories I will never forget. It was now time to set off to our next stop, Brooklyn Heights.
Our first stop in downtown Brooklyn, was the Brooklyn Borough Hall, "the oldest public building in Brooklyn" (ENY, 147). We all were very distracted by the woman standing in front of the building singing at the top of her lungs. It was hard to hear Mike over the sweet symphonies of this woman but I tried my best. Mike had mentioned that the architect of the columns were Greek Revival with Doric caps. Mike mentioned that he wanted us to keep an eye out for the three Greek columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. After learning this new information, we set off to our next destination the Transit Museum! "The museum opened in 1976 for New York's bicentennial celebrations and proved to be an immediate success with New Yorkers" (ENY, 146). It was very interesting finding out from Mike that the entrance to the museum was at one point an actual entrance to an actual subway. We all made our way down the steps and just like an actual subway the air was unbearably hot. Our tour guide, Catherine, provided our group with a lot of interesting information. What really shocked me was how many people were living in lower Manhattan during the 1900s due to the lack of transportation. Lower Manhattan had more residents than Manhattan all together today. Lower Manhattan provided the jobs and everyone felt they needed to live close to where they worked. It was disgusting when Catherine mentioned how much horse manure was on the streets due to the horses being the main source of transportation. Catherine kept mentioning how there was two methods used to build the subway system. The cut and cover, and deep bore tunneling. "The earliest method used was cut and cover, which involved digging up a street and laying a tunnel below, which was then covered over by a new roadway" (ENY, 146). The alternative method was known as deep bore tunneling, "In deep bore tunneling, huge circular tunneling machines are inserted into a hole dug along the proposed subway line" (ENY, 146). After learning all this great information from Catherine, it was time to roam around on our own. Going to the lowest level, we got to see different types of subways and how they have drastically changed over time. Everyone can agree that we had fun roaming in and out of the different style cars and pretending like we were on an actual subway! Our time at the museum came to an end and it was time to venture back out into Brooklyn.
It was now time to tour the beautiful Brooklyn Heights. We made a quick stop to grab some refreshments when the worst part of my day occurred. Justine and myself were feeling very over heated so we found a guy with a hose. Nothing good ever turns out when the story begins with a guy and a hose. We asked the man if he could hose off our feet and right when he hosed mine off, I slipped, fell back and sprained my foot. Talk about bad luck! My foot was now throbbing with pain but I would not let this ruin my time in Brooklyn. We continued our journey by walking down different blocks while viewing the beautiful scenery Brooklyn Heights had to offer. Mike had stopped us to show us federal style buildings, and beautiful Brownstone houses.
We finally arrived onto the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which we all found, without a doubt, breath taking. "From this vantage point, it will immediately become evident why this area is referred to as "the heights" (ENY, 150). We had a great view of lower Manhattan and we all took advantage of the benches that were provided. What more did we need? Mike and Damian had mentioned that below us was the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This was built by Robert Moses, in 1953 (ENY, 150). It was time to say bye to the beautiful view and the comfortable benches and set out to explore DUMBO.
DUMBO, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges (ENY, 151). My favorite part of DUMBO was the beautiful Jane's Carousel a few of us got to ride. "In 1984 the carousel, which was badly damaged by fire, was bought by Jane Walentas and her husband, one of the main real estate developers in Dumbo. Spending 20 years lovingly restoring all 48 of the carousel's wooden horses, Walentas eventually persuaded the city to house the carousel in the new Brooklyn Bridge Park under a $9 million transparent "jewel box" designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel" (ENY, 152). The time came and it was sadly time to exit DUMBO and move onto something a little sweeter. Before crossing over the main attraction, the Brooklyn Bridge, we stopped at Jacques Torres for some refreshing ice-cream. A few of the classmates decided to try the ice-cream Mike kept raving about but I decided to skip out. Finally it was time to cross over the Brooklyn Bridge and I couldn't have been more excited!
