ENG2150: Writing New York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e-m3gnjKW4

The clouds masked the sky with gray. I had assumed before leaving my house that a rain coat would suffice for my outfit. At 11:00, I texted my best friend, Miriam, “Hey, I’m on my way. It’s cold, wear a coat.” I had arrived from my neighborhood in Ozone park to her apartment building in Sunnyside. We hopped onto the 7 train at 46st-Bliss Street Station.

We decided that we would take the N train to the New Museum. So, now we were chopping it up on the subway seats. Miriam and I were making up for the lost time in between our last meeting. We both agree, “College is time-consuming, depraving, pressuring but worthwhile.” She and I had fallen so deep into our conversation that before we knew it, we had missed our stop. Prince Street was our stop, but the N train was heading to Barclays Center. We saw the Brooklyn Bridge from across the water, flickering across our eyes as the train zoomed by. I saw this as my chance to catch the Brooklyn bridge from another angle, across another bridge and photographed it; click went my camera. This prompted us to take the B train uptown to Grand Street.

Emerging from Grand Street station, the street itself was bustling with people. The commotion had left the rain tapping the concrete on mute. Small migrant owned shops were sewed into the block. “Ooh! Look at this little shop, so many lights!” Miriam exclaimed, it caught her eye like a moth to a flame. The lights danced on my camera screen, click. The paths were small and narrow, and after making a left turn we arrived to a sleek gray building titled, “New Museum.” “I would start from the top floor down,” said the Curator after handing our tickets.

I have never been excited to go to a museum, and after this excursion, the feeling remains the same. Having Miriam at my side influenced me to look at works of art closely. She is one of the smartest people in the world to me.  I was doing my best to break them down into a thought, because I never take the time to read that very long piece of text explaining the whole exhibit.  I noticed how I looked towards the other individuals gazing at canvases on the wall. “What the hell do they make of this?” I thought to myself. I have always felt as though I am behind others, even when I am in the same place as they are.

We reached an exhibit that contained small sculptures, containing a small resemblance to the sculptures my mom brought home from Colombia. These sculptures followed a similar theme towards the Spanish colonization in the Americas. One of which had a woman holding her infant on top of a building, titled, “Center of Internment of Foreigners.” The building was flooding with the severed heads of colonizers. Another, with two children sitting on a ledge and a saying painted on the rim “they wanted us buried, but they did not know we were seeds.” “Wow!” Miriam said with a smile, as she explained this piece, I could feel my appreciation for this work of art grow. Therein I appreciated having her there, because I wouldn’t have taken the time to use my first tongue (Spanish) to translate that saying.

We preceded to walk into the next exhibit, a collection of canvases were pasted all over the walls, high and low. The paintings all shared the same color scheme. Thinking back on it now, that room felt like it was closing in on us by the second. “This feels morbid,” I said. “I think the person [artist] wanted it this way,” Miriam responded. One photo stuck out to me, it was a drawing of two legs walking while it was carrying a ton of things all held together by strings. “That’s me,” I say to Miriam pointing to the work.  I carried a lot of things through my life, and now I bear the weight of my mother on my shoulders. It couldn’t feel more relative to what I am going through now.

This excursion was not for the sake of going to museum for fun. For me, it was the opportunity to experience something new with someone that I genuinely love and care for. The New Museum was insightful. That is all I can say about it. However, going to the Museum, talking to Miriam and making new memories together is what made this excursion, one for the books.

Trip Report

Mohammed Bennani

Smorgasburg Brooklyn

Not only was this trip an hour away from my home driving, but it was painful for my gas tank and pockets. However, I don’t regret it one bit. I put in smorgasburg on my google maps app and I see reviews with beautiful pictures of the different foods and environment. As a food lover, I quickly made the decision of having to go.

I parked my car and walked down the colorful park just following the people and the smell. The smell of food lead me to a huge open area where there was at least 50-100 food vendors with an amazing view of the NYS skyline. It was extremely overwhelming. The amount of people and Food vendors where all very confusing to me. This was my first time here and my second time in the whole Brooklyn borough. I had more logistic questions pop up in my head rather than food questions. “Where did they all come from?” “Who organizes this?”  Are these just food vendors or do they have restaurants as well?” I was walking around sniffing the amazing smells trying to see which one I should try first. However, not all the smells were pleasant. The smell of days old oil can spread far and wide and smack you across the face. There were many different foods that I have never heard of. Such as, “Teriyaki Balls”. First of all, who came up with that name? I walked in and seen several large crowds that were not even for the food lines. It was for the ATM.

