Journal 1
Impressions of NY
My impression of New York is a strong one. I truly feel that New York City is one of the greatest places in the world. There are numerous things that I feel make it as truly phenomenal as I make say it is. One reason being is that it truly is the city that never sleeps. At any point in the day and/or night, you find people roaming the streets, bright lights, busy cars and pretty much constant movement. I truly love that feeling because at 3 AM you can find yourself having a great time without a single realization of the hour. Also, I love the people you meet along the way. The people of New York are some that you may never have imagined you could ever come in contact with. Everyone it seems dresses without a care in the world about what others may think, and I applaud that. I pride those people for expressing themselves in whatever way they want and enjoying every minute of it. You can find a man with a pink tutu on and yellow spandex, riding a bike, holding a puppy and has his whole face tattooed, and thats pretty much not that bad to a New Yorker. New York has some of the greatest architecture there is to see in the world. When I come out from the doors of Penn Station I always find myself still amazed at the building and most importantly, the colorful Empire State Building and our Freedom Towers that represent the strength of New York. Its always a beautiful sight and the architecture is much to blame for that. It can blow your mind at how tall our buildings are which is usually leads to tourist stopping in the middle of the street to take millions of pictures of each building they see. I cannot blame them because I see those buildings often and still stop and stare. New York truly has an atmosphere that I wish I could be a part of everyday. I love the train ride in knowing how fortunate I am to live so close to such an amazing city. This class sold itself once I found out the location. Its a remarkable place and I am so excited to be embarking on this Gotham experience in one of my favorite places to be.
My impression of New York is a strong one. I truly feel that New York City is one of the greatest places in the world. There are numerous things that I feel make it as truly phenomenal as I make say it is. One reason being is that it truly is the city that never sleeps. At any point in the day and/or night, you find people roaming the streets, bright lights, busy cars and pretty much constant movement. I truly love that feeling because at 3 AM you can find yourself having a great time without a single realization of the hour. Also, I love the people you meet along the way. The people of New York are some that you may never have imagined you could ever come in contact with. Everyone it seems dresses without a care in the world about what others may think, and I applaud that. I pride those people for expressing themselves in whatever way they want and enjoying every minute of it. You can find a man with a pink tutu on and yellow spandex, riding a bike, holding a puppy and has his whole face tattooed, and thats pretty much not that bad to a New Yorker. New York has some of the greatest architecture there is to see in the world. When I come out from the doors of Penn Station I always find myself still amazed at the building and most importantly, the colorful Empire State Building and our Freedom Towers that represent the strength of New York. Its always a beautiful sight and the architecture is much to blame for that. It can blow your mind at how tall our buildings are which is usually leads to tourist stopping in the middle of the street to take millions of pictures of each building they see. I cannot blame them because I see those buildings often and still stop and stare. New York truly has an atmosphere that I wish I could be a part of everyday. I love the train ride in knowing how fortunate I am to live so close to such an amazing city. This class sold itself once I found out the location. Its a remarkable place and I am so excited to be embarking on this Gotham experience in one of my favorite places to be.
Journal 1- Queens
Our first day of class was one I do not think I will ever forget! It was probably the most walking I think I have ever done in one day! It was truly worth it though. I was very nervous as to what to expect in the beginning of the day but once the class started all my nerves were settled and it was pure excitement! Sadly, we were woken up to rain our first day and it was kind of a drag. I came prepared with a raincoat, umbrella and extra sneakers just incase. Once the whole class was in Penn Station, Mike and Don gave us some time to retrieve our metro cards and one last bathroom break. After everyone was settled, the journey began!
We entered the streets of New York City and made our way to our first destination, Grand Central Station. I go to New York City often and I have to say I rarely have ever been to this station. I have seen it in movies and magazines but never really took the time to take in all aspects of it. Mike and Don stopped us across the street and asked us to all take a second to admire the architecture above us. There was the statue Mercury that I never have noticed before. It was truly beautiful Greecian statues that really struck my attention. We all went inside and took in how truly open and beautiful it was. Theres restaurants, the world famous clock, and paintings on the wall like I have never seen before. I felt that it really blew Penn Station away. I would love to enter such a building upon exiting the LIRR. Something I never realized was that its actually called Grand Central Terminal! Grand Central Station is the name of the post office located next door to the Terminal. (ENY, 48) We were off to our next destination, the Chrysler Building. To be honest, I knew nothing about this building previous to this class. So I was definitely intrigued. Mike explained how this building actually once stood as the tallest building but only for a short period of time. It is actually considered by many to be the epitome of art deco style and an elegant skyscrapers in the world. (ENY, 51) The lead architect, William Van Allen wanted to add in automobiles to the detail of the building because its actually connected to our Chrysler cars we see on the roads today. I found that to be very cool. One thing i found beautiful was the crown! It had seven beautiful terraced arches clad in stainless steel. (ENY,51) I was very impressed by this buildings beauty! Our destination continued on...
