Glories and Horror Stories of the Bronx

As a suburban New Yorker myself, I have some city blood in me, but only half. The other half of the blood that runs through my veins is the quiet, green-lawn-loving, cute red car driving, girl who loves a night hanging out with good friends in a basement. So coming to The Big Apple to actually live, has certainly been an experience.

I just got home from Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY to visit my best friend, Monica. Riverdale is located in the northwest most portion on the Bronx or the “BX” as everyone there refers to it, I learned. I was so excited to see Monica that I almost forgot about the reputation I have known my whole life about certain areas of the Bronx: girls need to carry mace, drug dealers line the corners, never travel in a group of all girls after dark and so on. I started to flip out on my subway ride up there. Here I am, an 18 year old female, who really looks like she has no idea what she is doing as she reads a map of the subway. A tall african american man was bopping his head back and fourth next to me as he was listening to Drake’s “Up All Night” and didn’t refrain from singing, at a loud tone I must add, “ok now we outta here, toodles to you bitches,” and then stopped. I guess he was just really feeling that line....

So anyway I braced myself for the worst. But surprisingly, when I hopped off of the subway, I was taken aback. There was lots of green grass, a dad and his two kids playing wiffle ball off to the side of an apartment building, and many people dressed and walking to temple, obviously for the Jewish holiday. It was quite....serene.

Monica picked me up and as we were walking to her campus it got nicer and nicer. Her dorm had a beautiful view of trees and flowers located in the courtyard area of the school. It was like I wasn’t in a city at all, almost like central park but it felt so much more like home to me. It was suburbia!

I asked Monica what was going on and where the scary Bronx were. She simply replied, “just wait until tonight.” We went out last night and as we were traveling on the shuttle bus and getting farther away from campus, I began to see what she meant. The graffiti along every building or structure was angry with tones of yellow, red or black and in general, the people on the street seemed tougher. An old man asked me for some spare change, and came closer and closer to me as I was walking away, demanding I give him something. It was a scary feeling after seeing such a peaceful campus. We ate at a diner around 2am because after being up so late, we were unbelievably hungry.There I witnessed a waitress grab a costumer by the ear and throw him out. She had red hair(as in the actual color red) pulled back into a tight bun, wore light blue eyeliner which didn’t help the sharp stare in her eyes, and drew on her eyebrows a color that anyone in their right mind would know was not natural. Apparently this 20 year old guy who she literally threw out was “sassing” her and she had “had enough of that shit.” Basically you don’t want to be on Tina’s bad list....

So although I had a blast with Monica and loved her campus, I don’t know if the Bronx are for me, at least the part of it that I was exposed to. Walking off of the subway this morning into Columbus Circle was like walking into my concrete secret garden. It was so different from the place that I had spent the last 24 hours.

I always knew I wanted to live in NYC one day because come on, it is the greatest city in the world! Whenever I tell people I’m from New York their eyes light up as bright as Times Square and they ask me question after question about a fantasy life they think I live daily. Well the truth is, now I do. Manhattan is my fantasy.

My trip to Roosevelt Island

Ever since I got here, I've been hearing different things about where the upperclassmen live and how cool it is. So needless to say I've been pretty curious about what makes it so great. Well when my group and I in our first year mentoring class got assigned to go and explore Roosevelt Island I was pretty excited!

I had a vision of what it might look like before I left, I pictured it as a place much like Manhattan, with lots of buildings and skyscrapers and being very busy with lots of people. When I stepped off the subway and came out of the station I was surprised. It was so open, I felt like I had not only taken the subway out of the upper east side, but completely out of New York City. What I took to be the middle of the island is very quaint and cute. It reminded me of being home in on of the little towns that surround mine, which I think is why I like being there so much. It only has a couple little restaurants and shops but in the middle is this patch of green that is completely open with tons of flowers and a little fountain. It seems way too quiet and serene to be only across the river from Manhattan, but it is such a nice escape from the craziness.