There was one thing that I was excited for. The Ramen Burgers.  A ramen noodle bun with meat inside like a regular hamburger. I was jumping on the inside to try this. I felt like a little boy. And I was thinking that most of the people here feel the same too when they tried something new. It was like a concert that is packed. You have an abundance of people eating and for some reason you feel connected to them. The same reason we’re both here eating “teriyaki balls” is the same reason you can go up to any stranger in Smorgasburg and just feel like you’re connected. It may sound dumb and fruity but it’s a feeling that can only be experienced if you actually come here. Its literally crazy. And that’s how this place is. Crazy. Crazy people, crazy amount of people, crazy food, and crazy prices! However, you don’t pay attention to the price. at least I didn’t. I knew that this stuff wasn’t anywhere else, so it was ok for me in the moment to just worry on my taste buds and not my pockets.

Ever seen a big huge piece of year old cheese be melted than sliced perfectly with the straightest edge? No, I only seen that in advertisements. Have you seen eggs joined together on a stick like a kebab? It’s ridiculous. Follow the smell you like and you won’t be disappointed. If you want something cold or any desert just go where you don’t see wild smoke coming up into the air. That means that something isn’t cooking. I observed that everyone who came here came in groups with friends or family. And being here for a while, I came to the conclusion that food has a big impact on our social lives. It brings us together.  For people who love experiencing new foods, this was heaven for them.

As unhealthy as most of the food is here, it doesn’t hurt your stomach until a day after. Because when you’re in Smorgasburg, there are so many different foods to try, so you end up mixing salty food with sweet or dairy foods. Vice versa and more. The stomach can’t handle that. Well at least mine cant. So, as you’re walking down and you see some French fries that catch your eye, you pay the ridiculous $10 for a small box of fries. Then you walk down even more and see some waffles that are juicy and golden, so you go ahead and pay another $12 for a medium sized waffle. Then you walk down just a little more and find a stand that sells lobster in a hot dog bun that is so aesthetic and appealing you have no choice but to pay $15 for the small “snack.” See how it goes?  No matter the emotional state you’re in, or physical state, food always brings a feeling of comfort. Leaving the place going back home, I couldn’t help but keep licking my lips because the aftertaste of the ramen burger was really satisfying. So there I am licking my lips every 5 min on an hour long trip back home.

The Art A Thon event I went to on the 12th of April, Thursday was the Art Club Event – Wax-Seal Stamp Making. I went with a couple of friends who were interested in wax ornaments. When we first entered we were asked by another student, a girl, to sign in and affirm if we were interested in joining the Art Club. After signing in, we all were asked to get a mound of clay and shape it into a stamp form. It was to be shaped in an hour-glass figure of some sort to make it easier to hold. After shaping the clay, we were to flatten the top first so it would be easier for us to draw on our designs. After drawing the designs, we had to flatten it again so it comes out straight and good after baking it. While we were waiting for the stamps, we were offered refreshments. the friends I went with started talking about how they were excited to try out the stamps and would have to start collecting mails from people just to send them letters with their stamps on. The lady who conducted the activity started showing us how we would use the stamps. We were to damp the top of the stamps when applying it unto the paper so it would come off easily and nicely. Also, you would have to keep the stamps close to the melting wax so it doesn’t dry off before stamping. After our clay stamps were ready, we were asked to choose the candle wax we preferred since it ranged in colors. I opted to choose purple and carried out the necessary steps required. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to dampen my clay mold and so my design did not come out as strong and there were residuals found on my stamp which was a pain to get out. That was definitely a lesson I learned and would take into account for my next stamp. I learned a lot from this event, learning how to mould and shapen and getting my own stamp which was all very exciting. I also got to know that it is an art that requires attention and patience since my first stamp didn’t go so well. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this activity and would like to attend something of that sort again.  

