Journals 1-4
1. Impressions of NYC
New
York City is a large, populated city located west of New York. It is consisted
of five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island. I
was born in Flushing, Queens. Me and my family lived there for 4 years before
moving back to India. During my 1st 4 years in queens, I would
always go to restaurants with my family for dinners and special occasions
(weddings, parties, etc…). My parents would always talk about how we should
always try to visit the other boroughs located in NYC. The one I really wanted
to go to was Manhattan.
One summer when I was 4, my cousins would always come over from Manhattan to my house and talk about how much fun they would have in Central Park. My cousins always went every Friday morning to Central Park with their parents. They spent their time playing soccer and walking around the park. They said they always had a blast and said they also loved the fact the park was very big and seeing the city buildings across was beautiful. I felt really excited to hear about Central Park and wanted to go. I felt bored going to the parks in Queens and wanted to try something new. One Friday morning, my family and I joined my cousins and I had a really fun time in the warm, sunny day.
After the park, we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located down by 5th Avenue. The building and galleries were amazing. At first, I thought most of NYC was just noisy and dangerous based on what I’ve been hearing. But after not judging a book by its cover, I still wanted to go to Manhattan, a different part of my hometown, and explore the wonders of both the park and the museum. That was my first time being in a huge portion of NYC and I felt it was wonderful. This is one big reason I chose to take this course.
One summer when I was 4, my cousins would always come over from Manhattan to my house and talk about how much fun they would have in Central Park. My cousins always went every Friday morning to Central Park with their parents. They spent their time playing soccer and walking around the park. They said they always had a blast and said they also loved the fact the park was very big and seeing the city buildings across was beautiful. I felt really excited to hear about Central Park and wanted to go. I felt bored going to the parks in Queens and wanted to try something new. One Friday morning, my family and I joined my cousins and I had a really fun time in the warm, sunny day.
After the park, we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located down by 5th Avenue. The building and galleries were amazing. At first, I thought most of NYC was just noisy and dangerous based on what I’ve been hearing. But after not judging a book by its cover, I still wanted to go to Manhattan, a different part of my hometown, and explore the wonders of both the park and the museum. That was my first time being in a huge portion of NYC and I felt it was wonderful. This is one big reason I chose to take this course.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody QUEENS!
Last Friday was my first day of class. I showed up a little
late to Penn Station because the train I took ran late. As we are about to head
to our first train, I realized I didn’t have a metro card and everyone else
went ahead. For the first forty minutes of class I was left behind. I felt
completely embarrassed and slightly disappointed. I called Mike to let him know
about what happened. He told me to take the E train to Roosevelt ave and then
the 7 train to Willets Point Station. After that, I finally reunited with my
classmates at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in
Fresh Meadow, Corona in Flushing. According to Mike, the USTA Tennis Center is
where most U.S. Open house tournaments ae held. “The United States Tennis Association
is a
progressive and diverse not-for-profit organization whose volunteers,
professional staff and financial resources support the singular mission” (USTA,
2014). The whole area was enormous. We got together for a group photo in front
of something called the ‘Unisphere.’According to Russo and Cullinan (2014), the
Unisphere represents global interdependence and is considered to be one of
Queen’s most iconic structures, the Unisphere represents global
interdependence. When I first saw it, it made me think of my summer vacation in
Disney when I was eight years old. Me and my family went to Epcot and we
remember seeing something called ‘Spaceship Earth’ which is a huge sphere like
structure located in both Bay Lake and Orlando, Florida.
From there we were about to enter Queens Museum of Art. It is an important building located in Queens, and I quote, “Conceived as an art museum for the borough of Queens, the museum focuses primarily on 20th century and contemporary art with an emphasis on global diversity” (Russo and Cullinan, 2014, p. 221). In there we met a tour guide who talked about the most famous artwork tourists like to see in the museum. The first artwork we saw was the three buidlings that were slanted. You can see the photo below on my website page. According to the tour guide, it was made with cut out books, wood and iron put together. I couldn’t believe how epic it looked. All of that made from books, that’s very original. The next artwork we saw, which was my personal favorite, was the panorama. According to Russo and Cullinan (2014), it covers more the 9.335 square and contains more than 895,000 buildings. The tour guide told me it took two hundred men to build all of New York. The tour guide also pointed out that it took up to three years to build. My classmates and I couldn’t believe what we laid our eyes on. After we were done, we were ready to board the next train.