With my foot now throbbing because of the sprain, it was time to head back into Manhattan. Living in New York all my life, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, has been something I've always wanted to do. This was an amazing experience that every individual should attempt at least once in their life. "Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in the United States" (ENY, 152). It was crazy seeing the cars rushing on one side and the bicyclsts on the other. When finishing the walk over the bridge, a few of us decided to join Mike and Damian to a dinner in Soho! We enjoyed delicious fresh pasta at a little hidden Italian restaurant. I was happy we stayed in the city instead of going back to boring Long Island. When we were done we headed to catch the subway back to Penn. The day ended with nothing but laughter on the train ride home, which is always expected when your with Casey and Justine. Brooklyn was simply amazing, I had such a great day and will treasure these memories forever.
Today I woke up filled with excitement due to the fact that we would be visiting the famous Coney Island! "Today Coney island is home to 60,000 inhabitants, but continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attractions" (ENY, 137). Justine, Casey and myself arrived in Penn at 10:47, which gave us ten minutes to get ourselves situated and meet the rest of the class at our usual meeting spot. We took a quick attendance and started our adventure to the next borough we were going to be visiting, Brooklyn! "With 2.5 million people, Brooklyn (officially referred to as Kings County) is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs as well as being the second most densely populated county in the United States (after Manhattan)" (ENY, 135). While walking to the subway, I was granted the opportunity to have my "one on one" time with Mike. He asked me simple questions about myself, expecting me to give unique honest answers in return. The purpose of these one on ones are for him to get a better understanding of who we are. My one on one went well and came to an abrupt stop when we boarded the subway to Coney Island.
The best part of the subway ride into Coney Island was the air conditioning. It was going to be a hot day and all of us could agree we needed all the cool air we could get prior to all the walking we had in store. Getting off the train you could tell everyone was excited. The first thing a group of us did was run to the well known roller coaster, the Cyclone. "The wooden roller coaster at Luna Park that has been thrilling adventure-seekers since 1927" (ENY, 139). I was happy I took on the Cyclone, it was something I did just to say I did it! It was both fun and thrilling, and not one person on the ride was silent. After this adrenaline rush, a couple of us headed over to the boardwalk for some sight seeing. "In summer months the entire stretch of the Coney Island boardwalk is thronged with a vibrant mix of people of every race and ethnicity playfully enjoying a few hours of leisure with their fellow New Yorkers" (ENY, 139). There was certainly a mix of cultures, it was obvious that people from all over came to have a day of fun on the beach, and what a perfect day to do so. Time was ticking so we made our way over to Nathan's Famous to enjoy some hot dogs, fries and cold drinks. Before setting out on our journey, Mike had strongly advised us to try and get the vibe of Coney Island. As I sat and ate my hot dog, I thought about how run down the area really was. It would be more of a sight to see if they cleaned up the garbage and did some updating. It was still such a great experience and I'm so happy I got to experience it with such great people. After we ate we started to pack up our stuff and hurry over to meet the others. Coney Island and riding the Cyclone were two memories I will never forget. It was now time to set off to our next stop, Brooklyn Heights.
Our first stop in downtown Brooklyn, was the Brooklyn Borough Hall, "the oldest public building in Brooklyn" (ENY, 147). We all were very distracted by the woman standing in front of the building singing at the top of her lungs. It was hard to hear Mike over the sweet symphonies of this woman but I tried my best. Mike had mentioned that the architect of the columns were Greek Revival with Doric caps. Mike mentioned that he wanted us to keep an eye out for the three Greek columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. After learning this new information, we set off to our next destination the Transit Museum! "The museum opened in 1976 for New York's bicentennial celebrations and proved to be an immediate success with New Yorkers" (ENY, 146). It was very interesting finding out from Mike that the entrance to the museum was at one point an actual entrance to an actual subway. We all made our way down the steps and just like an actual subway the air was unbearably hot. Our tour guide, Catherine, provided our group with a lot of interesting information. What really shocked me was how many people were living in lower Manhattan during the 1900s due to the lack of transportation. Lower Manhattan had more residents than Manhattan all together today. Lower Manhattan provided the jobs and everyone felt they needed to live close to where they worked. It was disgusting when Catherine mentioned how much horse manure was on the streets due to the horses being the main source of transportation. Catherine kept mentioning how there was two methods used to build the subway system. The cut and cover, and deep bore tunneling. "The earliest method used was cut and cover, which involved digging up a street and laying a tunnel below, which was then covered over by a new roadway" (ENY, 146). The alternative method was known as deep bore tunneling, "In deep bore tunneling, huge circular tunneling machines are inserted into a hole dug along the proposed subway line" (ENY, 146). After learning all this great information from Catherine, it was time to roam around on our own. Going to the lowest level, we got to see different types of subways and how they have drastically changed over time. Everyone can agree that we had fun roaming in and out of the different style cars and pretending like we were on an actual subway! Our time at the museum came to an end and it was time to venture back out into Brooklyn.
