Reflections on my Gotham experience

When i registered for the class, i did it because i wanted a class that was stress free and one that would not require a lot of papers and other assignments on top of my other nursing classes. I remember our first day of class to Queens and i started to have regrets about taking the class because of all the walking we were doing in the sun but as we progressed through the classes, my whole mind set changed. I have been living in Queens for 12 years now and never took the initiative to explore it mainly because people usually associate finding things to do in the city. After exploring Queens, i was surprised of all the many different things that are there to explore such as the Queens Museum of the Moving Image. I really enjoyed going there because of the history that i learned about it and to also know that that area was the Hollywood back in the days like who would have thought that?.
Next it was Brooklyn; i guess you can say most people associate crimes with Brooklyn and i have been there a few times but never to hang out, it was always in and out. My favorite part during our Brooklyn exploration was going to Coney Island; the weather was perfect that day and it just made me feel relaxed because everyone was going about their business and enjoying the beautiful day and weather. I also liked the fact that Mike let us explored on our own and we got to go to the Flea Market and do a little jewelry shopping. Even though the day consisted of a lot of walking and exploration, i enjoyed it.
Now off to exploring the Enchanting Eastside. Being in the Eastside and exploring everything it has to offer was breathtaking especially walking through Central Park.My favorite part of the day was going to the Met Museum. I shocked myself that i actually enjoyed going there because i don't like museums or art but i found myself drawn to some of the pieces that were there especially Warhol's  art exhibition.
I wasn't too crazy about Williamsburg because it reminded me so much of LIC. I think just seeing LIC will do. Only thing that i liked about the day was visiting the Sketchbook Museum Project. The whole idea behind the museum is captivating because it allows people to express themselves and allow other people to see their talents. The rest of the two classes, Harlem and Lower Manhattan i enjoyed to a certain degree; i just felt tortured going to the art galleries especially in Lower Manhattan. I couldn't see the art through any of the pieces that i saw even though i tried to fake it.My favorite class was my last :(. It was fun learning about the immigrants and also going to the Tenement Museum and learning the stories about the Moore family and to top our day off, we finished with a great tour guide through the Lower Eastside, the Bowery, and parts of Little Italy and Chinatown. Overall i'm glad i had the opportunity to take this class. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and i've seen some places that i would want to revisit again.
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Immigrant New York

I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of my bed even though i should be happy that it was the last day of class but because it was raining i was so tempted to stay in my bed but then i thought to myself i might as well suck it up because I've done this for about 6 weeks now. As usual I'm always the early bird and likes to be on time so i left my house 9am to catch the Q83 and hopped on the E train. By the time i got to Penn Station it was 10:20 so i walked around to kill time and wait for the rest of the students and the professor to start. I also made sure that i put money on my metro card so i wouldn't have to do so when we were getting ready to leave and to my surprise as we getting ready to hop on the F train to Delancy Street, i swiped my card and it wouldn't work. I tried to yell out to Vanessa but she was already gone so i stayed to put money on my card since there were no students from my group behind. Thinking that they would wait, by the time i swiped my card i didn't see which direction they went or even saw anyone from the class. I ran up the stairs trying to get signal so i made a few calls to Mike and of course no answer ( he's famous for that). I also tried to call Vanessa but her phone seemed to be off. By this time I'm sweating and getting irritated. Thank God i have a smartphone so i went on the website to get the class schedule to see which train i was suppose to take and where to get off at. I went down the ramp to wait on the F train and it was taking so long and by then my patience level was not so great. I was about to go home to my bed and enjoy my rainy day in if the train didn't come. Finally the train came and i got on there and got off at Delancy Street. Once i got off the train i exited on the west side( good thing i did that) and once again i called Mike's phone multiple of times and no answer and to my luck as I'm walking, i saw Makeda and the rest of the class across the street from Essex Street Market. I wanted to make a comment to Mike but i don't think he even realized that a student was missing. By this time it was pouring(worst than when we were in Times Square), so we decided to walk a few blocks to the Tenement Museum a bit early and waited until our tour guide arrived. This museum was a former tenement that was founded in 1988 to preserve the heritage of the nation's immigrants, honoring the millions who lived on the Lower East Side and in other immigrant ghettos (BG,p.122). The museum includes five apartments in a  six-story Italianate brownstone have been restored to their 19th century appearance to recreate the experiences of the families who lived there (BG,p.122). Tenements were built to exploit all available space and maximize the return for the landlord and this was one of many horrors of immigrant life(BG,p.122). The tour focused on the Moore family who was an Irish family living in a German community. When we got to the museum, we watched about four songs that was in the form of news that talked about the hardships that the Irish people faced. One of the major problem was that the Irish were being discriminated against and they could not apply for jobs which made it hard on them because a tenement around that time cost around $10 a month. One of the songs was talking about how these people would drink spoiled milk that consisted of ammonia,bleach,and other substances and people would die from drinking the milk even babies. After listening to the songs, we went to another section of the museum where we saw three small rooms, a bedroom, the kitchen,and a parlor. The tour guide told us you would find four families living in one floor with at least 12 people in a family. The rooms were not big either but that wasn't even the half of it. The living conditions were horrible; everyone in the tenement used one source of water and bathroom and in order to get access to the water, they would have to climb 5 floors down to go use it and on top of that there was no electricity around that time. People didn't have electricity and indoor toilets until the early 1900's. Joseph Moore lived in the tenement with his wife,Bridget and their three daughters. Joseph worked as a waiter earning $20 to try to make a " better" life for his family. We learned that their youngest daughter got sick and because there was no medicine at that time except for opium and alcohol a.k.a " the cure of all diseases" and eventually their youngest daughter died. After the death of their daughter, they moved. We also got to get a look at another family, the Katz, who lived on the same floor as the Moore's. We saw a couple of things that they left behind such as toothbrush,comb,shampoo and a small milk jug.I really enjoyed the museum because i had the privilege of learning what these families went through and to think that around that time the upper east side was flourishing while others were suffering and no one seemed to care..



