activism and meteorology

Maybe it's that time of the semester when everyone is feeling exhausted, but I would also echo Anthony and Sophia in saying that this city takes it out of you. I feel this all the more acutely since I just got back from Miami, where the weather was perfect. It wasn't long after getting back to New York that I was consumed by the usual pandemonium--last night there was a pretty good protest at Baruch against CUNY tuition hikes, but of course it involved a lot of racing cops on scooters, which is becoming something of a sport. Last week we got to experience CUNY police's crowd control tactics, which leave a lot to be desired (see this video, particularly around minute 3). New York feels more and more like a pressure cooker every day.

I am glad to be here right now, though. Being in Miami is like being in the eye of a hurricane; things are calm and the weather is great, but in reality there's chaos all around you that you might just not see. New York is more like the cold front that can move the storm in an unexpected direction. Ok, my metaphor is breaking down, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. My point being that this is a great time to live in New York.

Response to Sophia

Sophia,

Some of the same thoughts crossed my mind as I sat down to write this post. I am absolutely exhausted!!!!! This semester has been the most stressful and difficult few months of my entire life. I had so much work I needed to get done over break that I just shut down and did none of it. Had it been someone else who demanded that we start sticking to deadlines for this tutorial, and not myself, I would not have sat down to write this now. I am unsure of how I will be able to get my work done before the semester ends. Clearly, you feel that the city is a huge cause of your exhaustion. I feel that way too. This city has a way of draining the energy out of even someone as hyper as myself. However, I feel differently than you. While your now considering leaving, I am coming to the realization that I can never leave. I think it is fair to say that right now I am feeling far more miserable than I thought I ever would in college. I haven't felt this way since junior year of high school. And, I never thought i could feel it here! But, what worries me most is the thought of leaving the city behind. I would rather bear the misery I feel now for the rest of my life then be back in Connecticut living a calmer life.

Our emotions now should definitely be considered for this course because they reveal the emotions of every New Yorker before us. This city has a way of drawing people in no matter how hard on them it might be. And, it can also push people away! It is absolutely a bizarre phenomenon and one that makes this place so unique!

"Something Interesting"

I fear that I have nothing great to say right now. I've had an exhausting few days. I can't think of much to say about the city, except that I'm slowly beginning to want to leave. When I look at grad schools, I hardly consider the ones here anymore.

--

But what else? I've been watching this again, and again. I don't watch Keith Olbermann that often, but this really got to me. It's a great clip, you should watch it.

Besides that, I've been reading a lot about Occupy Wall Street (including Caitlin's amazing op-ed). I was down at Foley Square during the protest--my co-workers and I left work to march. But, I don't know if there's anything to say about that and the city. Simply that, I can't imagine this starting anywhere. It's becoming reminiscent of the 70s. But, I'm not sure if it has to do with the culture of the city and the sheer mass of people (which, I think, we only begin to get a sense of during these protests) or, as Olbermann suggests, it has to do with New York politics. I couldn't really say.

--

My research is coming along slowly. I regret not doing more during the break. My dad and I talked about ACT UP some when I was home (he was a doctor at public hospitals during the 80s, dealing mostly with AIDS patients). He said that, despite the fact that they were protesting outside of his office what felt like every day, he admires them for getting the national tone to change when dealing with AIDS.

It's called a direct action approach and despite being labeled "militant," they were so helpful to cause. I think I might like to compare their work to what is happening now.

Real Estate

So, I still need the weekend to do some research. But, I know I want to do my project on New York Real Estate. Either, Alphabet City, Stuy town, Harlem, or an area in Brooklyn like Bensonhurst. What fascinates me about the real estate world in New York City is how volatile the market is. It is a constantly changing market. One minute a minute is nice, the next a bad area, then it is being gentrified again. In order to understand the factors that are causing this transition you need to understand world events influencing immigration, countrywide events that also influence immigration or emigration from the city, and social and economic factors within the city. So, I can't give more of an explanation because I want to do more research on these areas and see what is of the most interest to me. But, for now I can say my paper will be on New York City Real Estate.