We decided to go explore the island, and I was thinking that this island was huge so I was sort of dreading walking the entire thing. After walking a little ways out of the center of "town" we came out underneath the Queensboro Bridge, which was absolutely beautiful from where we were standing. Being on that island, you see the buildings, bridges, and sights we see everyday from here on Manhattan but it just is so much prettier without all the distractions around. It was so nice to be able to walk around the edge of the island, right along the water. At this point I realized why people enjoyed coming here so much, it's such a calming, relaxing escape.

Then we came to the hospital, after walking about 5 minutes and still being not even halfway down the campus I was amazed at the size of the hospital. Near the end of the campus we saw lots of old, decrepit looking buildings which honestly were pretty scary looking. The first thing that came to mind was that it looked like an abandoned insane asylum. There were bars on the windows and all over the walls, and just the way the buildings looked from the outside it was very eerie.

When we finally got by the hospital it was pretty clear that we had gotten into the "bad" part of Roosevelt because we started to realize this island wasn't all cute, nice little neighborhoods. That just like everywhere else, there were definitely some bad parts to this community.

Overall, I truly loved being at Roosevelt Island, the feeling of being in a little town away from the city was what won me over. I would love to live in the dorms there next year because it seems like such an amazing place to live. Anyone who wants to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and get some fresh air should definitely go to Roosevelt Island, I loved it and I'm sure that you would too.

A taste of Latin America in New York City

El Barrio is a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood. It is filled with restaurants, clothing shops and other interesting stores. I usually go there when I feel like stocking up on my salsa cd's or want to hear amazing music alongside my pastelillo. However on Wednesday I was walking around El Barrio with my mother trying to find a specific store when I found this amazing bakery. Inside you can smell the delicious scent of flan, tres leches cake and Pan Mexicano (Mexican bread). There was also Soda from all over Latin America (including Brazilian) and Cuban Coffee (nice!). It was all very cheap too! Unfortunately I do not remember where this bakery is. However I will definitely be visiting soon and I will post the exact address when I have the chance. Here are a few things that you can get there (I did NOT take these photos):



Mexican Bread




Tres Leches cake



Cuban Coffee

The Patti Saga: Upper West Side and Union Square

Time: Post-treacherous thunder storm (soon to be Tornado)

Location: FirstYearMentoring..,.

Destination: Barnes and Noble at Lincoln Center to witness Patti Lupone's Book Release Concert

Chapter One - Getting There (Not the Mary-Kate and Ashley Movie... unfortunately)

I think the NYC transit system and I are fighting. The subway wait is making it awkward for the two people I dragged down into the station to see Famous Broadway Diva Patti Lupone. The 11 minute wait for the subway and 14 minutes until show time are causing me to get rather antsy in my wet khaki shortshorts. I suggest we dash up and catch a cab.

So we do...

.... even though we already used our metro cards to get into the station...

Once we get to the street we attempt to hail approximately 12 cabs before landing lucky number 13...?... The cab driver is incredibly frustrated that the three of us are, like, breathing I guess (I'm pretty sure there was nothing else that could have made him angry because seriously all we did was breathe). Anywho, on the way we pass super intriguing crime scene in Central Park and a plethora of soaking wet, jaded Upper Eastians.

Chapter Two - The Arrival.

We see the building. PAPAPPAPAAAAATTTIII!!!! Oh, I neglected to mention that neither of the girls I'm with have any clue who Patti Lupone is... those darn Speech-Path majors. So we race in and down the first escalator we find. Unfortunately this speedy decision did us no good given that Ms. Lupone was not on the first floor, but the fourth. Escalator after escalator until finally we get to... PA....PATT.....PAAATTT.... the-security-guard-who-tells-us-no-more-people-are-allowed-in-to-see-patti.

*Profanity*

Chapter Three - The Recovery and, ya know, the Actual Assignment

We do see/ wave at Patti through the giant glass case and watch a little bit of the performance on the TVs one floor up in the Starbucks (obviously we get food... based on our collective depression about the lack of Patti). Then we decide to walk around Lincoln Square.