It was now time to tour the beautiful Brooklyn Heights. We made a quick stop to grab some refreshments when the worst part of my day occurred. Justine and myself were feeling very over heated so we found a guy with a hose. Nothing good ever turns out when the story begins with a guy and a hose. We asked the man if he could hose off our feet and right when he hosed mine off, I slipped, fell back and sprained my foot. Talk about bad luck! My foot was now throbbing with pain but I would not let this ruin my time in Brooklyn. We continued our journey by walking down different blocks while viewing the beautiful scenery Brooklyn Heights had to offer. Mike had stopped us to show us federal style buildings, and beautiful Brownstone houses.
We finally arrived onto the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which we all found, without a doubt, breath taking. "From this vantage point, it will immediately become evident why this area is referred to as "the heights" (ENY, 150). We had a great view of lower Manhattan and we all took advantage of the benches that were provided. What more did we need? Mike and Damian had mentioned that below us was the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This was built by Robert Moses, in 1953 (ENY, 150). It was time to say bye to the beautiful view and the comfortable benches and set out to explore DUMBO.
DUMBO, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is located between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges (ENY, 151). My favorite part of DUMBO was the beautiful Jane's Carousel a few of us got to ride. "In 1984 the carousel, which was badly damaged by fire, was bought by Jane Walentas and her husband, one of the main real estate developers in Dumbo. Spending 20 years lovingly restoring all 48 of the carousel's wooden horses, Walentas eventually persuaded the city to house the carousel in the new Brooklyn Bridge Park under a $9 million transparent "jewel box" designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel" (ENY, 152). The time came and it was sadly time to exit DUMBO and move onto something a little sweeter. Before crossing over the main attraction, the Brooklyn Bridge, we stopped at Jacques Torres for some refreshing ice-cream. A few of the classmates decided to try the ice-cream Mike kept raving about but I decided to skip out. Finally it was time to cross over the Brooklyn Bridge and I couldn't have been more excited!
With my foot now throbbing because of the sprain, it was time to head back into Manhattan. Living in New York all my life, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, has been something I've always wanted to do. This was an amazing experience that every individual should attempt at least once in their life. "Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in the United States" (ENY, 152). It was crazy seeing the cars rushing on one side and the bicyclsts on the other. When finishing the walk over the bridge, a few of us decided to join Mike and Damian to a dinner in Soho! We enjoyed delicious fresh pasta at a little hidden Italian restaurant. I was happy we stayed in the city instead of going back to boring Long Island. When we were done we headed to catch the subway back to Penn. The day ended with nothing but laughter on the train ride home, which is always expected when your with Casey and Justine. Brooklyn was simply amazing, I had such a great day and will treasure these memories forever.
4. The Village & Captivating Chelsea
7/11/14
Today was going to be an interesting day due to the fact that I have a sprained foot. Just thinking about walking through the city in a soft cast and a huge boot was not appealing. Justine and myself started the beautiful day off by driving into Baldwin to pick up Casey to go to the Baldwin train station. We took the 10:08 and arrived into Penn around 10:47, which gave us time to get situated. I must say we really have a good morning routine going on, we're starting to get the hang of this. Today started off different due to the fact that we did not have to hop on a subway to get to our first destination, all we had to do was walk. Mike and Damian led us to an exit that allowed us to view the outside of Penn Station. "The original Pennsylvania station, built in 1910 by McKim, Mead, and White was considered a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts style and was revered as one of the most impressive buildings in New York City" (ENY, 30). We started walking further down the block until we came across a beautiful Post Office. Mike mentioned that they might turn this Post Office into the new Penn Station. I didn't like the sound of this, I am a huge fan of the way Penn is now and would not change one thing. After discussing the history, we all started to venture off to captivating Chelsea.
