My Impression of NYC Is simply AMAZING, I call it “My City that Never Sleeps”. Nothing can take me away from the loud noise on 42nd, or the amount of people you see walking on one block pushing of bumping into you, the dirty trains, vendors, 5th Ave, Central Park and the list goes on. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I notice that living in NYC I don’t take much advantage of everything we have but I sure have taken advantage of many things. I love walking down 5th Ave for the holidays to see the beautiful window displays, there is nothing else like it. Viewing the Rockafella Christmas tree filled with lights, happy sprits and beautiful atmosphere around you. As well going down to the South Street Sea Port during the summer to watch the scenery, have a good drink and watch performers entertain you. I cannot forget going to Soho at any time of the year for a fun shopping experience. As well going back to my hometown Brooklyn. Walking around the North side, seeing how much things have changed from before to now and enjoying all the culture that has come together, it really amazes me. Going down to the pier enjoying the scenery of the City and the Williamsburg Bridge together. I can honestly stay there all night; it’s a blissful feeling. As well going down to Dumbo or Flatbush to enjoy the Barclay Center and nice restaurants. The list can continue from visiting the Stature of Liberty to Ellis Island, Queens the Bronx and more, NYC is filled with excitement.
Then again I still haven’t experienced it all and I cannot wait to do so with this class. I’m very excited and cannot wait to fill my phone up pictures from a great experience.
2. Queens Madness Flushing Meadow Park used to be covered in ashes and dumps but in 1939 (ENY217) Robert Moses, Commissioner at the time, took charge in cleaning it up for the 1964/65 World Fair. This park is the fourth largest park in New York City.(ENY217) The World Fair in Flushing Meadow Park had many pavilions from all the around the world. This fair made queens a better place and a perfect location for many to tourist to visit. Flushing Meadow park has a beautiful monument called the Unisphere. The Unisphere was built in 1964 to symbolize 'Man's achievements on a shirking globe and expanding universe, as well as to reflect global interdependence. ( ENY218) This is the most iconic structure in Queens and millions go to visit. The Unisphere is 12 stories high, 120 feet in diameter and weighs 900,000 pounds, it is known as the largest globe structure in the world. (ENY 218) The sphere is located in a pool fountain to give the appearance that it was floating in space. This stature is the strongest standing till today. It is a great place for pictures and a piece of mind, I would definitely come here plenty of times more. Queens Museum of Art is known as the first home to the United Nations (1946-1951) (ENNY219) located in Flushing Meadow Park to the right of the Unisphere. The building that the museum is in originally was the NYC building. The museum mainly focuses on 20th century and contemporary art, with a look at global diversity. The museum is known for the Panorama of New York City. The Panorama is absolutely beautiful and amazing that the entire NYC is there. It was build in 1964/65 for the World's Fair in Flushing Meadow Park. (ENY 221) As well in the museum there is an exhibit on New York City watershed that shows where the water comes from. One piece of art that i love at this museum was a little city of Beijing made from Chinese books. The artist Liu Wei constructed a true talent putting this piece together. Overall the Queen Museum was interesting but i do not think it is a place I would go back to. Astoria, named after John Astor and known as the heart of the factory industry. Is one of my favorite places in Queens, I love and enjoy the night life at hookah bars or lounges. In the 19th century many immigrants fled here because of the factory work. (ENY 223) It was known to be the most diverse, Astoria however had a lot of Greek influences within the community. Throughout the years Astoria has change a lot because of gentrification. Other than the bars, shopping and night life, Astoria has a museum i love and cannot wait to go back too, The Museum of Moving Images. This museum is by far the most popular tourist attraction in Queens, as well as one of the largest collection of film. The film artifacts that they carry vary from, behind the scenes footage, technical aspects of movies, television production and numerous of costumes from everyone's favorite movies. (ENY224) I truly love this museum I had so much fun that I didn't even get to expereicene nor see everything the museum has. MY favorite part was creating a funny movie clip and doing voice overs to one of my favorite movies, favorite movies Coming to America. I enjoy seeing all the mask of Jim Careys movies and the real mask of Ms.Doubtfire, where our late actor Robin Williams played. Overall this museum is amazing and is a must go to place. Long Island City (LIC), known for the amazing art of graffiti once called 5 Points. I love art and for this to come down was truly heart breaking to myself and others. At one point this site was a warehouse that permitted spray painting, (ENY225) but because of