New York Stories

Recently, my boyfriend purchased this book, Forgotten Borough, which is a collection of twenty-four different perspectives– in the form of stories, poems, and essays– of writers coming to terms on the borough of Queens. I thought that I should share this book with everyone, even if I have yet to read it myself (he hasn’t finished reading it yet, so I can’t borrow it), simply because it touches upon so many aspects that many of us are familiar with as residents of Queens.

On the SUNY Press website, which I linked to moments ago, it called Queens, in its brief summary, “New York City’s biggest underdog.” I thought this notion to be particularly fascinating, but most importantly, very true. Born in Elmhurst and raised in Little Neck for twenty, close to twenty-one years (soon to become legal this coming May), I have always felt this way myself. Walking through the different neighborhoods– the diverse enclaves that hail from all corners of the world– I am overwhelmed by all that I experience with my five senses. Everything is so elastic; so fluid. There is never the boring drone of monotony.

I realize that even now, there are still so many places– so many nooks and crannies– that I have yet to explore. Queens is truly an underdog; it may not be New York City’s biggest underdog (there’s also Staten Island, which is also infrequently mentioned and discussed), but it is certainly underrated; below the radar for many of us, even those of us who come from Queens. It’s strange, isn’t it? Even we who should be loyal to this great borough can many times, disregard its true worth– its value.

In a short passage I read, the author writes something that is more or less along the lines of this: when you have friends who live in Manhattan, you always end up hanging out in Manhattan and if you ever bring them back to Queens, you feel deeply ashamed about everything that surrounds you. I had only flipped to this page on random, so imagine my surprise at reading these lines that were so connected– that so deeply reverberated within my own life experiences back in my teenage years. In high school, two of my best friends were born and raised in Manhattan (one near Union Square and the other in the Battery Park region). I remember always, and I mean always, hanging out with them in Manhattan, which I called “the city,” because my friends always felt that there was more to do there than anywhere else. This was the “It” place, the place where everyone should try to be a part of, to become a real New Yorker and to also have real fun.

But I know that there is a glory to Queens– a treasure trove that isn’t all that hidden– that many of us should try to come to terms with. Queens, the underrated royalty, is a place I think all of us should embrace.

I came across this video, so I figured I should share it.

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p>I just found this movie on my morning stroll through the internet and thought it would be perfect for the blog.

Like many New Yorkers, I grew up on the train.  I took it every weekday, to and from school, and once I was old enough, to hang out in Manhattan every weekend.  Ever since I started riding my bike, my yearly number of metrocard swipes has dropped from a quadruple digit to a double digit number, and since I’m now only forced onto the train during rain or snow, I’m usually a bit grumpy about it.  But despite all of its problems, you have to be thankful for it because there is no other mass transit system that will take you as far, for as cheap as the New York City MTA will.  Not to mention the fact that I don’t think anywhere else in the world has a system that runs all night long.  (Full disclosure; my dad is a retired subway motorman)

Sub City New York from sarah klein on Vimeo.

Some of you were receiving an error message on the additional reading page.  We fixed the problem, so please go ahead and download the Ann Douglas reading for next week.

In one word, how would you describe New York City? Oh, I know! FILTHY!

In a city of over 8 million people, the good ol’ N.Y.C. is filled with a plethora of different personalities, cultures, foods, and more. But one thing that all of us “New Yaw-kas” have in common (apart from our location) is our contribution to the city’s unending supply of garbage.

According to the Department of Sanitation website, over 12,000 tons of residential and institutional refuse and recyclables are collected by them each day. And, another 13,000 tons are collected from businesses by private carting companies as well on a daily basis.

But what happens to the remaining waste? Does it disappear? If you live here, you know the answer to this question is no.

The rest of the waste is heavily sprinkled into our streets, sidewalks, hallways, stairwells, train tracks, and in every other space left on this big, filth-candied apple we live on.