"The neighborhood of Chelsea takes its name from the former estate of British army captain, Thomas Clark, who purchased 94 acres of land along the Hudson in 1750 and named it after his London neighborhood" (ENY, 105). Mike had mentioned that people would not really be found in this area unless they were looking for a transvestite hooker. "Chelsea's fortunes changed dramatically in the 1990s when SoHo began to become so fashionable that art galleries located there could no longer afford the exorbitant rents they were being charged. The result was that hundreds of galleries began to open in Chelsea, turning it into a prestigious center of the New York art world" (ENY, 106). Before it was time to take on multiple art galleries, the class took a stroll on the High Line. "In the mid-19th century, a street-level freight line ran through the heart of Chelsea to transport produce through the city. The existence of train lines on crowded city streets, however led to numerous fatalities, so many in fact that 10th Avenue came to be known as "Death Avenue. In response to this problem, in the 1930s the New York Central Railroad had the line elevated 30 feet above the street, but it fell out of use in the 1980s" (ENY, 106). I really enjoyed the walk, it was a beautiful day and the High Line provided a beautiful view.
After strolling on the High Line, we attended multiple different art galleries. We viewed the art work of Carl Andre, Eugenio Merino, Pierre Dorion, Berry Campbell, and Gagosian. Each gallery was filled with its own unique art work. I've never seen art like it before. "For those not familiar with the concept, a gallery is a private space devoted to displaying and selling works of art. The bad thing is that you almost certainly won't be able to afford any of the art being shown here; the good thing is that you can spend all day long hopping from gallery to gallery and you won't have to pay a dime for admission to see some fairly amazing works of art" (ENY, 108). According to Mike and our textbook the rules for the gallery are important to follow.
1) Don't touch or lean on any of the art.
2) If you don't know whether something in a gallery is art or not, assume that what you're looking at is indeed art, and don't touch it
3) Even if you think that what you are looking at is total rubbish or could have been created by a child of five, keep your opinions to yourself, at least until you get outside the gallery. (ENY, 108)
It was very interesting to see different types of work done by different types of artists. My favorite exhibition was Eugenio Merino: Always Shameless. It interests me how Merinos work reflects his struggle as a politically active and controversial artist (http://www.unixgallery.com/index.php?id=13) the life size statues and scultures grabbed my attention right away, they were amazing. After we did some gallery hopping we found ourselves at The Chelsea Historical District. Mike pointed out Cushman Row, the collection of seven red brick row houses built between 1839 and 1840, that were once occupied by the area's more fashionable inhabitants (ENY, 108). Mike also did not fail to mention that these were example of Greek Revival (ENY, 109). Next, we visited St. Peter's Episcopal Church. At first we didn't think we would get in but thank god for Tony! "Designed by Moore himself, this Gothic Revival church was completed in 1836 as a replacement for the community 's earlier Greek Revival Church (which now serves as the parish rectory)" (ENY, 109). He let us in for a fast viewing, my favorite part about the church was the beautiful stained glass windows. After visiting these two beautiful places, we hopped back on the High Line. We walked on the High Line enjoying the beautiful day and view until we arrived at Chelsea Market.
At this point we were all starting to get tired and hungry so Mike and Damian let us roam around Chelsea Market to find a bite to eat. "The market and buildings around it were originally part of a factory complex built from the 1890s to the 1930s. When the factory fell out of use, it was redone into an upscale food market, the current popularity of which is attested to by the hordes of visitors who come here everyday" (ENY, 109). Chelsea Market was packed. It was filled with individuals that were in as much of a rush as the next person. A couple of us ventured off and found ourselves enjoying free samples of fresh raviolis. We came to the conclusion that we should all just go to the deli and take the easy route by eating deli sandwiches. I enjoyed a nice chicken panini with an ice tea on the side. Lunch was amazing, we all needed that kick of energy after the long day we were having.
Lunch was over and it was time to start walking again. I must admit I was doing very well with being crippled! We started walking towards the Meatpacking District. "From the 1850s to 1930s this was a wholesale meat market and filled with slaughter houses and meatpacking plants. During the 1970s and 80s, it turned into a meat market of a different sort- an area where transvestite prostitutes roamed the streets at night. The area was cleaned up during the 1990s as part of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's efforts to crack down on crime in the city" (ENY, 109).