gentrification taking over the new owner of the building decided to paint over the art in white paint overnight, POOF all gone was the art. Now in that space there would be luxury apartments. LIC also has a museum of art called MoMA PS1, known as the first public elementary school (ENY225). We weren't able to go inside but my mind is curious to see how it looks, hopefully i can go back soon. My favorite part of LIC is Gantry State Park and the Pepsi Cola sign that stands right in the park. Gantry State Park has amazing views of the Empire State Building, United Nations building, and Roosevelt Island across the river (ENY 226). It truly is a peaceful place to be and a great place to take pictures. The Pepsi Cola sign has been up since 1936 where there were plants of the company surrounding it. In 2001 PepsiCo. sold the acres but one exception was that the sign stays up, of course they agreed. (ENY226) Gentrification took its course again and made the area fill up with Luxury apartments along the water. Overall I love this trip around Queens, I learned a lot that I didn't know of and as well took amazing pictures. One thing I wasn't so found about was visiting Roosevelt and eating at the Indian Restaurant. I don't mind trying new food but it wasn't my type of thing. At least i can say i tried it. I believe in I only live once so why not try it, of course to a certain extent. For it being the first class, surprisingly i wasn't as tired as i thought i was going to be. Cannot wait to see what is up next.
3. Brooooooooklyn We began the day in Coney Island, which brought back so many memories. When i was growing up I would go to Coney Island every weekend with my family. We would stay from morning till the night when the fire works ended. There was so much culture from bands playing all day and people dancing not giving a care in the world. I would always remember how happy my grandmother was because all her brothers and sister would come and enjoy the day. Once two of her closest sisters ( my great aunts) passed away we never went back to Coney Island every weekend. Anyway back to the where our day began, We got off the train and were allowed 1hr to do whatever we want. Of course i ate at Nathan's, walked the boardwalk and played games. It brought the inner child of me out. I tried to go back at least once every summer but this summer I didn't have a chance so i was happy we came here. Coney Island is located on the Atlantic in Southwest Brooklyn (ENY193), and a home to 60,000 inhabitants but is known for its amusements and attractions. Of course years of change and gentrification Coney Island has becomes a better place. Nathan's is known for the best hotdogs and international hotdog eating contest. The Coney Island Museum where it gives you a taste of culture and the island. What a lot people come to ride and see, The Cyclone. The worlds oldest wooden rollercoaster that is still standing, ( In my eyes, haha). It has been standing since 1927 at 85 feet tall. (ENY193) After Coney Island we took the A train to Downtown Brooklyn, Jay St. From Jay st, we walked to the Transit Museum. Approaching the Transit Museum I thought it was another train station we had to take until we were told by Mike. The museum was interesting and cool especially the tour, it gave me an insight of the subway system. The museum opened October 27th,1976 and was dedicated to the history of mass transportation of New York. (ENY203). The museum was once a subway but was only three stops. It closed down in 1946 because of less riders. The museum also has a great selection of trains that you can actually get on and explore from the 1900's. During this time there was a lot of crime and vandalism so many transit workers were secretly hiding old trains, that are now displayed. I found many think interesting about the information that was given during the tour, workers would only get paid $1-$2 a day but of course things were cheaper during that time. Trains were never underground only elevated until 1888 when New York City had a huge snow storm of 50 inches. At least 15,000 people were stuck and the trains were stuck for weeks. This was the turning point of underground subways, opening up the first one in 1904. The highlight of the museum was seeing the change of turning styles and trains as well as being able to explore them. After the transit museum we just walked to the point of no return. Just a few blocks away we walked to the Brooklyn Borough Hall which is the oldest public building in brooklyn. (ENY 203) After we crossed the street and continue walking looking at the brownstones, the Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity until we reached Brooklyn heights Promenade. From this point on Brooklyn is consider the "Heights". On the promenade you can see a beautiful view Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Stature of Liberty and of course the peaceful water. Thirteen years ago you were able to be the Twin Towers but now you can see the Freedom Towers. If you continue to walk you would reach Dumbo, where the Brooklyn Bridge is at. I absolutely love Dumbo, You can take amazing pictures, walk around enjoy the view, eat at great places, enjoy delicious ice cream and of course walk the Brooklyn Bridge. In Dumbo is the Brooklyn Bridge