Hey friends and family. I've decided to post a blog about my New York Living experience rather than email you about it because it's easier for me to upload pictures and change / add information when I want.
As many of you know I had decided I wanted to go live in Manhattan for a couple of months. I've always been intrigued by the city and wanted an opportunity to get to know it more intimately. I also thought I would use this opportunity to help grow my business to the next level by attending various coaching seminars and networking events.
What I have seen and learnt here, I could not put into words. It has exceeded and continues to exceed my highest expectations. This is not to say that everything has been fun or easy since I got here, to say that would be an outright lie. This is a city of extremes. You are either on top of the world, or having this city serve you a beating on a platter. This city requires that you have a New York mindset. Failure to think like a New Yorker is an almost guarantee that the city will find a way to bring you to your knees having you scurrying to find the quickest way out of Manhattan and back home. Just ask Samantha about the night we accidentally stayed in the Marcy Projects, considered the MOST dangerous project in all of the united states in the 80's (which has since cleaned itself up a bit... thank God).
It took a while for me to get into the swing of things, but now as I write this I'm confident to say that I've figured New York out, or at least my small part of it. I don't think anyone can make the claim to actually "know" the city. New York is too complex, vast and ever changing to ever really get your head around what it really is. The island of Manhattan is a Vortex sucking in everything from Ideas, people, wealth, commerce and celebrities to less desirable things such as crime, greed and disease.
New York, and Manhattan Island in particular has the uncanny ability to change forever those who step foot in it. Even if you're from a big city, you'll need a new set of urban skills to get by here. Things such as social classes are much easier to distinguish in New York. Neighborhoods, often only a 15 minute walk from one another, contrast each other in housing type, race and the economic status of their residents. Here are a couple pictures of two neighborhoods that are located about a 15 minute walk from each other..
On the topic of neighborhoods, New York has some of the finest, most varied neighborhoods that a city can offer. I walk around quite a bit just to see the innovations this city has to offer. One of my favorite places to do this is SoHo, which simply stands for South of Houston. this neighborhood is home to some of the riches and hippest people in the city. high end boutiques, galleries, restaurants and bars line the streets. However, it lacks the boring the predictable feel that the equally, if not more rich, upper east and upper west sides offer. SoHo, like the rest of Manhattan is covered in Graffiti and offers you an assortment of interesting characters to look at who tend not to wander north of 14th street. There are also flee markets, funky cafe's, and few parks to hang out in. Below is a picture of SoHo
The greatest thing about New York, is that everybody is doing something and nobody cares what people think of them. Not only do they seem not to care, they appear to be oblivious to the fact that they are not the sole inhabbitant of Manhattan. The first thing I noticed when I got of the train is that New Yorkers could care less who is eavesdropping on their conversations. People speak to be heard here.
It's not just with small talk either. I hear people negotiating record deals, men getting rejected by women, business owners openly talking about their revenues and next business endeavors. However, there is no better place to hear the sounds of New York, than on the Subways. There was actually a book just published by someone who walks around New York and takes notes on all of the conversations they here. Here are a few snippets from that book.
Girl: I'm not going to the gym today.
Queer: Oh my god, this is like the gazillionth time you've cancelled. Honey, no offense, and I didn't wan't to have to tell you this, but you give me no choice. You're starting to get fat. You need to start going to the gym, like, every day or no man's gonna wan't you.
Girl: You gays are so fucking judgmental. Oh, and since I'm such a fat cow, you can go find someone else to help you stretch and have to deal with your sweaty balls in their face.
--Starbucks, Park Row
Girl #1: I hate my haircut. But it might just be in pictures. I need to look at myself in the mirror for a few hours.
Girl #2: Like you do every day?
Girl #1: Yeah, I'm a little vain.
--60th & Columbus
Grandma: Who is that? What's the commotion about?
Teen girl: It's Paris Hilton.
Grandma: Who is that?Teen girl: She's a media blowjob, Nana. Let's get a move on, we're late and Daddy's waiting for us at the hotel.