It was time for us to finally enter Greenwich Village. "The Village is one of the most delightful residential areas of New York. It's filled with elegant rowhouses on peaceful tree-lined streets, has some of the city's coziest bookstores and cafe's, and has a vibrant nightlife that appeals to people of all ages" (ENY, 110). We stopped at The Jefferson Market Garden, where we were greeted by three informative older women. Mike stopped us to discuss "The Crime of the Century." "In 1906, the courthouse was at the center of what was then called "The Crime of the Century," when Harry K. Thaw was put on trial for the murder of New York's celebrated architect, Stanford White, designer of the Washington Square Arch as well as numbers Beaux Arts buildings in New York City. Thaw shot White in a fit of jealous rage over White's affair with his fiancee, Evelyn Nesbit. Thaw was eventually declared to be insane and sent to an asylum, where he remained until 1915" (ENY, 112-113).
It was now time to make our way over to Washington Square Park. "In the 19th century the park was used for public executions with those convicted hung from "Hangman's Elm. The tree was still there and alive after 300 years" (ENY, 117). It was crazy standing in front of a tree that was so historic and meaningful. Walking through the park I saw children running around, people sun bathing, and a guy acting as if he was in a boxing match. What really caught my eye was the Washington Arch. "Designed by Stanford White and completed in 1891, the 70 foot high triumphal arch was modeled after the Arc De Triomphe in Paris and dedicated to the centennial of George Washington's inauguration" (ENY, 118).
Next stop was a tour of the Merchant's House Museum. This was a preserved Federal-style house, filled with period furnishings and decorations built by Joseph Brewster in 1832. It was sold to Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy merchant for $18,000 in 1835. (ENY, 121). "Tredwell lived in the house with his wife, eight children, four servants and an assortment of relatives until his death in 1865" (ENY, 121). Mike had warned us before entering that we may sense some ghosts, this obviously excited me. We entered and our tour guide was so sweet but I honestly couldn't hear a word he said. The rooms kind of creeped me out and I left the house feeling bad for the servants that had to live on the very top hot floor. Mike mentioned to us that the servants were seen as lucky due to the fact that not many servants even had places to stay. It amazes me how much can really happen and change over time. At this point in the day, everyone was getting hot and tired, it was obvious just by watching the amount of people in our group that sat on the floor from exhaustion, in the different rooms we visited in the house. It was time to leave this historical house and make a quick stop at 41 Cooper Square.
"41 Cooper Square, officially called the New Academic Building, was designed by Thom Mayne of the Los Angeles architectural firm Morphosis, who wanted to create a ground-breaking building that also reflected the college's focus on advanced studies in art, architecture, and engineering" (ENY, 123). We stopped in very quickly, and most of us were happy with the cool air hitting our heated bodies. After visiting 41 Cooper Square, we quickly stopped at 13 Astor Place. "This was the site of the infamous Astor Place Riot that took place on May 10th, 1849. There was a tremendous amount of anti-British sentiment among Irish immigrants in the area as a result of potato famine policies of the British. When English actor William Charles Macready and American actor Edwin Forrest both were presenting rival versions of Macbeth at nearby theaters, Irish protests against Macready became so violent that police fired into a crowd of protestors, killing 18 and injuring hundreds" (ENY, 124). At this point everyone was now dying of the heat and Mike and Damian could tell it was time to make our last stop of the day and send everyone home.
Our last stop of the day was very sweet. We went to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop for some, "Salty Pimps." Most of the class enjoyed the ice cream but I was in no mood. Me and a couple of the others went around the block and stopped at the deli to stock up on waters to bring us back to life. The day was over and a bunch of us took the subway together back to Penn. Today was a rough one due to the heat and walking but we have to realize how lucky we are to experience such amazing landmarks. I can't believe the class is halfway over! I honestly can say I don't want this experience to end.
Today was going to be an interesting day due to the fact that I have a sprained foot. Just thinking about walking through the city in a soft cast and a huge boot was not appealing. Justine and myself started the beautiful day off by driving into Baldwin to pick up Casey to go to the Baldwin train station. We took the 10:08 and arrived into Penn around 10:47, which gave us time to get situated. I must say we really have a good morning routine going on, we're starting to get the hang of this. Today started off different due to the fact that we did not have to hop on a subway to get to our first destination, all we had to do was walk. Mike and Damian led us to an exit that allowed us to view the outside of Penn Station. "The original Pennsylvania station, built in 1910 by McKim, Mead, and White was considered a masterpiece of Beaux-Arts style and was revered as one of the most impressive buildings in New York City" (ENY, 30). We started walking further down the block until we came across a beautiful Post Office. Mike mentioned that they might turn this Post Office into the new Penn Station. I didn't like the sound of this, I am a huge fan of the way Penn is now and would not change one thing. After discussing the history, we all started to venture off to captivating Chelsea.