After the museum, we walked a short distance to enjoy our final meal together at the super-authentic Congee Village. We had two big tables and we all had sesame chicken,vegetables,pork fried rice and fried chicken. I enjoyed the food,the only thing i did not like was the noodles. It was funny because a few students wanted to try bubble tea and they were told that they didn't have anymore and then the waiters came out with what looked like chocolate milk so we tried it and it was funny because we did not know what was in there. The other students and i had a ball messing with Meritta's head. Right after lunch we met with a local historian who guided us  on an Immigrant New York walking tours that took us through the Lower Eastside, the Bowery, and parts of Little Italy and Chinatown. I don't usually like tours but i knew that i was going to enjoy this tour because the tour guide was a college student just like we are so it made it easier to relate to him. He gave us a little background on the immigrants and we learned that some of the immigrants who migrated did not all go to one place; some went to areas that were specific to where they originated from.Our first stop was the Forward Building,which became the office for the Jewish Daily Forward. George Boehn designed the building in 1912. and it became the largest Yiddish-language paper of its time.The Jewish Daily Forward was secular and focused on issues of labor and assimilation http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/the-forward-building .  Next we talked about the Eldridge Street Synagogue which was built in 1887. It was built by Eastern European Jews. When it first opened, hundreds of newly arrived immigrants from Russia and Poland gathered there to pray, socialize and build a community.It was a place where the Jews could worship openly and freely.The synagogue represented newly- found religious freedom for its immigrant founders and it was also a symbol of their economic aspirations. With its soaring 50-foot ceiling and exuberant Moorish-style interior, Eldridge Street provided an inspiring contrast to the crowded tenements, factories and shops of the Lower East Side http://www.eldridgestreet.org/history/history.
Our next exploration on the agenda was Chinatown.While many of Manhattan's other ethnic enclaves are shrinking or gentrifying, Chinatown is expanding eastward beyond its original boundaries into the Lower East Side and northward into Little Italy. Chinatown offers the neighborhood ambiance,bargains,food,knockoff designer handbags and perfume ( BG,p.107). Chinatown remains plagued by poverty,overcrowding,and physical deterioration; its housing and business space is largely substandard.It supports an underground economy that includes sweatshop labor,counterfeiting,and the smuggling of illegal immigrants (BG,p.108). We walked along Doyers Street which was originally a cart lane.It was once known as " Bloody Angle" recalling the turn of the 20th century tong war during which the two powerful families, the Hip Sings and On Leongs battled each other (BG,p.112). We came across the Church of the Transfiguration which was built as the Zion Episcopal Church that now serves as a Roman Catholic parish with masses given in English, Cantonese,and Mandarin (BG,p.112).Our last stop of the day was Little Italy. Little Italy is an ethnic enclave dating from the 1880s that has become increasingly Asian in recent years. The Italian population has moved away and today Little Italy has become a tourist draw,attracting visitors to its cafes,restaurants,and ethnic food stores (BG,p.114). We wrapped up the class and thanked our tour guide. I really enjoyed his tour because he knew what he was talking about and he didn't bore us. We parted ways from the teachers and me and Vanessa went to do a little fashion to finish the day.