41st and 6th
Girl on cell: Can you hear me when I roll my eyes?
82nd and York
Woman on cell: Yeah, I have to go. I'm too distracted on the phone, and I don't trust anyone in this terminal. People are speaking Spanish behind me, if you know what I mean.
--LaGuardia
It doesn’t stop, people have the most ridiculous conversations and they don't care who hears them. Fantastic!
Another thing I noticed about countless people is that many of them are doing their own thing. As an entrepreneur myself I love meeting people who have started up or are in the process of starting up their own companies. Many of the people I've met operate their own magazines, started their own DJ companies, executive recruiting businesses, software development companies, real estate companies and the list goes on. There are also countless actors and models flooding this city in the hopes of finding work. They come here because they know that New York is the engine of celebrity creation.
Below is a picture I took in a park of a small photo shoot.
Another thing I love about the city is the contrast between new and old, clean and grungy. For example, New York has a subway system that looks like it has been burnt down a dozen times. It's dirty, noisy, obnoxious and is home to some of the cities craziest inhabitants. Here is a picture from the subway platform I take to get home.
I’d never see anything like this in Toronto. The music in the subways is great as well. One night I spent some time just getting off at popular stops to hear the subway performances. It's not like Toronto, which provides an old man with an accordion trying to make a buck, or a homeless guy who learnt to use the latest fisher price piano. New York subway musicians are phenomenal. Picture big bands, trumpets, saxophones, drums, harmony, soul, rock, R&B, African Music, South American Music, crowds... this is what Subway performance is in New York. On almost every level, this city does it big. There is no room for the fisher price piano in New York, you'd be lucky if you got a sympathy quarter.
Speaking of money, this is a city that requires you have money to stay here. One of the most expensive places to live in the world. Yup, New York loves money, and many within it's boarders share the love. To see this all you need to do is take a stroll uptown and see the lines of limo's, walk around midtown to see the assortment of 5 star hotels and restaurants or take a walk downtown to see the heart of it in the financial district. I walked around heavily protected wall street during rush hour once. I've never seen rat race, until I've seen that. Suits running around after trading is over trying to get back to their urban palaces. Here is a picture of wall street just before the sun goes down.
You can't avoid being influenced by the energy of this great city. New York City is a metaphor for effort, hard work and achievement. This city has overcome so many obstacles in it's day from draft and race riots to fixing up urban slum areas and getting back on its feet after having been so aggressively attacked. Now this city stands as one of the most admired cities in the world. And for good reason. It's a think tank, a celebrity creator, an economic powerhouse, and a Mecca for the artistic minded.
Its brilliance doesn't stop inspiring me. I spend a little bit of time, on almost a daily basis in one of this cities libraries. I get most of my work done there. I found the humanities and social science library on 42nd st the most amazing library of all and have been spending most of my time there. Here is a picture of the outside of the library.
I've also been trying to make it to church once a week, which in all honesty, I haven't done, but I have managed to make it every other week or so. Here is the St. Patrick’s church on 5th ave that I've been going to.
5th Ave is one of the most expensive streets on earth. Home to retail shops of the top designers, jewelers, and gadget makers. It's also the heart of the Rockefeller empire. I was actually walking down 5th ave one day thinking about the chaos the city went through during the depression. Executives and Brokers were literally jumping out of their office windows to meet certain death. As I was thinking about the stress and chaos of the city the man beside me, who was obviously on an important business call, had his cell phone cut out on him. Within a fraction of a second after getting disconnected he started swearing at the top of his lungs "you stupid F!@#ing twat phone.... fill in the rest yourself but be sure to include some of the most degrading sexually aggressive terms you know). He then grabbed his phone and started violently smashing it against a small pole that keeps traffic out of the Rockefeller center. He continued on with this escapade yelling his assortment of swear words, many of which were unknown to me until that day! He didn't stop until he there was nothing left of the phone. About a 2 minute ordeal in all that left his "8" button lodged in the cleat of my shoe. A cop sat on the other side of the street chuckling but most citizens just walk by as if seeing a suit attack his cell phone was as common occurrence. For me, such a sight was as uncommon as a hip dentist. Since this point, I have seen countless other events which has blown my hair back and I too am starting to become desensitized to them. ahh, New York!