Transit Workers Union and much more

For my final paper I'd like to continue my research on the Transit Workers Union, particularly their activities in the 30s. I'd like to look at how other labor struggles--in Flint, Detroit and elsewhere--shaped their organizing. I'd then like to look at current labor struggles in New York (Sotheby's for example) and examine how they might also be unique to a moment in time, part of a broader movement. I'm not sure if this is too much to cover in one paper, but in this last paper I'd like to connect the goings-on of NYC to the rest of the country (and beyond). I think we are seeing a reawakening of class consciousness ight now from Wisconsin to Manhattan, and it is interesting to look at how the local struggles we witness are part of a bigger movement, and have been for quite some time.

ACT UP! (Fight AIDS)

Okay, so I think I want to do my final paper on the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, also known as ACT UP. They basically started in New York in 1987 because a) there was rumored to be experimental treatments that the general public was being denied and b) they were unhappy with general policies/attitude toward both the HIV-infected community and the LGBT community. It's extraordinary interesting because ACT UP has been criticized for being too "militant" but I think they demonstrate how activism and civil disobedience can lead to policy change so... something along those lines?

HOME STRETCH!!!!

1. LAST 3 BLOG POSTS- THIS MONDAY THE 21ST you must blog about your ideas for a possible research paper topic for the last paper. Then, by the 27th we must have blogged about something interesting about New York City. NOTE the syllabus on December 3rd we must blog about our research paper topics. That is a typo!!! It should say to blog about the tenement museum!!!

2. We must send a rough draft out to each other of our papers by noon on December 4th!!!!! Okay?

3. DECEMBER 8TH WE ARE MEETING TO GO OVER THE PAPERS!!!! That is a Thursday. Lets make sure we confirm a time for that meeting so Caitlin can book the room ASAP because that close to finals the rooms will start filling up. Okay?

4. The last paper is due by class time on December 15th. I went ahead and made an executive decision to make our last meeting the Thursday of that week instead of that Tuesday so we have an extra few days to work on our papers. Okay? This meeting we WILL do at Gramercy Cafe again. Okay? So, we can confirm a time for that when it gets closer. THIS MEETING WILL WE DISCUSS THE BOOKS THAT WE READ: SONNYS BLUES, SUPER SAD, AND TRIANGLE. ALSO, WE WILL HAVE A COURSE WRAP UP!

5. YOU MUST BE AT THESE LAST TWO CLASSES!!!!!! THERE IS NOT A LOT OF CLASSROOM TIME FOR THIS COURSE THAT IS WORTH FOUR CREDITS AND I KNOW IT IS A STRESSFUL TIME BUT YOU CAN'T MISS THESE LAST TWO CLASSES! I AM NOT GRADING THE CLASS BUT I FEEL THAT SHOULD BE PART OF THE GRADE. OKAY?

6. I will be the first person to say that I have been THE WORST ONE every single time it came to making a deadline or being somewhere on time. Proof of that is how late I emailed this last assignment in. And, I was the only one to miss one of our classes this semester. Although, that time there was a legitimate emergency. But, my point is... I have not been a perfect example so coming from me this might sound obnoxious and this is something I NEED to especially try to pay attention to. Also, I haven't paid attention over the semester to this exactly. But, there might even be a chance that this message only applies to me. Either way, it must be said... WE MUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE DEADLINES FOR THE END OF THE SEMESTER!!!! WE CAN'T KEEP POSTING STUFF A DAY LATE OR EXTENDING ASSIGNMENTS!!!! THIS IS THE HOME STRETCH AND THERE IS NOT MUCH LEFT SO WE NEED TO GET ON TOP OF IT!!!!!! OKAY?