For our next stop, we arrived at Astoria, Queens. There, we stopped for a little lunch break to a decent Indian cuisine. Now my parents were both born and raised in India so pretty much we have been to every Indian buffet located in New York. But the one we went to, in Astoria, that was the first time I was there and it was exciting.
At our next stop, we decided to hit the Museum of Moving Images. It is “the museum – by far the most popular tourist attraction in Queens – boasts one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world” (Russo and Cullinan, 2014, p. 224). While in there, I managed to take some pictures and make a short animation as well. This animation can be seen below. I liked going here, but it was nothing compared to the first art museum our class went to earlier. I just felt being at a quiet, art museum was more relaxing compared to a spontaneous moving image museum. After we headed out to the museum, we were supposed to go to some art gallery but that was cancelled and it bummed me out. Since I enjoyed the first art gallery, I felt the second one would have been more entertaining.
As a class, we gathered around near a huge pepsi sign. Mike told us about the old Coler-Goldwater hospital and how it was going to be torn down to build the new Cornell University IT, or information of technology. I felt it was interesting to see how Cornell University has advanced to the City of New York. He also talked about a building there being the site for the first insitute of nursing education. This was something I found very interesting because as a nursing major, that was interesting information to know. My first semester in Molloy, I took a introductory nursing class that talks a lot about the history and development of nursing and we never discussed the first institute for nursing education located in NYC. The Pepsi logo, mentioned earlier, was apparently left there as a means to show tourists that a Pepsi company existed before city buildings took over it, as mentioned my Mike.
That was the end of the first day of our core class. Overall, I didn’t feel as tired as I thought I would. I really wish we could have visited more places. On my way home, I took the train back to woodside, and from there, I took the train from Babylon to Long Beach, where I originially came from. I look forward for next week’s class!
From there we were about to enter Queens Museum of Art. It is an important building located in Queens, and I quote, “Conceived as an art museum for the borough of Queens, the museum focuses primarily on 20th century and contemporary art with an emphasis on global diversity” (Russo and Cullinan, 2014, p. 221). In there we met a tour guide who talked about the most famous artwork tourists like to see in the museum. The first artwork we saw was the three buidlings that were slanted. You can see the photo below on my website page. According to the tour guide, it was made with cut out books, wood and iron put together. I couldn’t believe how epic it looked. All of that made from books, that’s very original. The next artwork we saw, which was my personal favorite, was the panorama. According to Russo and Cullinan (2014), it covers more the 9.335 square and contains more than 895,000 buildings. The tour guide told me it took two hundred men to build all of New York. The tour guide also pointed out that it took up to three years to build. My classmates and I couldn’t believe what we laid our eyes on. After we were done, we were ready to board the next train.
For our next stop, we arrived at Astoria, Queens. There, we stopped for a little lunch break to a decent Indian cuisine. Now my parents were both born and raised in India so pretty much we have been to every Indian buffet located in New York. But the one we went to, in Astoria, that was the first time I was there and it was exciting.
At our next stop, we decided to hit the Museum of Moving Images. It is “the museum – by far the most popular tourist attraction in Queens – boasts one of the largest collections of film artifacts in the world” (Russo and Cullinan, 2014, p. 224). While in there, I managed to take some pictures and make a short animation as well. This animation can be seen below. I liked going here, but it was nothing compared to the first art museum our class went to earlier. I just felt being at a quiet, art museum was more relaxing compared to a spontaneous moving image museum. After we headed out to the museum, we were supposed to go to some art gallery but that was cancelled and it bummed me out. Since I enjoyed the first art gallery, I felt the second one would have been more entertaining.
