Journals 1-4
1. Impressions of NYC
Being a native New Yorker I had always felt at home in the Big Apple. I was always telling my friends outside of New York how much fun I would have going out in the city; there is so much to do so many places to see. It would take a lifetime to do it all. I was born in Brooklyn; a borough of the city, and then later moved to Long Island where I have lived for the past 17 years. I have spent most of my nights in the city at the famous Madison Square Garden.
From visiting family to going sports events I would always have an excuse to go into the city. I am a big basketball fan and would always love going in to see my Knicks play. There is literality too much to do in the city; you have to decide from going to one of the thousands of museums, Times Square, Broadway, any amazing restaurant, or go to one of the trendy stores and stay up to date with your wardrobe and cant forget going to support a New York team. Despite the amount of times I have gone to city I still feel like I know nothing about it. I may know more than the average person but there is still so much that I have not done or seen in the city and are on my bucket list to get done. Some people can’t stand the city and others can’t live anywhere else. The fast pace lifestyle is scary to some but I have learned to embrace to chaos and fit in when I am visiting. I am excited to visit some places in the city that I have not seen yet and broaden my horizons; I hope everyone can keep up!
Being a native New Yorker I had always felt at home in the Big Apple. I was always telling my friends outside of New York how much fun I would have going out in the city; there is so much to do so many places to see. It would take a lifetime to do it all. I was born in Brooklyn; a borough of the city, and then later moved to Long Island where I have lived for the past 17 years. I have spent most of my nights in the city at the famous Madison Square Garden.
From visiting family to going sports events I would always have an excuse to go into the city. I am a big basketball fan and would always love going in to see my Knicks play. There is literality too much to do in the city; you have to decide from going to one of the thousands of museums, Times Square, Broadway, any amazing restaurant, or go to one of the trendy stores and stay up to date with your wardrobe and cant forget going to support a New York team. Despite the amount of times I have gone to city I still feel like I know nothing about it. I may know more than the average person but there is still so much that I have not done or seen in the city and are on my bucket list to get done. Some people can’t stand the city and others can’t live anywhere else. The fast pace lifestyle is scary to some but I have learned to embrace to chaos and fit in when I am visiting. I am excited to visit some places in the city that I have not seen yet and broaden my horizons; I hope everyone can keep up!
2. Queens: The most diverse place
So, waking up for the second Friday Gotham City class and we are going to Queens today. I remembered from the first class how we did not wait for anyone, the class left Pennsylvania Station at exactly 11:00am; there was no time to waste. From penn. station we hopped on the E train. From the E train we transferred to the 7 train; “The best way to experience Queens…The 7 train has been nicknamed the “International Express” because of its route takes passengers though some of the most ethnically diverse communities in North America.” (Essential New York pg. 215) This is so important to the United States history and culture that it has been named one of the 16 National Millennium Trails. We took the 7 to Willets-Point, which I was familiar with from going to a couple baseball games at Citi Field (not really a Mets fan but always New York fan) and also going to the 2013 U.S. Open, which was a really cool experience. We walked down the boardwalk from the subway and got good glimpses of both stadiums.
We continued to walk down this paved path toward the famous Unisphere. (we were a lucky group that got to see it with the water on) “Queens officially became a borough of New York City on May 4, 1897 by a vote of the New York State Legislature.” (Essential New York pg. 214) Queens never had developed a name for its self until the Worlds Fair. There were two that were held in Flushing Meadow. The first was in 1939-1940 with a theme of “the world of tomorrow” (Essential New York pg. 219) the second Worlds Fair that took place in Flushing Meadows was the 1964-1965 fair. This theme was “Peace Through Understanding” (Essential New York pg. 220). This is the time period when Queens was transformed from a garbage dump full of ashes to the city we know it as now. Robert Moses was elected for the parks commissioner and was in charge of designing the flushing Meadows Park and he took advantage of that to finish what he had already started. I could only imagine how amazing this world fair was from hearing stories from my Grandparents and father. A lot of people equate it to the Epoch world at Disney World Theme Park in Florida, how you would be able to get a taste of every culture in the world in one location. We then made our way over to the Queens Museum of Art. “The highlight of the museum is the panorama of the City of New York, which was created for the 1964-1965 World’s fair. Covering more than 9,335 square feet and containing more than 895,000 buildings, the panorama was built to a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet and includes every building in New York constructed before 1992.” (Essential New York pg. 221) This installation was really amazing to look at. It gave me great perspectives of how the city is set up and really how densely populated we are. As we walked around to the side of the rockaway’s I was able to pick out my aunt’s exact house along the beach, it was incredible how exact this panorama replica was to the city. After the museum we headed into Astoria Queens where we were going to have an authentic Indian meal for lunch. We went to Jackson Diner. I was really nervous going to this restaurant. I have tried some Indian food before and it was not a flavor I really enjoyed, but I am an optimistic person and gave it another try. To my surprise this food was enjoyable and I ate a whole plate with a little of everything.
