The Streets of NYC
Okay, now that I've had a few days to walk the streets of New York, here are some general impressions.
So many people! Most of the time I was dodging people on the sidewalk.
Uptown, downtown, and midtown are not just fancy place names; they're actual directions. You need it because, for the first time you come up from underground, you have no landmarks to get your directions from. No mountains, no hills, no singlular buildings ... you're always walled in. I set off in the wrong direction a few times because of this. I got used to looking for these directions in subway stations. You can ask some guy on the street ... "Which way is uptown?" and he can probably point you there.
I was surprised the first time I was riding a subway and I saw another train passing us ... in the same direction. Kind of like passing a minivan on the freeway. That's serious train use. And the subways weren't as bad as I'd thought. Some are cleaner than others. But overall they seemed pretty clean. I never felt bad about setting my backpack on the floor.
Those black dots on the sidewalk. Old gum. It was everywhere. And the grates over the subway lines where you can hear the trains underneath, and smell that funky, humid smell.
I also noticed many cars were dinged. You walk down the street and look at the parked cars. Lots have little dents in the bumpers or sides. Some have serious scrapes. Even uptown. Margo and I took a cab ride once. It's not so much driving as a continuous negotiation. You start pushing your way into a lane, and the other guy will either push back or give you space. It's practically a contact sport. Good thing it's never more than 10 mph.
You know, there was little panhandling. I never got asked for money as much as in Portland. Just once, really. You do see lots of tables selling all sorts of things: used books, souvenirs, VHS and DVD movies, paintings.
I was on the LIRR today and someone recognized someone else and said, "Hey, I know you from ..." and they chatted. And I realized that I hadn't seen that before in my four days of walking around the city. Nobody seems to know anybody else. It's like a city of strangers. I'm sure I'd see more of that in the neighborhoods, but it's just so anonymous.
It's probably the most Darwinian city I've been in. Move, or get out of the way.
I think I only saw one bike lane, along 34th, or maybe 7th Avenue. Whenever I saw a parked bike, it usually had a serious chain and a MasterLock.
So many people! Most of the time I was dodging people on the sidewalk.
Uptown, downtown, and midtown are not just fancy place names; they're actual directions. You need it because, for the first time you come up from underground, you have no landmarks to get your directions from. No mountains, no hills, no singlular buildings ... you're always walled in. I set off in the wrong direction a few times because of this. I got used to looking for these directions in subway stations. You can ask some guy on the street ... "Which way is uptown?" and he can probably point you there.
I was surprised the first time I was riding a subway and I saw another train passing us ... in the same direction. Kind of like passing a minivan on the freeway. That's serious train use. And the subways weren't as bad as I'd thought. Some are cleaner than others. But overall they seemed pretty clean. I never felt bad about setting my backpack on the floor.
Those black dots on the sidewalk. Old gum. It was everywhere. And the grates over the subway lines where you can hear the trains underneath, and smell that funky, humid smell.
I also noticed many cars were dinged. You walk down the street and look at the parked cars. Lots have little dents in the bumpers or sides. Some have serious scrapes. Even uptown. Margo and I took a cab ride once. It's not so much driving as a continuous negotiation. You start pushing your way into a lane, and the other guy will either push back or give you space. It's practically a contact sport. Good thing it's never more than 10 mph.
You know, there was little panhandling. I never got asked for money as much as in Portland. Just once, really. You do see lots of tables selling all sorts of things: used books, souvenirs, VHS and DVD movies, paintings.
I was on the LIRR today and someone recognized someone else and said, "Hey, I know you from ..." and they chatted. And I realized that I hadn't seen that before in my four days of walking around the city. Nobody seems to know anybody else. It's like a city of strangers. I'm sure I'd see more of that in the neighborhoods, but it's just so anonymous.
It's probably the most Darwinian city I've been in. Move, or get out of the way.
I think I only saw one bike lane, along 34th, or maybe 7th Avenue. Whenever I saw a parked bike, it usually had a serious chain and a MasterLock.
posted by Michael Nelson at 7:02 pm
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