We’re so used to this waste that it doesn’t ever bother a lot of us. We step over and around elevator urine, avoid sitting in dirty train seats and lift up our feet to avoid stray bottles as they dance around our train and bus floors. We turn up our noses, cover or faces with our hands, or exit the train car when a homeless person enters. And, let’s not delve into the fact that we will make every attempt to dodge even the slightest bit of contact with these unfortunate, city dwellers that we come into contact with each day.   

But who cares…right? I do! So, next time you’re about to dodge a homeless person like Neo from the Matrix, think about how that might make them feel. Or next time you’re about to throw something on the floor, stop and think about the fact that there’s a garbage can on nearly every corner and several cans in every train station of this great city. Perhaps next time you can throw that Pepsi bottle or Starbucks cup into a receptacle, rather than leaving it in the Baruch classroom or train seat you just sat in for an hour and a half.

Or maybe not, but at least you tried!

I was watching The Daily Shown (although I prefer Colbert to Stewart) on Monday and the discussion with the guest, Edward Glaeser, I think, was relevant to The Bread Givers and the overall topic of the class. For instance, Glaeser compares the life in the suburbia and in the cities, and the latter actually comes out on top in a number of categories. While in The Bread Givers, Sara finds the suburban area, where the college is located, idyllic, but describes the city as dirty, poor, crowded, etc. At the same time, the idea of the American dream comes up, the ideal of having a family in a big house (with a white picket fence) outside the city, and that, perhaps, it no longer deserves to be called a dream because the reasons to strive for this life are quickly diminishing. Of course, Glaeser argues for cities everywhere, so the discussion is not limited to New York or even America. Clearly this city-ness New York possesses is a major part of why it is so different from many other places, even if its uniqueness comes from something else.

I hope you enjoy the video and maybe you will also find the ideas we are encountering in the text resonate in this discussion.

Many thanks to Prof. Eversley, who provided a recommendation for lunch in Chinatown. A lucky few had time for a meal at Amazing 66. As you see in this photo, taken as we were heading back uptown, everyone enjoyed the food (dumplings, noodles, tofu with seafood and chicken with Chinese mushrooms).

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I’ve been reading about Maya Lin, the Chinese American architect who designed the Museum of Chinese Americans, and I thought you’d like to hear her talk about the building (its a great story), and know more about this accomplished Chinese American artist and architect.  From Wikipedia:

Maya Lin, a Chinese American, was born in Athens, Ohio. Her parents immigrated to the United States from People’s Republic of China in 1949 and settled in Ohio in 1958, one year before Maya Lin was born.^[2] Her father, Henry Huan Lin, was a ceramist and former dean of the Ohio University College of Fine Arts.^[1] She is the niece of Lin Huiyin, who is said to be the first female architect in China.^[3] Lin studied at Yale University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1986. She has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Yale University, Harvard University, Williams College, and Smith College.^[4] She was among the youngest in Yale University when she received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987.^[5] She is married to Daniel Wolf, a New York photography dealer. They have two daughters, India and Rachel.^[1]

Lin is the youngest and has an older brother who is an English professor and poet. Growing up, she did not have many friends and stayed home a lot. She loved school and loved to study. When she was not studying, she took independent courses from Ohio University and spent her free time casting bronzes in the school foundry.^[6] Lin, having grown up surrounded by white people, has said that she “didn’t even realize” she was Chinese until later in life, and that it was not until her 30s that she had a desire to understand her cultural background.^[7] Commenting on her design of a new home for the Museum of Chinese in America near New York City’s Chinatown, Lin attached a personal significance to the project being a Chinese-related project because she wanted her two daughters to “know that part of their heritage.”^[2]

Please add this to your reading for our class on Wed., Feb. 9, when we will discuss immigration in New York

ARTICLE: Making their Way, Immigrant Women Straddle Cultural Chasms: City Limits
http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/4072/making-their-way

STATISTICS:

NYC Population
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popcur.shtml

Quick Census facts about New York City
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3651000.html

Immigration explorer
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html
New York Neighborhoods by the Numbers
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/14/nyregion/thecity/20090111_thecity_census.html

As promised, here’s the link to that Onion article that pokes fun at New Yorkers for putting up with the hassles of living here.