Lower Manhattan & Captivating Chelsea

I woke up this morning wanting to stay in my bed because i could tell that it was cold outside and oh boy was it a FREEZING day out! We took the E train to lower Manhattan and walked to where the  World Trade Center towers once stood. Standing where the World Trade Center once now stood The Freedom Tower or One World Trade Center. In commemoration of that dreadful day on September 11, 2001, The Freedom Tower is a replacement of what was once New York's World Trade Center and it represents new growth. It is there to remember those who lost their lives and serve as a way to heal the scar on a nation. The new tower will pay homage to the twin towers by several ways in that the base of the Freedom Tower will be 200 feet square just the same dimensions as the original towers, the observation deck will be at 1,362 feet: the height of World Trade Center Tower Two and the glass parapet will be at 1,368 feet: the height of World Trade Center Tower One http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/439.php. The view of the building was beautiful and although a lot people ridicule this design and was not receptive of this recreation, the fact that the building is almost completed shows that this building is not about what people think, the meaning is much greater than that; it's there to represent us as a nation that stand as one no matter what the obstacles are and also to remember those who lost their lives and the families who have to suffer as a result of these losses. After taking in the beautiful view of the Freedom Tower, we walked to St. Paul's Chapel & Churchyard. The chapel is Manhattan's only remaining colonial church, built as a subsidiary chapel of Trinity Church for worshipers who lived too far uptown to make it down to Wall St. During the British occupation, St Paul's Chapel served British officers as their house of worship. It was also used by George Washington following his inauguration as Federal Hall ( BG,p.77). From the outside, i could see tombstones outside with flags honoring some of those who died during 9/11. After the World Trade Center disaster, the chapel served as both a place of refuge for workers at Ground Zero and as a temporary memorial for visitors, who attached messages and memorials to the fence in front of the church ( BG,p.77). The outside of the church looks nothing like the inside; when i entered the church, i was amazed of how beautiful it looked. The interior is painted in pale colors graced by slender Corinthian columns supporting a barrel- vaulted ceiling. The Palladian window glazed with clear glass on the chancel wall and the 14 Waterford crystal chandeliers which survived the shock waves of the collapsing Twin Towers (BG, p.78). As i walk around the church, i could feel the emotions from those who were there visiting; everyone walked around quietly and just stayed in silence as if this tragedy just happened yesterday. I got to read some of the stories and letters the families sent trying to find either their daughters, husbands, wives,and friends. Although reading the stories were sad, the fact that these stories were there shows that although people lost their lives, they will never be forgotten. Another thing that struck me was seeing pictures of people who came and volunteered their time to those in need. Everyone from nurses, chiropractors,doctors,ect came to offer their time and provide as much as they can. I found that beautiful because it shows that even though there is evil in the world, somewhere out there are angels waiting to rescue those in need.





 