As a class, we gathered around near a huge pepsi sign. Mike told us about the old Coler-Goldwater hospital and how it was going to be torn down to build the new Cornell University IT, or information of technology. I felt it was interesting to see how Cornell University has advanced to the City of New York. He also talked about a building there being the site for the first insitute of nursing education. This was something I found very interesting because as a nursing major, that was interesting information to know. My first semester in Molloy, I took a introductory nursing class that talks a lot about the history and development of nursing and we never discussed the first institute for nursing education located in NYC. The Pepsi logo, mentioned earlier, was apparently left there as a means to show tourists that a Pepsi company existed before city buildings took over it, as mentioned my Mike.
That was the end of the first day of our core class. Overall, I didn’t feel as tired as I thought I would. I really wish we could have visited more places. On my way home, I took the train back to woodside, and from there, I took the train from Babylon to Long Beach, where I originially came from. I look forward for next week’s class!
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3. Spread love, its the BROOKLYN way!
Today I embark on my second day of core class. Our next New York City borough trip was going to be Brooklyn. We all met at Penn Station and talked about the day ahead of us. Before we headed on to the F train, Mike told us it would take up to an hour before we arrived to Brooklyn. I felt that hour long trip would be a perfect time to get some reading done. I knew from hearing Mike say an hour long, it was going to be a long day in class. All aboard! Next stop: Coney Island!
“Located on the Atlantic in Southwest Brooklyn, Coney Island has the distinction of being one of the United States’ earliest and most prominent seaside resort communities” (Russo p. 193). We reached Coney Island and Mike told us a little about the island. He mentioned how it was originally an island until it was separated from the main lands. It was considered America’s greatest amusements spots during the early twentieth century. My first impression of Coney Island was that it felt like a huge amusement park. There were great fast food joints nearby and many fun rides. Mike told us to check out the ‘cyclone,’ a very famous roller coaster in Coney Island. Instead, my classmate and I decided to go on the thunderbolt. That ride was intense! Very fast and very strong, the thunderbolt ride got my blood flowing. After that, we both got a bite to eat from good ol’ nathans. I wanted nathans only because the last time I had it was three years ago. The sweet crunchy skin of the chicken tenders and the melted American cheese on the zig-zag fries brought me a lot of good memories. After lunch, our whole class regrouped at the train station and we were off to our next location. All aboard! Next stop: Brooklyn Heights!
Another hour long train ride later, we were off to visit a museum located in Boerum Pl, Brooklyn. According to Mike, it is considered one of the greatest museums dedicated to mass transportation. Mike challenged our knowledge of Understanding alittle bit of the New York City’s transport system by asking us why transportation was so important. Mike stated since New York is poised to be the greatest city of the United States mainly because people were able to get places without cars and make streets easier for pedestrians to walk by. “The museum opened in 1976 for New York’s bicentennial celebrations and proved to be an immediate success with New Yorkers” (Russo, p.203). Our tour guide was knowledgeable and exciting to listen to. She did a wonderful job thoroughly explaining the history of the first railroad until now, 2014. What I didn’t know was the information the tour guide was talking about the subway during the 1970’s. There was a lot of crime, vandalism and it was a time where people did not feel safe going near subways. I felt that was an interesting fact to note. After she was done explaining everything, our class had thirty minutes to explore the museum. My classmates and I decided to go down to the basement to see different types of trains and how they appeared back in time. We also saw subway cars! A few pictures can be seen below this journal entry. I personally enjoyed it because I got to see and experience New York City in a whole new light. I never knew the subways were as important as people made it seem to be. This museum visit also made me look at the subway systems differently by making me realize that trains were an important aspect of New York.
Our next stop was to walk around Brooklyn Heights! We reached to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which personally was my second favorite part of the trip, the first being the first stop to the roller coaster and nathans. The view of Manhattan from a distance was so beautiful. That view I got from the Promenade made me really want to go to Manhattan very badly. Mike gave us, yet again, another history lesson. He mentioned how during the Revolutionary war, George Washington retreated his troops from Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan. The Battle of long Island was also known as the Battle of Brooklyn (Russo, p.191). That was interesting to learn. I’ve never been a huge history fanatic but its always intriguing to learn alittle more battle histories that made part of the state I live in. As we left the Promenade, we took a twenty to twenty five minute walk to DUMBO, where more exciting things occured. Dumbo stands for ‘Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass’. I saw alot of beautiful things, such as Jane’s carousel, many brides and grooms either about to get married or already done the process, a beautiful water view and the three main bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. Mike wanted us to have two epic self-portrait moments, both reflecting one of the bridges as the background. Mine can be seen in the photo gallery below.