Park where a main attraction is the Jane Carousel. The carousel was built in 1922 by a Philadelphia Toboggan Company. (ENY207) However in 1984 there was a fire and the carousel was badly damage, so a women name Jane Walentas and her husband bought it. Jane took 20 years to restore each carousel's wooden horse. (ENY208) Eventually it was bought and placed in the park, but a french artist Jean Nouvel built a "jewel box' for the carousel costing $9 million. (ENY 208) After taking pictures and exploring the park we stop for some delicious ice cream and walked the bridge. I have never walked the bridge and even though i was so tired and couldn't walk anymore i pulled myself together and accomplished it, it wasn't even that bad after all. The sunset and view was amazing I could honestly take pictures and enjoy the view for hours. I would actually love to walk it again with my boyfriend. Once I reached the end of the bridge I was so tired, I think so far this was by far the most walking. I was so tired i stayed at my aunts house in Brooklyn because I couldn't make it back home to Long Island. Once i reached home and thought about the day i had i can honestly say I truly enjoyed it. Yes I already seen majority of all these places, but it taught me more. It made me realize how much things have changed and appreciate everything we have because change can come quick.
4. Chelsea and The Village
I must start off by saying this is the worst class so far. We did so much walking and it was dragging. The best part of the day was looking at some of the art galleries, lunch, and the ghost stories at the Merchants House.
We stated off the day in Penn Station where we usually meet. Mike and Merrita gave us some information that WOW’D me. It is the busiest train station in the United States and over 600,000 passengers travel every day. (ENY 113) Penn Station known as Pennsylvania Station was named by the company that built it and is the second station that stood with the same name in this spot. (ENY 113) The original Penn Station, built in 1910 by McKim, Mead and White was torn down because it was too much to maintain and fix so in the early 1960’s plans wee to tear it down and replace it with a less expensive modern station. The new station is known to be an architecture mess and would never look like what it was once before. Even though many protest for the change not to happen it still did unfortunately.
After Penn Station we walked until we reach the High Line, where you can see Chelsea the best. The High Line begins at 30th street and 10th avenue. (ENY 84) The High Line came about because in mid 19th centuries a street level freight line ran across the heart of Chelsea to transport produce through the city. (ENY 84) However due to many death because of the crowded populations they shut it down and created one that was 30 feet above the street. After the second reconstruction a few years went by and there wasn’t any use for it anymore. So in 1999 a non-profit group save the structure and transformed it into an elevated park. (ENY84) The High Line opened in 2006 and was a hit with New Yorkers and tourist. It also spurred a development of new high rises that are along side the High Line. I can say the High Line is beautiful but one must take their time walking on it to take in everything it offers you.
Since Mike and Meriita lost the class because they didn’t tell us we were getting off on 26th and 10th, the class just walked until the end, it was a great laugh. After we turned around and met back up with both Mike and Meritta we went to look at the art galleries in Chelsea. Chelsea is known for the art galleries and every first Thursday of the month you can enter all these galleries get a free glass of wine and enjoy art. A art gallery is when there is a private space displaying and selling works of art. One gallery I found interesting was KwangHo Shin gallery; it is called the Creation Under Collapse. I found all the painting well done, unique and extremely interesting. Each painting had vibrant colors, abstract designs and a story of expression or emotions that he was trying to show. Shin was born in 1983 in South Korea, graduated from Keimyung University, and has been featured in different galleries all over the world since 2009 for his art. Unfortunately his art is too expensive to purchase. Another gallery I went to was artist Jack Shainman: Rescue. His art was very different and weird. All the pieces were ceramic poodles or birds surrounded by a cluster of beads, lights, lamps, flowers and furniture. It was very weird to me I couldn’t really tell what the artist wanted us to feel other than confused. I must say his work look very time consuming and meant a lot to him. Shainman work was to show dogs that have been rescue. He feels that dogs have been classified by loyalty, class, breads, commitment and protection. So he showed one dog that was adopted, and throughout each piece that dog has been saved. I personally was confused seeing this and thought many things, but one thing I did say was how would anyone what this piece of art in their house. I believe someone must want this in his house because if not it would now be there. Shainman is known for all his work to be like this and his pieces sell for a very expensive price.
