New York
Posted by Mark Sullivan on Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Under: Culture
Since moving to New York City, I've learned quite a few things about this city, myself, and people and/or life in general. One of my friends mentioned, upon hearing that I had just moved to NYC, that it's like "jumping on a moving train." After being here for about a month, I completely agree. It's so fast paced - nobody really has time for anything because there's always so many people around: Crowds, distractions, strange people, hypersensitivity, mean looks, interesting glances.
Through my eyes, New York has lots of different sides. It's not the "fast paced" place that I thought it was before. It's also not a place filled with "mean" people. People in New York are actually quite nice, but I've found that you need to be aware of when/where to find it. For instance, I go to a yoga class up near 168th street, and it's a small studio which fits about 8 students. It's been nice for me to interact with the teacher and students, and realize that these are just normal people like me, living in a big city with lots of stress. There are ways to "escape" the stress, or at least calm the body/mind to tolerate it better.
There's a biting edge to reality among the people of new york. Everyone has an opinion and they'll state it. Passivity is not a good quality here. I get worried sometimes because I'm a pretty passive person - I like to make sure everyone feels okay and I'm hypersensitive to stress, or unkind or unfamiliar situations. I've gotten better with this: When I commute in the subway, I rush with efficiency (if I know where I'm going), and I don't care if I cut people off in the street or in the subway. It's every man for him/herself so get the hell outta my way.
But, there's a soft edge to New York. Yesterday, a Sunday, I went shopping in my neigborhood, which is predominantly Dominican. It's in a place called Washington Heights, up near 157th Street on the west side. I went into a store and bought a fan. The man there, who was Hispanic, assembled the fan for me -- I didn't think I would ever find service like this in New York. Anyway, he found out that the fan had some assembly malfunctions, so he suggested I not buy it. How nice was that?
Then, I popped into a convenience store to look for some tape, and had a nice conversation with the store owner, who was Cuban. He said right away, "You're a gringo!" yep, he was right. I'm so used to being called a gringo that I don't ever get offended. It's almost a term of endearment for me, even though some consider it disrespectful. Anyway, this man talked about his business model, and how the way to go is to buy cheap products overseas and have them shipped to the U.S. He talked about some store around the corner, run by a woman, who was sneaky and found a way to make money by buying overseas. It was nice for me to meet a man from Cuba - and he also had a beard which looked like Fidel Castro's!
The city is not all tense and hyperactive as much as people think. I've found some ways to escape the madness - such as riding my bike along Riverside drive right near the hudson, or waking up early and going for a swim at Riverbanks park near 147th. Even our doormen make living here a positive experience - they are very nice and provide a sense of comfort when coming home.
Through my eyes, New York has lots of different sides. It's not the "fast paced" place that I thought it was before. It's also not a place filled with "mean" people. People in New York are actually quite nice, but I've found that you need to be aware of when/where to find it. For instance, I go to a yoga class up near 168th street, and it's a small studio which fits about 8 students. It's been nice for me to interact with the teacher and students, and realize that these are just normal people like me, living in a big city with lots of stress. There are ways to "escape" the stress, or at least calm the body/mind to tolerate it better.
There's a biting edge to reality among the people of new york. Everyone has an opinion and they'll state it. Passivity is not a good quality here. I get worried sometimes because I'm a pretty passive person - I like to make sure everyone feels okay and I'm hypersensitive to stress, or unkind or unfamiliar situations. I've gotten better with this: When I commute in the subway, I rush with efficiency (if I know where I'm going), and I don't care if I cut people off in the street or in the subway. It's every man for him/herself so get the hell outta my way.
But, there's a soft edge to New York. Yesterday, a Sunday, I went shopping in my neigborhood, which is predominantly Dominican. It's in a place called Washington Heights, up near 157th Street on the west side. I went into a store and bought a fan. The man there, who was Hispanic, assembled the fan for me -- I didn't think I would ever find service like this in New York. Anyway, he found out that the fan had some assembly malfunctions, so he suggested I not buy it. How nice was that?
Then, I popped into a convenience store to look for some tape, and had a nice conversation with the store owner, who was Cuban. He said right away, "You're a gringo!" yep, he was right. I'm so used to being called a gringo that I don't ever get offended. It's almost a term of endearment for me, even though some consider it disrespectful. Anyway, this man talked about his business model, and how the way to go is to buy cheap products overseas and have them shipped to the U.S. He talked about some store around the corner, run by a woman, who was sneaky and found a way to make money by buying overseas. It was nice for me to meet a man from Cuba - and he also had a beard which looked like Fidel Castro's!
The city is not all tense and hyperactive as much as people think. I've found some ways to escape the madness - such as riding my bike along Riverside drive right near the hudson, or waking up early and going for a swim at Riverbanks park near 147th. Even our doormen make living here a positive experience - they are very nice and provide a sense of comfort when coming home.
In : Culture