Now the grand finale of the tour, we the classmates walk through the whole Brooklyn bridge! I was very excited to do this because based on how much I ate at Nathans, I looked forward to losing all the additional weight I had gained. Since my phone was lame, it died twenty minutes before we jumped on the bridge, so no pictures could have been shown. Other than that, it was fun to reach the end of the line of the bride, and that concludes my awesome day in Brooklyn!
Today I embark on my second day of core class. Our next New York City borough trip was going to be Brooklyn. We all met at Penn Station and talked about the day ahead of us. Before we headed on to the F train, Mike told us it would take up to an hour before we arrived to Brooklyn. I felt that hour long trip would be a perfect time to get some reading done. I knew from hearing Mike say an hour long, it was going to be a long day in class. All aboard! Next stop: Coney Island!
“Located on the Atlantic in Southwest Brooklyn, Coney Island has the distinction of being one of the United States’ earliest and most prominent seaside resort communities” (Russo p. 193). We reached Coney Island and Mike told us a little about the island. He mentioned how it was originally an island until it was separated from the main lands. It was considered America’s greatest amusements spots during the early twentieth century. My first impression of Coney Island was that it felt like a huge amusement park. There were great fast food joints nearby and many fun rides. Mike told us to check out the ‘cyclone,’ a very famous roller coaster in Coney Island. Instead, my classmate and I decided to go on the thunderbolt. That ride was intense! Very fast and very strong, the thunderbolt ride got my blood flowing. After that, we both got a bite to eat from good ol’ nathans. I wanted nathans only because the last time I had it was three years ago. The sweet crunchy skin of the chicken tenders and the melted American cheese on the zig-zag fries brought me a lot of good memories. After lunch, our whole class regrouped at the train station and we were off to our next location. All aboard! Next stop: Brooklyn Heights!
Another hour long train ride later, we were off to visit a museum located in Boerum Pl, Brooklyn. According to Mike, it is considered one of the greatest museums dedicated to mass transportation. Mike challenged our knowledge of Understanding alittle bit of the New York City’s transport system by asking us why transportation was so important. Mike stated since New York is poised to be the greatest city of the United States mainly because people were able to get places without cars and make streets easier for pedestrians to walk by. “The museum opened in 1976 for New York’s bicentennial celebrations and proved to be an immediate success with New Yorkers” (Russo, p.203). Our tour guide was knowledgeable and exciting to listen to. She did a wonderful job thoroughly explaining the history of the first railroad until now, 2014. What I didn’t know was the information the tour guide was talking about the subway during the 1970’s. There was a lot of crime, vandalism and it was a time where people did not feel safe going near subways. I felt that was an interesting fact to note. After she was done explaining everything, our class had thirty minutes to explore the museum. My classmates and I decided to go down to the basement to see different types of trains and how they appeared back in time. We also saw subway cars! A few pictures can be seen below this journal entry. I personally enjoyed it because I got to see and experience New York City in a whole new light. I never knew the subways were as important as people made it seem to be. This museum visit also made me look at the subway systems differently by making me realize that trains were an important aspect of New York.
Our next stop was to walk around Brooklyn Heights! We reached to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which personally was my second favorite part of the trip, the first being the first stop to the roller coaster and nathans. The view of Manhattan from a distance was so beautiful. That view I got from the Promenade made me really want to go to Manhattan very badly. Mike gave us, yet again, another history lesson. He mentioned how during the Revolutionary war, George Washington retreated his troops from Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan. The Battle of long Island was also known as the Battle of Brooklyn (Russo, p.191). That was interesting to learn. I’ve never been a huge history fanatic but its always intriguing to learn alittle more battle histories that made part of the state I live in. As we left the Promenade, we took a twenty to twenty five minute walk to DUMBO, where more exciting things occured. Dumbo stands for ‘Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass’. I saw alot of beautiful things, such as Jane’s carousel, many brides and grooms either about to get married or already done the process, a beautiful water view and the three main bridges connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. Mike wanted us to have two epic self-portrait moments, both reflecting one of the bridges as the background. Mine can be seen in the photo gallery below.