"The neighborhood of Chelsea takes its name from the former estate of British army captain, Thomas Clark, who purchased 94 acres of land along the Hudson in 1750 and named it after his London neighborhood" (ENY, 105). Mike had mentioned that people would not really be found in this area unless they were looking for a transvestite hooker. "Chelsea's fortunes changed dramatically in the 1990s when SoHo began to become so fashionable that art galleries located there could no longer afford the exorbitant rents they were being charged. The result was that hundreds of galleries began to open in Chelsea, turning it into a prestigious center of the New York art world" (ENY, 106). Before it was time to take on multiple art galleries, the class took a stroll on the High Line. "In the mid-19th century, a street-level freight line ran through the heart of Chelsea to transport produce through the city. The existence of train lines on crowded city streets, however led to numerous fatalities, so many in fact that 10th Avenue came to be known as "Death Avenue. In response to this problem, in the 1930s the New York Central Railroad had the line elevated 30 feet above the street, but it fell out of use in the 1980s" (ENY, 106). I really enjoyed the walk, it was a beautiful day and the High Line provided a beautiful view.
After strolling on the High Line, we attended multiple different art galleries. We viewed the art work of Carl Andre, Eugenio Merino, Pierre Dorion, Berry Campbell, and Gagosian. Each gallery was filled with its own unique art work. I've never seen art like it before. "For those not familiar with the concept, a gallery is a private space devoted to displaying and selling works of art. The bad thing is that you almost certainly won't be able to afford any of the art being shown here; the good thing is that you can spend all day long hopping from gallery to gallery and you won't have to pay a dime for admission to see some fairly amazing works of art" (ENY, 108). According to Mike and our textbook the rules for the gallery are important to follow.
1) Don't touch or lean on any of the art.
2) If you don't know whether something in a gallery is art or not, assume that what you're looking at is indeed art, and don't touch it
3) Even if you think that what you are looking at is total rubbish or could have been created by a child of five, keep your opinions to yourself, at least until you get outside the gallery. (ENY, 108)
It was very interesting to see different types of work done by different types of artists. My favorite exhibition was Eugenio Merino: Always Shameless. It interests me how Merinos work reflects his struggle as a politically active and controversial artist (http://www.unixgallery.com/index.php?id=13) the life size statues and scultures grabbed my attention right away, they were amazing. After we did some gallery hopping we found ourselves at The Chelsea Historical District. Mike pointed out Cushman Row, the collection of seven red brick row houses built between 1839 and 1840, that were once occupied by the area's more fashionable inhabitants (ENY, 108). Mike also did not fail to mention that these were example of Greek Revival (ENY, 109). Next, we visited St. Peter's Episcopal Church. At first we didn't think we would get in but thank god for Tony! "Designed by Moore himself, this Gothic Revival church was completed in 1836 as a replacement for the community 's earlier Greek Revival Church (which now serves as the parish rectory)" (ENY, 109). He let us in for a fast viewing, my favorite part about the church was the beautiful stained glass windows. After visiting these two beautiful places, we hopped back on the High Line. We walked on the High Line enjoying the beautiful day and view until we arrived at Chelsea Market.
At this point we were all starting to get tired and hungry so Mike and Damian let us roam around Chelsea Market to find a bite to eat. "The market and buildings around it were originally part of a factory complex built from the 1890s to the 1930s. When the factory fell out of use, it was redone into an upscale food market, the current popularity of which is attested to by the hordes of visitors who come here everyday" (ENY, 109). Chelsea Market was packed. It was filled with individuals that were in as much of a rush as the next person. A couple of us ventured off and found ourselves enjoying free samples of fresh raviolis. We came to the conclusion that we should all just go to the deli and take the easy route by eating deli sandwiches. I enjoyed a nice chicken panini with an ice tea on the side. Lunch was amazing, we all needed that kick of energy after the long day we were having.