Walking down Wall Street, we saw where Occupy Wall Street took place last year on September 17,2011. It was held by people who categorized themselves as " the 99%" who will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1% http://occupywallst.org/ . I saw a few people outside in their sleeping bags and i just thought that they were crazy to be laying outside in the cold. Continuing down Wall Street, we walk by the New York Stock Exchange. Ever since the New York Stock Exchange moved to Wall Street in 1903, it has been synonymous with New York's financial industry (BG,p.64). It is the world's largest exchange in terms of dollar value making New York a preeminent city of the capitalist world ( BG,p.68). I always hear talks about Wall Street and New York Stock Exchange in the news but never knew seen it or knew what it looked like. Next we got to inside Federal Hall National Memorial, one of New York's most important historic sites. In the early 18th century the British City Hall stood on this site. There John Peter Zenger, the confrontational publisher of the New York Weekly Journal was tried in 1735 for libeling the royal governor. His acquittal set forth a precedent for freedom of the press that would later be reaffirmed in the Bill of Rights. George Washington took the oath of office in 1789 as first president of the United States (BG,p.69). Mike allowed us to go inside and we saw some of the things that were used by the previous presidents. I also saw pictures from Obama's campaign 4 years ago where he was interacting with the public and some people were hugging him and touching his head. I appreciated that part because it shows that he is human like everyone else and that the people appreciated his eagerness and courage to be the first African American to run for President. From there we walked a short distance to Trinity Church where we briefly looked inside. The church stands 79ft wide and 166ft long;its tower including the spire stands 281ft above the ground. For many years, it was the highest point in Lower Manhattan. Trinity was one of the first Gothic Revival churches in the nation as well as the first Gothic Revival church in the city (BG,p.65.
We then strolled down Broadway to the Museum of the American Indian, which housed the historic  Alexander Hamilton Custom House. The museum was born from the obsession of George Gustav Heye, who gathered most of its collection. He took a job in Arizona as an electrical engineer and soon began collecting Native American artifacts. The museum today reflect attitudes toward Native American cultures and art that have evolved since Heye died (BG,p.44). Since we did not get to go inside the museum, we made our way to Battery Park where Mike and Meritta give us some background about the park. The name came from a row of cannons that defended the original fort. Inside the park stood a sphere originally dedicated in 1971 moved there from the World Trade Center, where it was battered and buried by debris from the falling towers on 9/11. The sphere was conceived by Koenig as a memorial to world peace through trade and it now symbolizes those who died on 9/11( BG,p.47). As we walking through the park, we could see delightful views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I was a little happy that this was not part of the class because it seemed to have gotten colder by walking along the water itself.
Our journey north took us along the Esplanade stopping to visit the World Financial Center and the Irish Hunger Memorial. The Irish Hunger Memorial was created by  Brian Tolle and  Gail Wittwer-Laird as a way to raise  public awareness of the events that led to the "Great Irish Famine and Migration" of 1845-1852. It serves as a reminder to millions of New Yorkers and Americans who proudly trace their heritage to Ireland, of those who were forced to emigrate during one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in the history of the world http://www.nyc.com/arts__attractions/irish_hunger_memorial.1379/editorial_review.aspx. We then stopped to visit the World Financial Center, whose five towers were designed by Cesar Pelli between 1985 and 1988. The 120 ft glass domed atrium, the marble floor and the aerial bridge was damaged by debris from the fall of the Twin Towers. The atrium served as an escape route for thousands of workers in the towers who fled west toward the river ( BG, p.61). We stopped at the Poets House around 1:30; it is a national poetry library where people can come and read poems or have their books publish there if there are poets themselves.It contains more than 50,000 volumes of poetry. It was founded in 1985 by Stanley Kunitz and Elizabeth Kray. Mike let us have some down time to go around the library and pick out a book that stood out to us. I picked up a book called fantasy and i find a few lines from there that i found interesting " They say merely to see is to become the thing. Though our fingers clutch, the movement's not necessary. Becoming what we crave. We suffer craving".
 Thanks to Meritta for being thoughtful, she convinced Mike to let us take the train to the Meat Packing District instead of walking in the horrific cold. The Meatpacking District was formerly known as the Gansevoort Market. Although the wholesale meatpacking industry remains and still gives the neighborhood its workings class edge, it gentrified rapidly during the 1990s with stylish bars and restaurants, clothing and design stores and art galleries ( BG,p.184). We stopped at Chelsea Market where me and a couple of my classmates stopped for a delicious bite of Cheeseburger Deluxe. I ate all of my sandwich along with the fries that came with it; i enjoyed it!. From Chelsea Market, we hopped onto the High Line.  The High Line was constructed in the 1930s to solve the problems along where the New York Central Railroad used to run. The streets were clogged with traffic, the trains were dirty, and the tracks were dangerous. West Side Cowboys used to horseback to tell people when the trains were coming but a lot of accidents happened as a result (BG,p.188). We took the High Line to 20th Street , where we  descend into the heart of Chelsea's art gallery scene. Chelsea has undergone rapid changes in the past decade making it one of the most exclusive areas in the city. Chelsea is home to hundreds of art galleries and boy did Mike make us see the art. We went to maybe 5 art galleries and not one of them had my interest. One art gallery we went to had a big black thing what resembled a table and a painting on the wall. Those were the only two " art pieces" there. I couldn't believe it. We then went to another gallery where there was this huge display made of burnt wood. I also didn't see the " art" in that. Mike looked like he was really into the art but i don't think Meritta was into it as much and by the looks of our faces, she knew that we just wanted to get out of the cold and go home so she convinced Mike to let us go. I was so happy that the day was finally over!
" art"

