New York Stories

Intro paragraph

Every time I get on the Q or B train across the Manhattan Bridge, I always look to the right and get to see the Masstransiscope. The 228 hand-painted panels were installed in 1980. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2iMgy2rEt-I" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

After reading Daniel’s post on food truck in nyc, I did a little research and found the well-known food truck (http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/05/a-list-of-street-food-vendors-trucks-carts-using-twitter.html).

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Recently, I found a good website that lists many events in New York City.   Some of the events are free.   I will definitely attend some of the events after finals.

http://www.nycgo.com/events

My final project focused on Mexican Immigrants in Corona, Queens.  It was interesting to walk around the neighborhood looking to take pictures with my phone for this project, as everyone eyed me suspiciously since I’m white (practically translucent, really) and they probably thought I worked for the INS.  I did my best to ask people before taking pictures of their establishments, and actually got turned down by the women working in the food trucks and carts.  Two Mexican gentleman actually cursed me out while I was standing taking one photo, calling me “Gringo hijo’e p*ta.” My retort wasn’t vulgar, but it got them away from me fairly quickly. Overall, though, it was interesting to take a closer look at a neighborhood I often go through but seldom observe closely.  I hope you all enjoy this little tour.

I was looking for a reflection paper that I wrote last year about the reading that I attended at 92Y when Patti Smith was there. The premise of the reading was to have authors from around the world read sections of their work. The whole night there was an empty chair with a spotlight on center stage. Towards the end when she gave a speech, she knelt down by the chair and started thanking it (at this point I had no idea who she was or what she was doing). She then stated that the chair represented all of the journalists and writers in other countries that are sitting in jail for writing something that they firmly believed in. She went on to talk about the power in having a voice and being able to use it freely. It was extremely moving.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but here is that New York Magazine article from August 11, 1980 that declares Long Island City the “Next Neighborhood”: http://books.google.com/books?id=5-UCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA20&ots=JgRlj3Yeaw&dq=long%20island%20city%20new%20york%20magazine%20old&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false

In 1999 the New York Times revisited the notion and examined why it didn’t happen: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/07/nyregion/why-long-island-city-hasn-t-happened-once-neighborhood-was-hailed-next-soho-but.html

Then, in 2010, it finally actually starts to happen: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/realestate/09cov.html

The neighborhood has the right geography, but what has always been missing is the anthropology. With New York poised to bounce back strong from the recent recession, Long Island City might actually see its time come. Still, I’ll believe it when I see it.

The emergence of food trucks have been one of the better things New York has seen in recent history. The lack of space to set up shop in a physical store really attributed to more food trucks arising. It is said that food trucks originated from LA.

Also, with the use of Twitter, food trucks are beginning to just tweet about their ever changing location and tons of people will flock towards the truck. I find that the food truck model is great since customers won’t have to travel far and wide to get a meal at a brick-and-mortar shop. If you’re in the right location (usually in midtown), the food comes to you instead.

I came across these videos and decided to share them with you all. The first two videos contradict the many positive depictions of our city, and are hilarious. The last one is an instructional video on how to blend into the city. Enjoy!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/1v-DmgIfVl8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/wiFN_PV8ZiA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

 [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/oAS3Tcli53U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]