After lunch we made our way over to the Museum of Moving Image. This place was really cool. They had a lot of hands on exhibits in this museum. There was this one exhibit that was able to record our voices and dub them over the original lyrics to a movie clip; Maria and I chose School of Rock, it was hilarious! There were some cool picture illusions that were there and they showed you're the secret behind them. In another area of the museum they showed you works of live television and how they work. It was really interesting seeing how they look at so many different screens at once and chose which are going to be the live feed. After seeing this at the museum I went to the Today Show for NBC and then got a tour of the behind the scenes and it was very similar with many TV screens and a head guy calling out what he wants to see on the live feed. After this we made our last stop to Long Island City. While we were in the subway Professor Mike told us all to keep an eye on the buildings and structures around us and see how drastically they changed as we walked towards to water. “Long Island City has been undergoing a rapid transformation in recent years. From once being a predominantly industrial area, a wave of gentrification has transformed parts of Long Island City – and in particular those areas by the waterfront – into highly desirable communities for affluent New Yorkers who want to be close to Manhattan without having to pay Manhattan real estate prices.” (Essential New York pg. 223) This was true as we were walking down the block; there was construction of a new apartment building right along the water. We also got a look at the famous Pepsi Cola sign which “has become an informal East River Landmark and a symbol of Long Island City’s industrial past.” (Essential New York pg. 226)
This day in Queens was a long day. We did a lot of walking and traveling from different parts of Queens. Our professors said it, people you talk to say, and everyone knows it, Queens in the most culturally diverse borough of New York and we got a sense of that today walking around.
So, waking up for the second Friday Gotham City class and we are going to Queens today. I remembered from the first class how we did not wait for anyone, the class left Pennsylvania Station at exactly 11:00am; there was no time to waste. From penn. station we hopped on the E train. From the E train we transferred to the 7 train; “The best way to experience Queens…The 7 train has been nicknamed the “International Express” because of its route takes passengers though some of the most ethnically diverse communities in North America.” (Essential New York pg. 215) This is so important to the United States history and culture that it has been named one of the 16 National Millennium Trails. We took the 7 to Willets-Point, which I was familiar with from going to a couple baseball games at Citi Field (not really a Mets fan but always New York fan) and also going to the 2013 U.S. Open, which was a really cool experience. We walked down the boardwalk from the subway and got good glimpses of both stadiums.
We continued to walk down this paved path toward the famous Unisphere. (we were a lucky group that got to see it with the water on) “Queens officially became a borough of New York City on May 4, 1897 by a vote of the New York State Legislature.” (Essential New York pg. 214) Queens never had developed a name for its self until the Worlds Fair. There were two that were held in Flushing Meadow. The first was in 1939-1940 with a theme of “the world of tomorrow” (Essential New York pg. 219) the second Worlds Fair that took place in Flushing Meadows was the 1964-1965 fair. This theme was “Peace Through Understanding” (Essential New York pg. 220). This is the time period when Queens was transformed from a garbage dump full of ashes to the city we know it as now. Robert Moses was elected for the parks commissioner and was in charge of designing the flushing Meadows Park and he took advantage of that to finish what he had already started. I could only imagine how amazing this world fair was from hearing stories from my Grandparents and father. A lot of people equate it to the Epoch world at Disney World Theme Park in Florida, how you would be able to get a taste of every culture in the world in one location. We then made our way over to the Queens Museum of Art. “The highlight of the museum is the panorama of the City of New York, which was created for the 1964-1965 World’s fair. Covering more than 9,335 square feet and containing more than 895,000 buildings, the panorama was built to a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet and includes every building in New York constructed before 1992.” (Essential New York pg. 221) This installation was really amazing to look at. It gave me great perspectives of how the city is set up and really how densely populated we are. As we walked around to the side of the rockaway’s I was able to pick out my aunt’s exact house along the beach, it was incredible how exact this panorama replica was to the city. After the museum we headed into Astoria Queens where we were going to have an authentic Indian meal for lunch. We went to Jackson Diner. I was really nervous going to this restaurant. I have tried some Indian food before and it was not a flavor I really enjoyed, but I am an optimistic person and gave it another try. To my surprise this food was enjoyable and I ate a whole plate with a little of everything.