The Harlems and the Never Ending Stairs Climbing to Morningside Heights

To start our Harlem exploration, we the S train over to Grand Central Station and take the 6 train uptown to East Harlem.   To many Harlem is internationally known as the Black  mecca of the world but it has been home to many races such as,  the Dutch, Irish, German, Italian, and Jewish. Harlem's fertile soil and the strategic advantages of the plain attracted  Dutch farmers who then founded Nieuw Harlem, ten miles north of New Amsterdam. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this beautiful land attracted farmers and wealthy merchants who developed estates and  built country mansions (BG, p.437). During the 1880’s, elevated rail lines were extended north along Eight & Ninth Avenues, encouraging expansion northward. Development of transportation lines caused speculation on the land and many fine row houses and multiple family apartment buildings were erected http://www.harlemheritage.com/history-of-harlem/ .  The 1920s were years of optimism and great artistic activity as writers, artists,and intellectuals moved into Harlem. This period became known as the " Harlem Renaissance" from 1924 until the stock market crash in 1929 and the Great Depression devastated Harlem and poverty took over ( BG, p.438). Our first stop of the day was the Museum of the City of New York which is an art gallery and history museum that was founded in 1923 to preserve the history of New York City and its people. The museum included a collection of paintings,drawings,prints, costumes,and photographs that featured New York City and its residents. We watched an informative film on the history of New York City and how it went from a farmland to an industrialized city. I learned that the reason why Wall Street has its name is because the Dutch placed a wall to keep the Indians out and Canal Street got its name from a canal that was dug in the early 19th century to drain a contaminated and disease-ridden Collect Pond into the Hudson River. What i got from this documentary was that New York has come a long way and has progressed so much despite all the obstacles.
  After the museum, we strolled through Spanish Harlem and went to a store named Justo Botanica. It was founded in 1930 and  is one of the oldest and best-known Botanicas in East Harlem. A botanica carries religious, spiritual, and herbal products for practitioners of Afro-Cuban Santeria, a mix of Catholicism and Yoruba religious traditions (http://insidenewyork.com/2008/12/07/justo-botanica/). At first i was hesitant to go in there because i thought it would be against my religion but i went in there with an open mind because i knew that i wasn't going in there with any evil intentions. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Jose who was the owner of the store. He is well known in the community and is considered to be a witch doctor who can fix just about anything. He began telling us about the store and how he has helped a lot of people and he even have customers who come back and thanked him for what he has done; even doctors come to him. He told us how he was going to be moving soon due to gentrification and how the area is becoming overpriced and trendy.  Even though i'm not a believer in another human being "fixing" my problems, i purchased a bracelet just to help him with his business because i know that he needs it. Also hearing George speak, i got to learn more  an aspect of Hispanic culture other than my own.
After our visit to Justo Botanica,  we walked around East Harlem to explore its fascination collection of public art. As we were walking, we came across a mural an individual was painting and prof Mike asked about the mural and said " are you Manny Vega?" and to our surprise it was him. I had never heard of Manny Vega before and i thought it was cool that he was actually painting his own mural. Manny Vega is an American painter that was born and raised in the Bronx. Through his work, he portrays the history and traditions of the African Diaspora that exist in the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The mural he was working on is called "Espiritu". He made a statement that captured my interest, he said " once an artist finishes the last piece of his art, it is not his anymore, it's for the public to make it their own". I thought this was a beautiful statement coming from and i could see the passion and his eagerness to create a place where people can recognize themselves as part of the community. Hopefully people will appreciate his work and not destroy it.