After visiting a few art galleries we walked and walked until we reach the village. The Village extends from the Hudson River to 6th avenue. The village is a home to gays and lesbian populations. ( ENY 89) Gay rights movements began here in the 1960’s and since then the area of Christopher street has been the center of social life for gays. ( ENY 89) New York is known to have the largest population of gays and the largest in any city of the United States.
Following after we walked to the Jefferson’s Market Garden where in the 19th century a food market took place here and later the city built a women’s house of detention. Right next to the Market Garden is the Jefferson’s Market Library, where it originally served as a courthouse for the local community. (ENY 91) It was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and Calvert Vaux, its know to be one of the top beautiful buildings in America by a poll of architects in the 1880’s. (ENY 91) In 1906 the courthouse was the center of attention of what was then called “The crime of the Century”, when Harry K was put on trail for murder. (ENY91)
We walked some more until we reach Washington Square Park, the park was crowded with many people, and what I found so weird and nasty a the bird man. A man that sits down with pigeons all around him and across a lady that designed fake birds to look like pigeons. I found it weird, funny and nasty at the same time. As you walked through the park there are people playing music, taking pictures, artist painting. It was a nice warm feeling seeing everyone together having a great time. The park is known for there water fountain and the Stanford White Arc that was completed in 1891. (ENY 92) After we finally left and got food on Mc Dougal street.
Being full from an amazing lunch we then proceeded to the Merchant House. I personally didn’t find the house interesting. As well at this point I was tired and didn’t want to walk anymore. What I did find interesting was the ghost stories the tour guide was telling us. One was that a family came in to visit the house and once they proceeded up stairs a person in black wouldn’t let them in. They ran down stairs and left the house. Another story was when a person working there heard someone trying to pull something out the kitchen and heavy footsteps. Other then that it was boring, what I did find interesting as well is that the women have the babies in the bed they sleep on and as well everyone showers in these nasty metal drowns, also not shower everyday.
Moving on we walked and walked till reach Cooper Square, it is an education that focuses on art, science, engineering and architecture. It was once free private school until 2009 when things had to be changed. Many students protested but nothing could be done. The architect in and outside the building personally amazed me. I would love to attend a school like this I believe I would take pictures all day. After a further walk we ended up on St. Marks Place where they have a bunch of bars, shops and great places to eat. It is a well-recommended place to stop by if anyone gets the chance to. I myself would go back like we didn’t spend any time there.
We end off the day in Thompson Square Park across Avenue B and E. 8th street. Today the park is calm and filled with green space that is defiantly not compared to the past. The park was built in 1834 and is 10 acres big named after Daniel D. Tompkins (ENY 107) . The park is known to have social protest for years, riots and revolt. (ENY 107) One big riot was in 1874 when police crushed a protest involving thousands of unemployed workers. After so many years of rioting from 1991 to 1992 the Parks Department and NYPD decided to evict the homeless and reconfigure the park that it would impossible to protest. (ENY107)
Finally we finish our long exhausting long day. I can honestly say I do not think I ever walked that much ever. I was so tired. I ended my day by taking the train the Williamsburg hanging by the bar until I had dinner later with my family at 9. It was very relaxing and fun. One thing I didn't get to eat was Big Gay Ice Cream but I will be back soon. =)
Until next time, hopefully it won’t be like today.