After lunch we made our way over to the Museum of Moving Image. This place was really cool. They had a lot of hands on exhibits in this museum. There was this one exhibit that was able to record our voices and dub them over the original lyrics to a movie clip; Maria and I chose School of Rock, it was hilarious! There were some cool picture illusions that were there and they showed you're the secret behind them. In another area of the museum they showed you works of live television and how they work. It was really interesting seeing how they look at so many different screens at once and chose which are going to be the live feed. After seeing this at the museum I went to the Today Show for NBC and then got a tour of the behind the scenes and it was very similar with many TV screens and a head guy calling out what he wants to see on the live feed. After this we made our last stop to Long Island City. While we were in the subway Professor Mike told us all to keep an eye on the buildings and structures around us and see how drastically they changed as we walked towards to water. “Long Island City has been undergoing a rapid transformation in recent years. From once being a predominantly industrial area, a wave of gentrification has transformed parts of Long Island City – and in particular those areas by the waterfront – into highly desirable communities for affluent New Yorkers who want to be close to Manhattan without having to pay Manhattan real estate prices.” (Essential New York pg. 223) This was true as we were walking down the block; there was construction of a new apartment building right along the water. We also got a look at the famous Pepsi Cola sign which “has become an informal East River Landmark and a symbol of Long Island City’s industrial past.” (Essential New York pg. 226)
This day in Queens was a long day. We did a lot of walking and traveling from different parts of Queens. Our professors said it, people you talk to say, and everyone knows it, Queens in the most culturally diverse borough of New York and we got a sense of that today walking around.
3. Brooklyn's in the House
Today we were going to adventure into the borough of Brooklyn. Our first stop of the day was Coney Island! I was so excited for the day since we were starting with Coney Island. I have some good memories over the summers coming here with the family and riding the cyclone and the wonder wheel, “it continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attraction.” (Essential New York pg. 193) When we first arrived we were given a free hour to explore the park and grab some lunch. Maria and I ran for the cyclone. “The Cyclone is the granddaddy of them all – one of the original rollercoaster’s from yesteryear. And its bone shaking ricketiness is precisely what separates it from the more generic rides you’ll find in places like Disneyworld. If that doesn't excite you, just consider that this roller-coaster is so old that it could collapse at any time while you’re riding on it!” (Essential New York pg 196) That's what is exactly going through my head when I’m riding it, is this going to be the last one and the whole thing collapse on me...? I was surprised no other student came on with us. But afterwards we met up with some other students and grabbed a hotdog from Nathans. It wouldn't be a complete Coney Island trip if we didn't get a Nathans Famous hotdog. Coney Island has been bringing joy to many families and generations and we need to preserve this area to keep its legacy going. After we “The future of Coney Island remains uncertain… But locals in the Coney Island community are fighting to preserve the weird, funky vibe the Coney Island has been known for. (Essential New York pg 194)
Our next stop for the day was to the New York City Transit Museum. It was really cool walking into this museum because this place was once a real working subway station. Our tour guide said that this exhibit was originally a temporary one but then with its popularity it has become a permanent one and is here to stay. She talked about all the people that it took to build these subway systems and the amount of people that they lost in the process of it. This was a really dangerous job, but the benefits and wages paid off. With the completion of the underground public transportation the city was really able to expand and take off. People were able to live farther from work and commute more easily. This transportation changed the way the work forced lived and traveled. In another section of the museum there were train carts from all different eras. This was really cool; so interesting how the carts changed through the years, from the style and the materials that they used inside of them. It was also really cool to see a lot of the original advertisements still inside of them. They were pretty funny. There were a few companies that are still around today that I saw inside the carts. It was very interesting talking a walk through history in these retired train carts.
Brooklyn Heights is where we were headed to next. I always tell myself that one-day I am going to live in a part of Brooklyn, and walking down the street looking at all the beautiful brownstones affirmed my desire to move. Then in this specific section of Brooklyn called DUMBO standing for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass was a beautiful park area. We saw a few brides getting their pictures taken and many families just enjoying the scenery. In this area was this carousel. This carousel went under a lot of restoration by this women Jane and is now called Jane’s Carousel. There is this glass box around the carousel to help protect it from the harsh weather conditions. This glass box cost an enormous 9 million dollars. It is supposed to represent a jewelry box and have the carousel of display, if you ask me that is one expensive glass box. Our last task of the day was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. This bridge is the oldest suspension bridge around and is a little longer than 19 football fields.
This was one of the best days so far in class. I don't know if it was because we started with Coney Island or if it all just fit together so well but the time went fast. Like every day I was beat at they end of it all and ready to go home and relax. Cant wait for next week.