This city is the world representative for power and wealth in America. Looking down wall st at 5pm, reading the cities financial papers or just mingling around the business class will give you a glimpse into New Yorkers insatiable desire for money and power. It's a glimpse into the soul of New York City.
New York is a hub for all of those who seek to get to the "inside". People flock here in the hopes of getting involved in the right social circles, meeting the right people and in doing so being launched into a higher social class. Many of Americas rich have homes in the city even if they don't live here on a year round basis. A Manhattan address is a social symbol and an identifier that you're either on the inside or looking for a way in.
This is not say however, that all living within Manhattan are well to do. The cities many different neighborhoods give way to an assortment of social classes and urban complexities. However, most of these people have their heritage in families coming to the island seeking a better life. Unfortunately the reality for many people is a life of struggle and below par living standards.
I've spent much time here in the village and in the Lower East side. two the manhattans young and hip areas to be. this was not always the case however. Not too long ago this city used to be plagued with crime and slums. These two areas were a couple of the worst neighborhoods in this part of Manhattan. However, in the 80's there was a dramatic turn around when various politicians, the most widely known being Mayor Giuliani, cleaned up the streets by arresting everybody. I've met numerous native Manhatanites who explain to me the process they saw take place in the East Village first, then the lower east side second. "Cop cars just lined the streets and busted everyone for anything" a friend told me. "even if you just j-walked, you’d get a ticket" she continued. The result was that the crime moved to other parts of the city. This continued until most of the crime and bad neighborhoods have been wiped out of Manhattan. The result is gentrified neighborhoods like I've never seen before. People have various views on the methods used to get the homeless, drug addicts and criminals off of the island. One girl told me "growing up in the East Village in the 80's had me watching my back all of the time. I had to be concerned with things like being mugged or raped. However, I also hated looking out my window and seeing walls of police cars push people out of the village. Many of these people, threw the greatest parities, did the best art and added to the culture of Manhattan. Now yuppies have moved in, started their own definition of "cool" businesses and have taken away the old culture of this area." Below is a picture of the East Village today.
Speaking of neighborhoods, there is not better place to see Manhattan than from the sky. Unlike many other cities manhattans skyline is tough to see from one angle. No one angle fully captures the size and scope of this island. Here is one picture taken of the east side of midtown only. This a very small fraction of the city.
Here is another small snippet of the skyline I took from the Brooklyn Bridge of the Downtown Area (agin a very small part of the whole island).
Since I've been here I've been fortunate enough to have met some great people. I also had some of my best friends come down and visit with me for a weekend. Here are a couple of pictures of Scott, Ruby and a I being so unambiguously homosexual.
Before they got here, I also had Samantha come into town for a weekend. Our first night, although adventurous, memorable and sometimes scary I’d soon rather forget. Thanks for being such a trooper baby! The next couple of nights were great. Filled with live music, bar hopping in Brooklyn, SoHo cruses, zoo's, central park, and a couple of simple nights in our pajamas sitting on our bed in our very New York room with a bottle of wine, sharing our ipod buds and chatting about our next adventures. for a guy who doesn't like to use the word "cute" too often, I’d have to say it is the only word to describe the atmosphere of those nights.
Once everybody left, it was just me and New York again. Even though I'm alone, I hardly notice it. Conversations surround me all the time, there are so many things to think about and I'm pretty good at meeting strangers to hang out with. The guy who rented me the place I'm living at right now took me out to Carnegie Hall the other night to hear one his friends perform in an Opera. Afterwards we all went out to an expensive Italian restaurant and ate and drank for free. why? I don't know, and I don't ask.
Being from Toronto and having many connections to people living in less populated areas I get a lot of slack. I hear people say things Like "I’d rather shoot myself than live in Toronto". "Ya, Toronto is okay, but it's too dangerous". "ew, I hate Toronto, it smells there" or the ever so stock comment "people in Toronto are too mean".