  Me and three of my classmates stopped at El Caribeno Restaurant to order some food.After i ordered my food and paid, i looked at the receipt and saw that i was charged $222.57 instead of $22.57. Good thing i looked at the receipt ( thanks to my lucky bracelet from Justo) and noticed it; i pretty much spent all of my 30 min on the phone with my bank trying to sort the situation out. I was so mad because i was starving and i didn't even get to eat and on top of that we had to wait for latecomers who decided to use the bathroom at the last minute. Once lunch was over, we walked across the northern part of Central Park. Central Park is the heartland of Manhattan  and its landscape and scenery were man-made based on designs by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvet Vaux (BG, p.279). From Central Park, we walk through the Conservatory Gardens. It is the park's only formal garden and is named for an elaborate greenhouse that was torn down in 1934 during the Depression as a cost cutting measure. Before it became a garden, it was a project that provided employment during the Depression. By the 1970s, the garden had fallen into disrepair and in 1982, Lynden B. Miller, a painter and garden designer took over and the following year the Central Park Conservancy began restoring and planting wildflowers and bulbs ( BG, p.297).From the beautiful Conservatory Gardens, we walked along the Central Park Reservoir into central Harlem, where our tour guide Tim awaited us as he gives us a background on the different historic sites in Harlem. He began the tour where we were overlooking the Apollo Theater and a statue of Clayton Powell Jr. The Apollo Theater was opened for whites only when the neighborhood was predominantly white and largely German-Jewish. In 1934, the neighborhood changed and Leo Brecher took over the Apollo and opened it to black audiences. That same year, the Apollo Theater offered Amateur Nights which launched the careers of Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, and Diana Ross (BG,p.440). I remember when NBC used to have Showtime at the Apollo every Saturday. I remember watching all the contestants who come on the show hoping to start their dreams. Some were good and some were bad even though they rubbed the tree, they still got boo'ed. The tour guide pointed to the Clayton's statue and we learned that he was the first African American to be elected to Congress and became a powerful national politician. He challenged the ban on  the informal ban on black representatives using Capitol facilities reserved for white members. He took black constituents to dine with him in the "Whites Only" House restaurant (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473225/Adam-Clayton-Powell-Jr). Aside from that we also learned that 7th Avenue was named Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard shortly after he died in 1972 and that at first 6th Ave was named after James Lenox, who established the Lenox library, then later became known as Malcolm X Boulevard after Malcolm was assassinated. Another street that was named after a historical person was 125th St; although it is known as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, people still call it 125th St. ( BG, p.439).Tim also pointed out beautiful brownstones that cost about 1 million to live in.
   Our last historic site in Harlem was the Harriet Tubman statue.Harriet Tubman was an African American abolitionist who was born into slavery and rescued more than 70 slaves. The statue depicted the 70 slaves that she helped escaped to the North. After that we walked a 1000 a long winding flight of stairs through Morningside Park at 120 street to arrive at the beautiful Morningside Heights. Morningside Heights was mainly farmland and remained isolated until Columbus Avenue opened in 1880 ( BG, p.427). These flights felt like forever and by the time we all made it, we were all out of breath. Prof Mike had other plans for us but i think he felt sorry for us because we all looked dead after that horrendous walk up the stairs. Overall i enjoyed Harlem because the weather was nice and despite all the walking i learned a lot of things i didn't know about Harlem although I've been there before. My favorite part of the day was meeting Manny Vega!

Manic Midtown & Wild Williamsburg

Where do i begin? i wake up to a beautiful morning with nothing but the sound of the rain dribbling down my window. The first thought that came to mind was " i want to sleep in since this is my favorite weather" but i sucked it up anyway, got dressed and left the house. Around 9:30 the rain started to get heavier but i still didn't mind that we had class. It wasn't until i got to Penn Station and started walking down Times Square that it dawned on me. I was grumpy as ever and was feeling hot at the same time. Only thought that was going through my head was " why class wasn't cancelled". I was not a happy camper but i figured there was no turning back because i was already in the city. Before Times Square became what it is today, it was originally named Longacre Square which was dominated by horse exchanges, carriage factories,stables,and blacksmiths'shops. It got the name " Times" when the publisher of  New York Times persuaded the city to rename the area for his newspaper ( BG, p.217). Since the 1990s, Times Square has flourished; it went from a city of crime, drug dealing, and prostitution to attracting as many as million tourists annually ( BG, p.218). My impression of Times Square is that it is fast paced and when you walking through there you have to pay attention especially when crossing the streets because the drivers are not going to stop for you. I know that is not a place that i would want to visit everyday because i am a slow walker.
From Times Square, we walked through the GE building, originally the RCA building. It was the first building constructed at Rockefeller Center and is home to NBC studios ( BG, p.248). Walking through the building led us to Rockefeller Center. What captured me as i was walking around was the mural painted Jose Maria Sert that depicted the theme of " man's new possibilities". The mural was originally created by  Diego Rivera but it was discarded because he created a fresco that included a portrait of Lenin along with a crowd of workers near his tomb carrying red flags, and a scene of rich people playing cards while venereal disease germs hover over them. The mural that replaced Rivera's is now called " American Progress" in which Abraham Lincoln, standing,represents the "Man of Action", while Ralph Waldo Emerson,seated,represents the " Man of Thought"(BG,p.249). The mural was breathtaking, i've never seen something so beautiful; it had a breathtaking aura about it even though it's over 70 years old.
From Rockefeller Center, we made our way to MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art. It is one of the city's  premier cultural institutions, one of the great repositories not only of modern painting and sculpture, but also of drawing,design,photography,and film (BG,p.260). Honestly i wasn't too crazy about visiting yet another museum. The paintings were similar to that of the Met. I actually enjoyed the paintings i saw at the Met better because some of the works i saw at MoMa did not strike me as art and i'm not even an art person to begin with.