Today we were going to adventure into the borough of Brooklyn. Our first stop of the day was Coney Island! I was so excited for the day since we were starting with Coney Island. I have some good memories over the summers coming here with the family and riding the cyclone and the wonder wheel, “it continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attraction.” (Essential New York pg. 193) When we first arrived we were given a free hour to explore the park and grab some lunch. Maria and I ran for the cyclone. “The Cyclone is the granddaddy of them all – one of the original rollercoaster’s from yesteryear. And its bone shaking ricketiness is precisely what separates it from the more generic rides you’ll find in places like Disneyworld. If that doesn't excite you, just consider that this roller-coaster is so old that it could collapse at any time while you’re riding on it!” (Essential New York pg 196) That's what is exactly going through my head when I’m riding it, is this going to be the last one and the whole thing collapse on me...? I was surprised no other student came on with us. But afterwards we met up with some other students and grabbed a hotdog from Nathans. It wouldn't be a complete Coney Island trip if we didn't get a Nathans Famous hotdog. Coney Island has been bringing joy to many families and generations and we need to preserve this area to keep its legacy going. After we “The future of Coney Island remains uncertain… But locals in the Coney Island community are fighting to preserve the weird, funky vibe the Coney Island has been known for. (Essential New York pg 194)
Our next stop for the day was to the New York City Transit Museum. It was really cool walking into this museum because this place was once a real working subway station. Our tour guide said that this exhibit was originally a temporary one but then with its popularity it has become a permanent one and is here to stay. She talked about all the people that it took to build these subway systems and the amount of people that they lost in the process of it. This was a really dangerous job, but the benefits and wages paid off. With the completion of the underground public transportation the city was really able to expand and take off. People were able to live farther from work and commute more easily. This transportation changed the way the work forced lived and traveled. In another section of the museum there were train carts from all different eras. This was really cool; so interesting how the carts changed through the years, from the style and the materials that they used inside of them. It was also really cool to see a lot of the original advertisements still inside of them. They were pretty funny. There were a few companies that are still around today that I saw inside the carts. It was very interesting talking a walk through history in these retired train carts.
Brooklyn Heights is where we were headed to next. I always tell myself that one-day I am going to live in a part of Brooklyn, and walking down the street looking at all the beautiful brownstones affirmed my desire to move. Then in this specific section of Brooklyn called DUMBO standing for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass was a beautiful park area. We saw a few brides getting their pictures taken and many families just enjoying the scenery. In this area was this carousel. This carousel went under a lot of restoration by this women Jane and is now called Jane’s Carousel. There is this glass box around the carousel to help protect it from the harsh weather conditions. This glass box cost an enormous 9 million dollars. It is supposed to represent a jewelry box and have the carousel of display, if you ask me that is one expensive glass box. Our last task of the day was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. This bridge is the oldest suspension bridge around and is a little longer than 19 football fields.
This was one of the best days so far in class. I don't know if it was because we started with Coney Island or if it all just fit together so well but the time went fast. Like every day I was beat at they end of it all and ready to go home and relax. Cant wait for next week.
4. Chelsea and The Village
Just another Friday morning meeting at Penn Station for my Gotham class but we changed it up today and started out with walking instead of the subway to our first destination. As we were walking through the station to the staircase out, I remember Mike telling us a brief history about the station. Such as that this station is the busiest station in the United States (Essential New York pg 113) I always knew that this was a busy station but never knew it was the busiest. This was also the second station here to be called the Pennsylvania Station. The reason for this was because of the company that built the station was the Pennsylvania Railroad. (Essential New York pg 113). The original Penn station was built in 1910 by three men McKim, Meade and White and it was considered a master piece, locals tried to protest to not tear it down but it became too expensive to maintain. (Essential New York ph 114) This new “replacement” penn station is extremely ugly compared to the old original one.
We made it out from the darkness of the subway station and walked towards 30th street and 10th ave., this brought us to the bottom of the Highline. I’ve been here before, I really enjoyed my time here between the water views, the street views, all the plants, and few cafes and all the cool artwork around, the whole walk keeps you occupied every second. We didn't get see much of the high line but it was cool. The Highline came around by this non-profit group that rescued it from being demolished. (Essential New York pg. 84) The old rail track was not in since 1980 and for almost two decades was left abandoned. In 1999 the non-profit group rescued it and transformed it into the park we see it as today. There are all native plants in the park and are arranged to get maximum color and beauty through the spring, summer and fall seasons. (Essential New York pg. 84)
After coming off of the Highline we walked through the streets of Chelsea and walked into a few of the dozen of art galleries. I found this really interesting. I have a small interest in art and sculptures. It was crazy to hear the amount of money that some of sculptures we saw went for. Despite how much I enjoyed looking at the art, I would never buy this art for that price. I liked the gallery with all the painted faces. It was cool how they made the paint so thick with all different points and depressions. It gave the painting a sense of movement from the shadows that were created. After the galleries we continued to walk to Washington Square Park where we saw the oldest tree in New York City. Honestly that impressed, that tree has been through it all experienced all of New York Cities changes. (Makes you feel insignificant) This tree was called “Hangman Elm” because of all the public executions that used to take place at that tree back in the day. I wonder how many more years that tree will live?