Having lived in Toronto for the last 8 years I can say with confidence that none of the above are true. Sure every now and again you'll get an unfriendly TTC operator give you attitude when you're trying to figure out what stop you need to get off in order to get stop at Palmerston, but for the most part Torontonians are helpful and most of us don't "pack gats". I think many people who are unnecessarily negative and crass towards large cities harbor a secret sense of envy and they find that this type of offensive behavior makes them appear confident with their decision to keep life more predictable and small.
Whatever the reasons may be, people hold the same aggressive distaste towards New Yorkers. "I hate New York", "New York smells like shit", "New Yorkers are too rushed and angry". Again, being here for over a month now and running into hundreds of people and interacting with thousands I can say that this city (next to Athens, Greece and on par with Toronto) is one of the friendliest cities I've ever been to. People are quick to lend a helping hand, smiles are everywhere and it only smells like shit in certain neighborhoods at certain times of the year.
sure, it's aggressive and fast paced but that's half the thrill. Its city life and it makes life interesting. I think some of the hatred of all big cities stems from "little brother complex". New York is big, popular, rich and confident, and it knows it. From a little brother perspective what’s not to hate. Reminders of this cities confidence are everywhere. Just look at the following street sign for example. This is called, big brother rubbing it in little brothers face.
There is no escaping the fact that you're in New York. Reminders come in all shapes and sizes and surround you all times of the day. Central park is a classic example of this cities confidence. In the 19th century New Yorkers decided they needed a way to escape the daily grind of the city. However, instead of leaving the island and venturing to less populated parts of the state, they decided to bring the country to them. That's confidence!
Central Park, an 840 acre park was built to duplicate the feeling of being in the country. You can go boating on a pond, have a picnic in a park, go snowboarding on a hill, or just relax under a tree. The park is filled with birds, frogs, fish, squirrels and other animals that would normally only be seen in rural areas.
Brooklyn Bridge is another example of New York’s confidence in itself. Never before has such a feat been accomplished. During it's time, it was one of the tallest structures in American history. Never had anything of its size and magnitude been constructed before. However, New Yorkers didn't let the fact that this bridge would push the limits of modern day engineering to its limits stop them from constructing it. This attitude is representative of Manhattans confidence with itself on many different levels.
One of the things I love most about New York is its age. It's old and it looks it. Even the best neighborhoods in the city have a grungy feel to them. Barbwire and graffiti are everywhere, roads are torn up and windows are broken. Here is a picture I took of Chinatown when things were closing down.
Here is a picture I took in SoHo. it's hard to tell in this picture but the road is uneven, there is graffiti on almost all businesses, there are dumpsters on the side of the road and colorful buildings line the street. This is one of the cities premier and most expensive places to live but an outsider might have a hard time seeing that by just looking around.
I took this picture in a park in SoHo.
The combination of old stuctures standing beside new structures give the city a unique feel that not many cities inside of north america offer.
Gas lit lamps line city hall park
New York doesn't simply have parking lots, instead they have parking skyscrapers. This is a small one (only two stories), but as you can see they actually have to park cars on top of each other to make room. These are often 3-4 levels tall. I don't know how they get the cars down. But I kind of like the mystery of it, so I'm not going to ask.
I've included this shot becuase it's a very average New York look. for those of you who haven't been to New York before, I'm hoping to give you a good feel for what the city looks and feels like. This intersections looks similar to hundreds of others in the midtown area.
We'll that’s' it for now. I hope to have both informed you of my life in Manhattan and given you a glimpse into the city of New York. For those of you who haven't been to the city, I highly recommend you check it out. For others, such as my wicked rock and roll hippy mom who can't see New York because she has a criminal record from growing "herb" because she thought it looked "pretty", you can live vicariously through me.
I love you all and I hope to see everyone soon!!!
High fives and hugs and kisses to everyone.
Labels: New York