Now the grand finale of the tour, we the classmates walk through the whole Brooklyn bridge! I was very excited to do this because based on how much I ate at Nathans, I looked forward to losing all the additional weight I had gained. Since my phone was lame, it died twenty minutes before we jumped on the bridge, so no pictures could have been shown. Other than that, it was fun to reach the end of the line of the bride, and that concludes my awesome day in Brooklyn!
4. Chelsea and the Village Extravagansa!
Today begins my third day of my core class, and we will be
traveling to Chelsea Village! Taking its name from the former estate of British
army captain Thomas Clark, the property was eventually passed to his grandson,
Clement Clark Moore, who is famous for the famous “Twas the Night Before
Christmas” (ENY, p. 83). So today’s day was alittle different. When we arrived
at Penn Station, we didn’t hop on to another train. We merely walked our way
out of Penn Station to explore not only Chelsea, but also the east village!
Before we dispersed, our professor talked how this “s***y” Penn Station was
co-constructed by Stanford White around the 1900’s. When the 1960’s arrived,
however, it was too expensive for it be intact and it had to be torn down,
being replaced with a more modern railway station (ENY, p.114). I died alittle
on the inside when I heard this. Such a beautiful building being demolished and
turned into a crowded station, just sounds wrong. The one person Mike talked
about the most for this class was Stanford White! I thought of Breaking Bad when I heard this guy’s
last name was White because the main character on the show was named Walter
White. Born in New York on November 9th, 1853, White was an
architect responsible for the creation
of the second Madison Square Garden (demolished in 1925), the Metropolitan
Club, the Century Club, the Judson Memorial Church and the Washington Square
Arch (New York Times, 2014). It was good to know some of the history behind the
train station I am constantly departing from. Anyways, let the adventure to Chelsea
begin!
From the train station, we went to a track field-like area called the HighLine! The HighLine can be seen between 30th street and Tenth Avenue (ENY, p.84). Mike talked about how during the mid-19th century, Tenth avenue was nicknamed “death avenue” because of the fact the crowded city freight line would cause many fatalities. “The High Line officially opened in 2006 and was an immediate hit with both New Yorkers and tourists” (ENY, p. 84). AS we walked down the HighLine, I managed to see A LOT of beautiful artwork and building structures. It was particularly crowded so it was hard to keep up with everyone in my class. Some of the photos I took can be seen below. I personally enjoyed that live drummer who I passed by. He had a good beat. It reminded of how much it’s fun to be outside with nature and enjoy playing music! Unfortunately, the walk around the HighLine was over.
Our next stop were a bunch of art galleries. Chelsea is mainly known for the numerous art galleries, showcasing some of the world’s most prominent contemporary art (ENY, p. 85). Out of all the galleries, I personally liked the horses made up of logs artwork. Those were located in the gallery called ‘Danese’. The name of the artwork was entitled “Deborah Butterfield”. I personally liked the idea that the artists used logs instead of metal or something like that. It my opinion it showed creativity. After that was over, we went to somewhere completely different, a ‘village far in the west!’
We translated from Chelsea to Greenwich Village, which is also known as the ‘west village.’ Mike gave us a very important and interesting note about the west village. Apparently the west village has a huge history to the gay-lesbian community. I guess this is probably why one of the stores I saw was called ‘shoe-gasm’. That is such an epic name for a store, I was shocked no one said anything about it! We also went by Jefferson Street Market for a bit before our next destination. As we walked down from West village, we arrived at Washington Square Park. Quick background, “The land where the park is located was purchaed by the city of New York in 1797 to serve as a potter’s field – a place of burial for unknown or indigent people” (ENY, p. 95). Its spooky to hear that the history had to do with death. It was awesome, however, to go through the whole park and see it filled with people enjoying their time and playing sports. I personally enjoyed the live musical performance of the man and women playing banjos and singing. Once again, I am a huge fanatic of live music!