Columbus Circle is one of my favorite parts of the city because of its openess, beautiful fountains, and enormous variety of fabulous people. We managed to catch some C list, starving Super Models coming out of the Fashion Week Event in the Square. We also got free Frappucino coupons (which was ironic considering the Starbucks in our hands), invited to hop in a sketchy bus traveling to the Meat Packing District, and given various post cards leading us to various hopeful designers websites.

Despite our ability to be in the same room as Patti, we celebrate our small victories. For example: getting across town in twenty minutes, trying giant pizza pretzels that turned out to be "just okay" according to Anna Patruno, and standing alongside clueless Paparazzi.

This evening definitely resembled my New York. It was beautiful, spontaneous, tragic, and just awkward enough.

The End.

The Silence of Brooklyn

I emerged from underground and was instantly greeted by silence. Silence – a sensation I hadn’t experienced for several weeks. Even when isolated in the solitude of Central Park or on those lucky Fridays when my suitemates have class and I’m alone there is still noise. Within the serene classroom sirens and horns constantly blare through unwelcoming cracks in the windows. Sound squeezes its way in and invades the sacred space designated for concentration and academic advancement. It seems that noise didn’t get the memo that school is supposed to be relatively quiet. But Brooklyn, that’s another story.

The first thing I noticed as two of my roommates and I began walking around is just how peaceful it was. There is some sound but there isn’t chaos. You can look across the water at Manhattan and see the tall skyscrapers and hectic lives but you can’t hear the noise. If you close your eyes you can picture where 71st and 3rd might be but it’s hard to fathom the craziness. The hustle and bustle. The screeching brakes on the M102. The infinite conversations going on. The impatient pedestrians who never wait for a walk sign. They were all missing as I casually strolled down the empty streets. In Williamsburg the only noise I heard was the sound of footsteps as they meandered down open sidewalks. When you look across the river, you see a different world. A mere 5,989 feet separates these two places that have few things in common and yet, most of the people over there return to their homes over here at night.

Everyone has somewhere to be but no one is in a hurry. That’s one of the biggest differences. The cost of living is another huge thing that separates these two places. A soda in Brooklyn costs a dollar, in the city? An arm and a leg. But all hyperboles aside it does cost three times Brooklyn’s price.

Strangely enough I found myself missing the noise associated with Manhattan; after a few hours the silence became unsettling. When you’re used to falling asleep to the tune of an ambulance it’s hard to be awake in quietness. Following such a calm day I was ecstatic to hear the L-Train rattling down the tracks. As it squealed to a stop and the doors separated it was like Manhattan was spreading its arms open and saying: I missed you, welcome home. I smiled as I stepped on and found a seat. Brooklyn was a fantastic place but I belonged where a soda costs three dollars and you can never be in complete silence. I belong in Manhattan. After getting off at Union Square and transferring to the Five I finally got off at my stop thirty minutes later. I emerged from underground and was instantly greeted by noise. Noise – I couldn’t be happier.

My trip to chinatown/soho

As I walked through the city street at night,

It didn’t look much different than the day.

The different people that were in my sight all had something to say.

Chinatown, one of the cities busiest area, gave me something to seek.

As I strolled through the booths of fake Louis Vuitton bags, I couldn’t help but peek.

“$50 dolla” “50 dolla” you could hear a man’s voice screaming that on every city block.

And if you showed some interest, you were their new victim.

P.S., I’m still in shock.

So let’s go forward in my journey of when my stomach growled.

I went into a Chinese food store, and oh how I’m glad I did.

The chicken brocolli and rice, it was just splendid!

And then went on to eat some sesame chicken that was perfect.

I thought it was too early, so I went to SOHO too,

The greatest fashion place that you can ever go to!

I undressed and dressed, and undressed and dressed in a store called TopShop.

Greatest clothes but so overpriced, not planning to get broke.

Then, of course because of my pen obsession I went to Muji next.

They have the coolest pens in every color you can guess!

So as my night ended, and my feet gave up on me,

I took the next B train, to my home—

Brighton Beach.