After viewing the art collection at MoMA, we stopped at a Thai restaurant called Yum Yum 2. Majority of us dined there but some other students decided to go somewhere else to eat. I didn't mind where we were eating as long as i wasn't "paying" for it. To my surprise, the food was good.it's similar to Chinese food but Thai rice is less fried and feels lighter compare to Chinese cuisine.

Once our bellies were full and everyone was up and ready to go, we got on the subway and made our way to Williamsburg. This area has changed a lot since the concept of gentrification; people that once settled there can't even afford to live there anymore because everything is becoming expensive since the upper class moved in. As we made our way to Bedford Ave, we stopped at an antique museum called City Reliquary. it is a non profit museum that display artifacts of New York City (http://www.cityreliquary.org/museum/). The museum was intriguing because it wasn't like your typical museum. It had things in there that people can reminisce on. My favorite part of the museum was the slideshow with the kids getting haircut. I thought it was a thoughtful way of alleviating the other kids' fears about getting their haircuts; at least they knew that someone went through it and getting a haircut is not that bad as it seems or sounds.

Our last and final stop for the day was at the Sketchbook Museum Project.The concept behind this is that artists from all around the world put their collections together to form a traveling library of artists' books. This was my favorite part of the day. It was nice to sit down at a library and have the books come to you. I enjoyed reading different stories from all age groups. I like the idea that there's no limitations; one can write or put pictures or do whatever else they can do to convey a message to the public.

The Enchanting Eastside

Our first class in Manhattan began with the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 82nd street.It is considered to be one of the largest and most comprehensive art museums in the world (Blue Guide 326). It also contains over 2 million items in its collections, and attracts upwards of 5 million visitors per year (Blue Guide 326). At first, the idea of going to a museum was not of interest to me because I'm not interested in art nor museums for that matter. As i entered the building and began my tour, i knew that i was going to enjoy my time there. The museum was filled with exquisite pieces by several New York artists. Even though some of the pieces there were hard to understand, i could still feel the artists' passion and emotion behind the pieces. As we moved our way through the museum and exploring, we had the opportunity to see an exhibition that depicted Andy Warhol and his impact on contemporary art. The exhibition was called " Regarding Warhol:  Sixty Artists, Fifty Years". It depicted 45 of his original pieces with 100 works in various media by 60 artists that were inspired by him. One section  that stood out to me from this exhibition was the " queer studies" because it shows that Warhol was a fearless artist who was not afraid to break new grounds in representing issues of sexuality and gender. After the exhibition, we were left to explore a section of the museum on our own. What interested me were the Japanese armors. Arms and armor contains weapons that range from simple arrowheads to elaborate ceremonial jewel-encrusted swords” (BG p.341)

 

After the Met, we ventured to Central Park to see the boat pond. the lake, Strawberry Fields, and Dakota.Central is the heartland of Manhattan, 843 acres set aside for the recreation of New Yorkers and visitor alike (BG p.279). I have heard of Central Park but i never had the opportunity to experience it. Other from the smell of the horses, i enjoyed going through the park and seeing everyone interacting with each other, riding their bikes, people taking wedding pictures, and the family picnics. As we exploring Central Park, we made our way to Strawberry Fields; it was created in honor of John Lennon,  songwriter, singer and member of The Beatles, who was assassinated in the courtyard of the nearby Dakota Apartments in 1980 (BG p.290). While there, we saw a Chinese woman kneeling on her knees in a circle having a tea ceremony. At first i was confused because i did not know what it was until this guy came over to explain to us that the purpose being this was to bring awareness so that we take care of our environment and appreciate  what is around us. I thought there was a good message behind it. After walking through the Strawberry Fields and stopping by the Dakota apartments, we split up to go eat and a few of us decided to go dine at BBQ; i really enjoyed my food.

