technically, NYC consists of Manhattan Island (in order to be considered a resident of nyc, those of us in the know snobbishly delineate between our beloved apple and the outer boroughs), Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. The five boroughs house a combined population of about 8 million people (the last time i heard a census count at least). another 4 million people arrive in nyc by train, plane, auto or other means every business day. pretty impressive when you consider the size of manhattan - she's a tiny, no, petite, little place...yet she has wide shoulders and tiny feet if you check a map!
i live on first avenue between 118th and 119th street now. i moved here in over the course of 3 agonizing weeks in may of this year. i brought a single rolling suitcase of possessions at a time. in order to economize, i walked from my old place in chelsea, all the way on the west side of nyc between 10th and 11th avenues, over to first avenue where i caught an uptown bus in front of bellvue hospital. the walk across from this old place to first avenue is about 2 miles. then the bus would crawl up the east side, oh so slowly...thanks to the united nations and all the bridges that leave nyc for long island, queens, brooklyn and the bronx being on the far east side near the river.
after 3 weeks, and one all nighter with a rental s.u.v. where i moved 3 truck loads on my own, i finished and was a true resident of "el barrio". you've heard of el barrio. there are barrio boys (i think they're thugs, but not sure honestly), boriquas (those who are from puerto rico originally, but now live in nyc, atleast part time - amazingly, 2/3 of the puerto ricans in nyc spend only part of the year living here, and they are somehow able to afford to stay in san juan or environs the rest of the time. that's so common that the hospitals, medicaid and medicare all offer something called "air bridge" where you register with your local medical staff before heading to puerto rico, and then, if you need medical help or prescriptions, you can go in puerto rico without being billed.) i find this to be amazing. and of course, i find it to be offensive, racist, anti-white and in very bad taste, especially since i went to visit my folks in nj, a mere 2 hour bus ride or 60 vehicular miles from here, and wound up in the e.r., and subsequently, the hospital for 11 days due to a staph infection on my face. i couldn't get a prescription filled without paying cash for it and i am still handling the bills from the hospital stay since medicaid doesn't cover expenses when you leave nyc. what a crock of bull if you ask me. if only i had flown to puerto rico instead, i'd be drugged and covered.
anyway, that's
another issue...now i'm in el barrio, spanish harlem, or as it's becoming known, SpaHa. it's an up and coming place for the hotties in the crowd who want more space for less money but want to maintain nyc residency without having to live in an outerborough. i'm one of those up and comers i guess. or maybe i'm just a snob about my address. but the former is more true than the latter, as i'm living in what most call the ghetto. i disagree.
today, finally, i was motivated and moved to explore and find more in the neighborhood than my grocery store and laundromat. what i've found has delighted, surprised and even excited me a bit today. it has been cool and overcast for the last 3 days, yesterday was torrential rains, my personal favorite weather other than anything autumnal. today was perfect. 58 degrees and overcast with showers earlier but just an on going light drizzle for most of the late afternoon and evening, as you can tell from the gray skies in these pictures and the lack of nyc skyline in the distance.
as i walked from my apartment, past the post office i discovered yesterday with the old glass windowed mailboxes and real customer service inside, i found myself suddenly at the foot of the Triborough Bridge. it's almost mythical really, it's like a unicorn, or maybe a doodlebug, you know, something you've heard of, read about or even heard others claim to have seen, but it's one of those new york urban legends that i hadn't personally seen. guess what? it's real! and it's simple, but large. i like it.
about 1,000 feet from the bridge is a 3-D piece of artwork that i've seen on tv and know to be quite famous for public works of art, but i had no idea where it was....it's called "day at the schorr" and it's a 3-D landscape mural that is about the size of 1/2 a city block, the fences are painted with greens like dune grass and of course waves like the ocean at one end. inside, there are walls painted with sand dunes and driftwood and the occasional portrait of someone laying on a beach towel sunning. then you see the over all whimsy of it....this fence and artwork are part of the morris park which is a city swimming pool. the water outside overlaps the real water inside and the tanning portraits mingle, albeit, quietly with the kids who line up for the high dive. this is all 3 minutes from my apartment. i fell in love with this place. it's part of the city's green streets initiative which includes a lot of reclaimed derelict lots that have been cleaned out by volunteers from the 'hood, then planted as community gardens. they are gorgeous. and i've now seen about 5 or 6 of them in my immediate vicinity since last week. next year, i'm going to get involved with one so i can be part of the fruit and vegetable exchange. why buy the tomatoes when i can grow them for free like all the others in the area?