Lunch was over and it was time to start walking again. I must admit I was doing very well with being crippled! We started walking towards the Meatpacking District. "From the 1850s to 1930s this was a wholesale meat market and filled with slaughter houses and meatpacking plants. During the 1970s and 80s, it turned into a meat market of a different sort- an area where transvestite prostitutes roamed the streets at night. The area was cleaned up during the 1990s as part of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's efforts to crack down on crime in the city" (ENY, 109).
It was time for us to finally enter Greenwich Village. "The Village is one of the most delightful residential areas of New York. It's filled with elegant rowhouses on peaceful tree-lined streets, has some of the city's coziest bookstores and cafe's, and has a vibrant nightlife that appeals to people of all ages" (ENY, 110). We stopped at The Jefferson Market Garden, where we were greeted by three informative older women. Mike stopped us to discuss "The Crime of the Century." "In 1906, the courthouse was at the center of what was then called "The Crime of the Century," when Harry K. Thaw was put on trial for the murder of New York's celebrated architect, Stanford White, designer of the Washington Square Arch as well as numbers Beaux Arts buildings in New York City. Thaw shot White in a fit of jealous rage over White's affair with his fiancee, Evelyn Nesbit. Thaw was eventually declared to be insane and sent to an asylum, where he remained until 1915" (ENY, 112-113).
It was now time to make our way over to Washington Square Park. "In the 19th century the park was used for public executions with those convicted hung from "Hangman's Elm. The tree was still there and alive after 300 years" (ENY, 117). It was crazy standing in front of a tree that was so historic and meaningful. Walking through the park I saw children running around, people sun bathing, and a guy acting as if he was in a boxing match. What really caught my eye was the Washington Arch. "Designed by Stanford White and completed in 1891, the 70 foot high triumphal arch was modeled after the Arc De Triomphe in Paris and dedicated to the centennial of George Washington's inauguration" (ENY, 118).
Next stop was a tour of the Merchant's House Museum. This was a preserved Federal-style house, filled with period furnishings and decorations built by Joseph Brewster in 1832. It was sold to Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy merchant for $18,000 in 1835. (ENY, 121). "Tredwell lived in the house with his wife, eight children, four servants and an assortment of relatives until his death in 1865" (ENY, 121). Mike had warned us before entering that we may sense some ghosts, this obviously excited me. We entered and our tour guide was so sweet but I honestly couldn't hear a word he said. The rooms kind of creeped me out and I left the house feeling bad for the servants that had to live on the very top hot floor. Mike mentioned to us that the servants were seen as lucky due to the fact that not many servants even had places to stay. It amazes me how much can really happen and change over time. At this point in the day, everyone was getting hot and tired, it was obvious just by watching the amount of people in our group that sat on the floor from exhaustion, in the different rooms we visited in the house. It was time to leave this historical house and make a quick stop at 41 Cooper Square.
"41 Cooper Square, officially called the New Academic Building, was designed by Thom Mayne of the Los Angeles architectural firm Morphosis, who wanted to create a ground-breaking building that also reflected the college's focus on advanced studies in art, architecture, and engineering" (ENY, 123). We stopped in very quickly, and most of us were happy with the cool air hitting our heated bodies. After visiting 41 Cooper Square, we quickly stopped at 13 Astor Place. "This was the site of the infamous Astor Place Riot that took place on May 10th, 1849. There was a tremendous amount of anti-British sentiment among Irish immigrants in the area as a result of potato famine policies of the British. When English actor William Charles Macready and American actor Edwin Forrest both were presenting rival versions of Macbeth at nearby theaters, Irish protests against Macready became so violent that police fired into a crowd of protestors, killing 18 and injuring hundreds" (ENY, 124). At this point everyone was now dying of the heat and Mike and Damian could tell it was time to make our last stop of the day and send everyone home.
Our last stop of the day was very sweet. We went to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop for some, "Salty Pimps." Most of the class enjoyed the ice cream but I was in no mood. Me and a couple of the others went around the block and stopped at the deli to stock up on waters to bring us back to life. The day was over and a bunch of us took the subway together back to Penn. Today was a rough one due to the heat and walking but we have to realize how lucky we are to experience such amazing landmarks. I can't believe the class is halfway over! I honestly can say I don't want this experience to end.