  The remainder of our tour took us down to Fifth Avenue,which is considered to be one of the most opulent shopping streets in the world . We breezed through the Plaza Hotel. This is no longer a hotel anymore; in the past 20 years the hotel has changed owners several times and undergone $400 millions dollars in renovations (BG  p.273). The Plaza Hotel looked so beautiful, i have never seen anything like that; there were people having dinner and from the looks of it i can tell that it is an expensive place. Next we visited the infamous toy and candy store, FAO Schwartz. I think i've been there before because it looked familiar; i did not get any candy inside but just going in there made me feel like i was in a movie or a big kid. We passed by Bergdorf Goodman's and  and went inside Tiffany's to see where people do their shopping( the jewelry looked beautiful and expensive), and stop to check out the Fred F. French Building,  one of the city's first skyscrapers. We then stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I did not know a church with such great architecture existed like that in New York. It felt as if it was something i would see in Paris.

Our last stop was going to be at be the New York Public Library to see the Main Reading Room but we got there at the same time they were about to close so our journey ended early. Overall i enjoyed the day and explored a lot.

Bodacious Breuckelen

Today started our second week of exploration which took place in the borough of Brooklyn. The day began with a ride on the Q train to Coney Island.  Although the future of the beautiful amusement park is uncertain, it survives as an archetype of American honky-tonk- the birthplace of the hot dog and home of the world’s most terrifying roller coaster (BG, 492).  It was settled by the Dutch, who named it Konijn Eiland after the rabbits they found there (BG, 492).I’ve never been to Coney Island before let alone explore Brooklyn in depth. I did not know what to expect but as we were walking towards the beach, a sense of calmness came over me. As I was walking, I noticed all the people walking around enjoying the weather as if they have no care in the world or any worries. Being there and experiencing that feeling made me feel like I was a tourist in a different country; the view was so beautiful. We got to explore Coney Island on our own, so me and fellow classmates made our way over to the flea market and splurged on jewelry, sunglasses, etc for cheap prices with no tax!. After our little shopping, we made our way back to the boardwalk to head towards the F train for our next stop Brooklyn Heights.

Our next exploration site was the New York Transit Museum. This unused subway station was inaugurated in 1976 and is run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. It includes exhibits on buses, bridges, tunnels, but its emphasis is on the subway (BG, 468). As we got off the F train and we were walking down the steps of the museum, I thought to myself “why are we getting on a train again” then came to find out that it was once a subway station. We got a tour of the museum and I was amazed to find out how the subway system was constructed and how hard the workers worked even in unsafe conditions. After the tour, we went ahead and explored and looked at how the buses and trains were back then. Some of the trains looked better than those of today mainly because of the comfortable seats and the humorous ads on the wall of the train. Other exhibits include fare collection devices,from an early wooden ticket chopper to a fullbody turnstile known as " iron maiden"(BG,468).
  After the museum, we then proceeded to viewing another one of Brooklyn Heights historical place, the Brooklyn Historical Society. It was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society( BG,472). Inside the society, there is a library, a museum,and an educational center dedicated to Brooklyn history and culture. Inside looked different from any museum that i have been to; the architecture and style was different from modern days. We had the opportunity to have a tour of the museum and learned about the history of Brooklyn. We then made our way towards Clinton St and walked to Montague St, the neighborhood's main commercial street. The street was named after Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (BG,472).
 After the museum we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge, one of New York's iconic landmark. As we were walking towards the bridge and looking up at all the little details everything from the cables and the structures of the bridge, i was hesitant to go on there because some of the parts looked rusty and i thought to myself " i do not want to walk on there and something happens". When the bridge first opened on May 25,1883, it was the largest bridge arching 1,595 ft across the East River ( BG, 464). Looking up at the bridge i thought i would never make it up there as i started to get tired and my feet started to hurt. When i got on the bridge, i was amazed that i can also the Manhattan and the Williamsburg bridge. The view was so beautiful, something i had never experienced before. As we were walking and taking in the beautiful air, we stopped to take pictures and observed the other pedestrians either those walking or those riding their bicycles. Everyone should cherish the bridge as a treasure because if it was not for it and the 4,000 people who took 14 years to build it,then anyone wishing to cross the East River would have to take the Fulton Ferry( BG,464)