Now we were on our way to the merchant house! A wonderfully preserved Federal-style house that was built by Joseph Brewster, the Merchant house is a reminder of a time in the early 19th century when elegant neighborhoods were high in East Village (ENY, p. 99). It was a three story building with a basement, and apparently it was claimed to be haunted by a ghost! I personally found that part interesting only because I am also a huge fanatic of paranormal activity claims. It was sad to hear that a family that raised eight children there had them all dead in the same house. I would have loved to learn more about the mercahnt house, if my tour guide was loud, but it is what it is. Our last stop was to Cooper Square, which for some reason we didn’t explore that much of it. I will always remember it for the unique building design because it wasn’t a gothic revival style or a beaux-arts style, it was its own thing. Don’t get me wrong, gothic revival and beaux-arts were very creative but the Cooper Square style was the one that caught my attention the most.
Our long journey ended as we walked down to the next subway to Penn Station. Overall, today was exhausting and tiring. I still had fun, however. If I ever come back to West Village, I will make sure the first thing I do is go to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop! I am looking forward to next weeks trip!
From the train station, we went to a track field-like area called the HighLine! The HighLine can be seen between 30th street and Tenth Avenue (ENY, p.84). Mike talked about how during the mid-19th century, Tenth avenue was nicknamed “death avenue” because of the fact the crowded city freight line would cause many fatalities. “The High Line officially opened in 2006 and was an immediate hit with both New Yorkers and tourists” (ENY, p. 84). AS we walked down the HighLine, I managed to see A LOT of beautiful artwork and building structures. It was particularly crowded so it was hard to keep up with everyone in my class. Some of the photos I took can be seen below. I personally enjoyed that live drummer who I passed by. He had a good beat. It reminded of how much it’s fun to be outside with nature and enjoy playing music! Unfortunately, the walk around the HighLine was over.
Our next stop were a bunch of art galleries. Chelsea is mainly known for the numerous art galleries, showcasing some of the world’s most prominent contemporary art (ENY, p. 85). Out of all the galleries, I personally liked the horses made up of logs artwork. Those were located in the gallery called ‘Danese’. The name of the artwork was entitled “Deborah Butterfield”. I personally liked the idea that the artists used logs instead of metal or something like that. It my opinion it showed creativity. After that was over, we went to somewhere completely different, a ‘village far in the west!’
We translated from Chelsea to Greenwich Village, which is also known as the ‘west village.’ Mike gave us a very important and interesting note about the west village. Apparently the west village has a huge history to the gay-lesbian community. I guess this is probably why one of the stores I saw was called ‘shoe-gasm’. That is such an epic name for a store, I was shocked no one said anything about it! We also went by Jefferson Street Market for a bit before our next destination. As we walked down from West village, we arrived at Washington Square Park. Quick background, “The land where the park is located was purchaed by the city of New York in 1797 to serve as a potter’s field – a place of burial for unknown or indigent people” (ENY, p. 95). Its spooky to hear that the history had to do with death. It was awesome, however, to go through the whole park and see it filled with people enjoying their time and playing sports. I personally enjoyed the live musical performance of the man and women playing banjos and singing. Once again, I am a huge fanatic of live music!
Now we were on our way to the merchant house! A wonderfully preserved Federal-style house that was built by Joseph Brewster, the Merchant house is a reminder of a time in the early 19th century when elegant neighborhoods were high in East Village (ENY, p. 99). It was a three story building with a basement, and apparently it was claimed to be haunted by a ghost! I personally found that part interesting only because I am also a huge fanatic of paranormal activity claims. It was sad to hear that a family that raised eight children there had them all dead in the same house. I would have loved to learn more about the mercahnt house, if my tour guide was loud, but it is what it is. Our last stop was to Cooper Square, which for some reason we didn’t explore that much of it. I will always remember it for the unique building design because it wasn’t a gothic revival style or a beaux-arts style, it was its own thing. Don’t get me wrong, gothic revival and beaux-arts were very creative but the Cooper Square style was the one that caught my attention the most.
Our long journey ended as we walked down to the next subway to Penn Station. Overall, today was exhausting and tiring. I still had fun, however. If I ever come back to West Village, I will make sure the first thing I do is go to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop! I am looking forward to next weeks trip!