SORRY FOR THE DELAY

I do realize that this post is long overdue!!! So, as I mentioned in class... It is so odd how Scott's book, which is my historical fiction, also follows this same period of history that I keep working on. It seems like I am meant to write my historical fiction piece about this period of history. The images Scott showed us in class that go along with his inspiration for his characters were awesome because while reading the book I now have an image in my head for what Rosie looks like. Also, it inspired me to look through old historic new york times articles and google in order to see if any images from this time period inspire me for my characters. I know that the first place I will look is Jacob Riis' old photographs. So, I'll take it from there and see what happens.

Forever

Sorry for the delay in posting guys. It took 143 pages just to get to the point in the novel I'm reading (Forever by Pete Hamill) at which the protagonist, Cormac, reaches New York City from Ireland. Not that the first few chapters weren't interesting. There was a lot of important foreshadowing going on--like Cormac's father instilling in him a love of justice, which is going to make slavery's prominence in America a hard pill to swallow.

Once in New York, Cormac gets some still-relevant advice from a fellow ship passenger: don't let anyone carry your bag, don't accept drinks from strangers and ignore the come-ons from working girls. I appreciate the un-romantacized depiction of New York, which allows Cormac to appreciate the architecture of Trinity Church and City Hall while his friend preaches resentment of the structures because they were built by the English who, he argues, want to impose the Church of England "on people who're not the least bit interested" and who equate "Security" and "Order" with "God and King." While Cormac is in awe of the many languages spoken in New York, he also notices how many African slaves, bought and sold at Slave Market on Wall Street, make up the population in New York. The hard work of willing immigrants is glorified, but the importance of slave and indentured servant labor is not forgotten. which seems appropriate.

Among the Wonderful, and some thoughts

I am reading 'Among the Wonderful' and I'll confess, I feel like I'm rushing through it. I'd like to stop and put it aside, wait until Christmas break to finish it. It's quite an interesting book. Colorful, one would probably be inclined to say. Vivid. Full of life.

While I was reading it, I was struck by this minute detail:

"A distant but growing rumble disturbed Guillaudeu's meal; he walked around the side of the church, looking east until the steam engine appeared. So he was still on Fifth Avenue. The sleek coaches of the new Harlem Railroad clattered by on what must be Fourth" (Carlson 183).

I sometimes feel very privileged to know, even in a vague sense, the area an author describes. Here, she is describing Murray Hill. Even if she were not, I know Fifth Avenue, I know Fourth, I know the feeling of turning down both and examining them. There is something, I think, very special about this. Even if the New York Carlson describes is well over a century behind us,

Michael Cunningham, whom I have a particular fondness for, has similar moments.

In the excellent The Hours:

"Under the cement and grass of the park lay the bones of those buried in the potter's field that was simply paved over, a hundred years ago, to make Washington Square. Clarissa walks over the bodies of the dead as men whisper offers of drugs (not to her) and three black girls whiz past on roller skates and the old woman sings, tunelessly, iiiiiii." (14)

Again, in his new book By Nightfall:

"Finally they reach the corner of Eighth Avenue and Central Park South, where the remains of the accident have not yet been entirely cleared away. There, behind the flares and portable stanchions, behind the two cops redirecting traffic into Columbus Circle, is the bashed-up car, a white Mercedes canted at an angle on Fifty-ninth, luridly pink in the flare light." (6-7)

I think often with Carlson and Cunningham and a million other writers that this gift of describing the city isn't affected. I mean to say, I don't think they leave their apartments or houses and walk, take notes, and write. I think they have so much lived the city that they cannot do anything but write in this this much detail. Clarissa, the character of first Cunningham passage, walks through Soho to pick up flowers for her ailing friend. Cunningham describes her crossing Houston, walking down Spring to where to the florist shop is.

It isn't forced. I see clearly where she is going. I imagine he too sees where she is going because he has taken a similar path. Other writers of other places do this as well. Everything metropolitan writer, I think, has constructed a mental map of their city in their head and their characters live in, walk in it, through actual physical streets.

When I say Carlson's book is full of life, I am talking to some degree about plot because that is there an evident. But I believe mostly I am responding to the way her characters interact with the city as if the city itself was a living organism, a character as well, as detailed and varied as anyone else.