A Friday morning my friend Daniela and I decided to go into the Federal Hall to learn more about the economy of the country and to explore an unknown place for us. As we stand in front of the building from the street, we could observe many people, on their majority tourists sitting on the steps and taking photos of themselves in front of the Federal Hall. We assume the majority were tourists because they were wearing shirts that said “I love New York” which is considered something only tourists do. Next to us in the street, there was a tour guy from the tour company “New York Tour 1” where I used to work. He was explaining to a group of students how the first terrorist attack that happened in the city of New York was on that same place we were standing on and that the building in front of the hall stills today having holes of the mini bomb that exploded.

The temperature was around seventy degrees which caused more people than usual to be on the streets. As we started to maneuver to get around the folks that were in front of the building to go up the steps, I could observe many other tour guides with different groups of people. I decided to approach some of these groups as I was curious about what the tour guides were saying to them. Most of them were explaining the history of the place and some basics on how the economy of the United States works as the New York Stock Exchange is just in front of the Federal Hall. Others were talking about the Trump Tower which is on the same block, its construction, and how Trump managed to go from real state to creating his brand and be president. Once we decided to go up the steps, I could feel the sun warming my back which was comforting after such a long winter. Daniela and I stopped at the entrance of the building to take some photos like others were doing.

The doors of the building were clear with black borders. On them, different posters showed that you could not take photos with flash or have your phone’s sound on. Inside the building, there were many people, on their majority teenagers talking loudly in different languages. Dany and I proceed to explore the three floors of the building that we had access to. In the first floor, there were a series of small rooms that had different exhibits telling the history of civil war, congress, supreme court, and federal branch which were all started in the same building the Federal Hall is now located. As well, in one of the rooms, there was a film showing that talks about the different National Parks in New York. Many people were interested in the movie because as one of them was sayin; it gave her ideas of different places she wanted to visit while staying in the city. In the same floor, there was a small room showing little bags that contained gold inside, and a person who works in the Hall was explaining on how the economy used to rely on gold before paper money was created. She was saying how before you could even go to the bank with paper money and ask for silver or gold in exchange, but now we do not have enough gold to back up the amount of money in circulation. So, now we keep the gold under the streets somewhere in Wall Street with lots of security to make sure no one attempts to steal it.

After exploring the first floor, we decided to go to the basement where we just found huge lines to get into the bathrooms and many different groups of kids just hanging out and drinking water. Also, there was an unpleasant smell of sweat and marijuana. Once we figured there was nothing to see there we took the elevator right in front of the stairs and went to the second floor as we had no access to the third floor. As we walked out the elevator there was a series of rooms with boxes full of different documents,  but we were not allowed to go inside none of these rooms but an exhibit that was to our right. We were not truly interested in the exhibit, so we decided to take photos of the beautiful architecture of the dome.

Finally, this excursion was fun as it was the first day of the year that the temperature was high and we were able to be outside without coats. We also got to learn some history from the city and got to meet many people that were visiting from many different places. In the beginning, I did not feel so comfortable to be in a place where I have never been before, but being with my friend made it a lot easier and fun. In conclusion, I have decided that every week I will go to different places that I never visited all over the city as there is so much to see and learn about this multicultural city.

The Wax Seal Stamp workshop was held in NVC in room 4-165. The event was about creating wax seal stamps, and there was a woman teaching it. The first thing we did in the classroom was getting the clay mound into a stamp form which was achieved by molding it with our hands. After we had to make the top of it flat. Then we drew our own personalized stamp design. Once we drew our design, we were asked to flatten the stamp again so we could take into the oven and make sure that the shape would not be ruined by the heat. Then we took the stamps into the oven and as it took some time to bake we were networking with the people in the room which became a great chance to get to meet some other people in Baruch as most people I know are from SEEK. After the stamps were almost ready, the woman who was leading the workshop showed how hers turned out and then she proceeded to return ours. Also, we had a variety of different wax seal candles that we could choose from. Everyone chose their candle and lighted it so it could melt. Then we would put the wax on top of a paper, and damp the stamp and then stamp it. This workshop was really interesting for me because I have never done anything like this before and when I saw people using stamps I never knew that they even had to wet it before stamping it into the wax, this way it was easier to remove. I had a lot of fun and will probably be part of the event again next year.

My location is the Williamsburg Bridge.

I decided to visit the Guggenheim Museum!

The High Line !

I will be visiting the chocolate museum.

I will be visiting the Queens Botanical Garden.