when i finally got to 125th street, which is a very short 6 blocks from my home, i was mesmerized by the sights and the sounds on offer. now i've been to 125th street many times in the past, but never for the sheer experience offered by walking and watching, i was always leery of the area since it's reputation preceded me by a long, long time. the shopping on 125th street is destination shopping at it's best. that says a lot about the area! on my end of 125th street, there are amazing antique emporiums. by amazing, i mean, 1/2 a city block that used to be a bank and is now the demolition depot...outfront of this one building, they have an actual eagle which was the top of a column in the original penn station of the 1800's. the original penn station was torn down in the 60s to build madison square garden and the gorgeous, ornate and very old fashionned carved masonary was carted off, sunk in the river, broke into rubble or just abandoned who knows where. but there are a few important historical remnants that are being ecked out now that they're building a new penn station across from the garden (conversion of the farley post office annex, which looks like the parthenon in athens - it's a fantastic building, but lacks the character or historic charm of what was destroyed across 8th avenue for the garden). anyway, they have this eagle, he's taller than me and about 10 or 15 feet wide. he's missing his head. but seeing it up close, i was moved. in fact, i get emotional when i think about how much they've just thrown away in this city in the name of improvement and modernization. they've turned what was gorgeous and historic into a mass of never ending similarity and most of it is just atrocious to look at, that's why so many people covet big buildings with a higher floor being desirable - it's so you don't have to look at the architectural vomit that has become the city. they also have the original gas lamps that used to line nyc streets....a pair on either side of the front door really tells you where you are. the building is from 1891. i'll put up pictures next time i'm walking by there!
then i found clinton's office building. not impressed. wasn't looking. couldn't care less. but still, it's there. around the corner and across the street.
oh, i can take the train here. ...and i mean the TRAIN! i can get into or out of manhattan thanks to the 125th street station. it's an old time elevated train trestle and waiting room. it's still used, and i've been on trains (metronorth) in and out of the city that stopped there, but i could never figure out who'd use that stop. now i realize, i will! i can drag a bag 7 blocks from my apartment, climb the steps and 5 minutes after boarding any train, i will be on 34th street and 8th avenue at penn station. which is PERFECT for going home to see mom and jim by train, it's no bus, and no subway with 3 transfers, it's one train into penn and then on to the midtown direct! better, when mom comes to visit, if she comes by train, we'll take the 5 minute ride up to harlem and dismount on 125th so we can walk and enjoy the sites between there and my home....i am stoked for her to visit. then again, i'm really excited to have anyone visit now that i feel like this is home.
let's see....what else did i find....oh, coolness...in the 1800's nyc had turkish baths in each area of the city. now they're gone. except in the east village, where bette midler and barry manilow found fame in the 70's thanks to the gays in the baths....if you've never seen it, i highly recommend viewing the movie "the ritz" with chita rivera and an all star cast - it's campy at best but pee yourself funny overall. it takes place in the east village baths which had a fire not many years ago and are since then condemned and closed down...but, up here, in mount morris, there is a men only turkish bathhouse that i have read about in magazines and seen on the news when they do historical insterest segments. i just didn't know where mt. morris was. turns out it wasn't, but still is...and it's a few blocks from me. it's another phenomenal piece of architecture that has been beautifully maintained or refurbished on the outside. i didn't go in, but eventually i might....after all, i can always use a bath...but maybe i'll have them hold the part where they beat me with the birch branches....
the last thing i found was the apollo theater.
turns out it wasn't missing. i didn't go inside, but it's close to marshall's which is my favorite store. there is only one marhall's in all of nyc and it's walking distance to my apartment. does this make me the happiest boy in spaha? you betcha! i found a bathhouse, the apollo, the body shop, the former president and the eagle i always wanted to meet, all while walking from el barrio...but the one place that welcomed me and my debit card was marshalls...2 escalators up to heaven on 125th street...it's an entire floor of mens' stuff mixed with furniture and other treasures....i spent my month's allowance in there over the course of two days....but look at how much more my apartment is looking like a home for it....
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