Unlike the tree which wont get preserved to live on forever the Merchants house that we went to was persevered from the original state in 1832. Seabury Treadwell was the homeowner of this home and lived here with his wife, 8 children and 4 servants. We got a tour of the house and they explained to us the way life was for them back then. Every room we went into had a specific name and purpose. What I found really cool about the house was the internal communication system. There was wiring along the ceiling connected to bells in the kitchen and each bell was connected to a room, so when any of the bells rang the servant would know that someone needed the assistance and which room they were in. After the tour we went to Tompkin Park. Immediately when we entered I didn't really like it. It just had a weird feeling, not one that I get at a park. Mike pointed out that the whole park was fenced off and that none of the green grass was accessible. The reason for this was the crazy riots that have taken place there in the past. (Essential New York pg. 107) I think the city has changed and they should reopen the green spaces in New York and let them be enjoyed.
Just another Friday morning meeting at Penn Station for my Gotham class but we changed it up today and started out with walking instead of the subway to our first destination. As we were walking through the station to the staircase out, I remember Mike telling us a brief history about the station. Such as that this station is the busiest station in the United States (Essential New York pg 113) I always knew that this was a busy station but never knew it was the busiest. This was also the second station here to be called the Pennsylvania Station. The reason for this was because of the company that built the station was the Pennsylvania Railroad. (Essential New York pg 113). The original Penn station was built in 1910 by three men McKim, Meade and White and it was considered a master piece, locals tried to protest to not tear it down but it became too expensive to maintain. (Essential New York ph 114) This new “replacement” penn station is extremely ugly compared to the old original one.
We made it out from the darkness of the subway station and walked towards 30th street and 10th ave., this brought us to the bottom of the Highline. I’ve been here before, I really enjoyed my time here between the water views, the street views, all the plants, and few cafes and all the cool artwork around, the whole walk keeps you occupied every second. We didn't get see much of the high line but it was cool. The Highline came around by this non-profit group that rescued it from being demolished. (Essential New York pg. 84) The old rail track was not in since 1980 and for almost two decades was left abandoned. In 1999 the non-profit group rescued it and transformed it into the park we see it as today. There are all native plants in the park and are arranged to get maximum color and beauty through the spring, summer and fall seasons. (Essential New York pg. 84)
After coming off of the Highline we walked through the streets of Chelsea and walked into a few of the dozen of art galleries. I found this really interesting. I have a small interest in art and sculptures. It was crazy to hear the amount of money that some of sculptures we saw went for. Despite how much I enjoyed looking at the art, I would never buy this art for that price. I liked the gallery with all the painted faces. It was cool how they made the paint so thick with all different points and depressions. It gave the painting a sense of movement from the shadows that were created. After the galleries we continued to walk to Washington Square Park where we saw the oldest tree in New York City. Honestly that impressed, that tree has been through it all experienced all of New York Cities changes. (Makes you feel insignificant) This tree was called “Hangman Elm” because of all the public executions that used to take place at that tree back in the day. I wonder how many more years that tree will live?
Unlike the tree which wont get preserved to live on forever the Merchants house that we went to was persevered from the original state in 1832. Seabury Treadwell was the homeowner of this home and lived here with his wife, 8 children and 4 servants. We got a tour of the house and they explained to us the way life was for them back then. Every room we went into had a specific name and purpose. What I found really cool about the house was the internal communication system. There was wiring along the ceiling connected to bells in the kitchen and each bell was connected to a room, so when any of the bells rang the servant would know that someone needed the assistance and which room they were in. After the tour we went to Tompkin Park. Immediately when we entered I didn't really like it. It just had a weird feeling, not one that I get at a park. Mike pointed out that the whole park was fenced off and that none of the green grass was accessible. The reason for this was the crazy riots that have taken place there in the past. (Essential New York pg. 107) I think the city has changed and they should reopen the green spaces in New York and let them be enjoyed.