We took a bathroom break in the Waldorf Astoria. I truly felt like a celebrity and have been seen such a beautiful hotel! Hearing from Mike and Don the going rate per night, i realized why the bathrooms looked the way they did! It was a really cool experience. Next, he GE building was another cool location we were taken to. It is a 50 story Art Deco building which I had never even heard of. ( ENY, 52) Mike brought it to our attention that in front of the building was a statue of a man holding a lightning bolt! It was the buildings main design motif, which represents the power of electricity. (ENY, 52) It was a great location to stop at because I always see the GE logo around but never understood its meaning or history of it. I really appreciated this location.
After the exciting Tram ride to Roosevelt Island (which was probably one of the coolest things ever!) It was lunch time and it was something I will not forget. We took the subway to Jackson Heights and after getting off the subway, we arrived in what felt like, India! I was definitely culture shocked and was not expecting it to be that intense. Im not the biggest fan of Indian food and walking into the buffet actually turned my stomach. Thankfully, we found the closest thing to an American Diner about three blocks away! I was actually starved.
Something that really took my breathe away during the day was Roosevelt Island. The view was unreal and I was not expecting to see such a breath taking place right then and there. We took so many pictures and captured great memories as we walked along the water. You can see all the sights we were visiting that day yet it felt like we were in another country. Seeing the Pepsi- Cola sign was also cool because we were able to get so close to it! Our day ended on the grass pretty much directly next to it. The weather was beautiful and although my feet were throbbing, I had an amazing day.
Our first day of class was one I do not think I will ever forget! It was probably the most walking I think I have ever done in one day! It was truly worth it though. I was very nervous as to what to expect in the beginning of the day but once the class started all my nerves were settled and it was pure excitement! Sadly, we were woken up to rain our first day and it was kind of a drag. I came prepared with a raincoat, umbrella and extra sneakers just incase. Once the whole class was in Penn Station, Mike and Don gave us some time to retrieve our metro cards and one last bathroom break. After everyone was settled, the journey began!
We entered the streets of New York City and made our way to our first destination, Grand Central Station. I go to New York City often and I have to say I rarely have ever been to this station. I have seen it in movies and magazines but never really took the time to take in all aspects of it. Mike and Don stopped us across the street and asked us to all take a second to admire the architecture above us. There was the statue Mercury that I never have noticed before. It was truly beautiful Greecian statues that really struck my attention. We all went inside and took in how truly open and beautiful it was. Theres restaurants, the world famous clock, and paintings on the wall like I have never seen before. I felt that it really blew Penn Station away. I would love to enter such a building upon exiting the LIRR. Something I never realized was that its actually called Grand Central Terminal! Grand Central Station is the name of the post office located next door to the Terminal. (ENY, 48) We were off to our next destination, the Chrysler Building. To be honest, I knew nothing about this building previous to this class. So I was definitely intrigued. Mike explained how this building actually once stood as the tallest building but only for a short period of time. It is actually considered by many to be the epitome of art deco style and an elegant skyscrapers in the world. (ENY, 51) The lead architect, William Van Allen wanted to add in automobiles to the detail of the building because its actually connected to our Chrysler cars we see on the roads today. I found that to be very cool. One thing i found beautiful was the crown! It had seven beautiful terraced arches clad in stainless steel. (ENY,51) I was very impressed by this buildings beauty! Our destination continued on...
We took a bathroom break in the Waldorf Astoria. I truly felt like a celebrity and have been seen such a beautiful hotel! Hearing from Mike and Don the going rate per night, i realized why the bathrooms looked the way they did! It was a really cool experience. Next, he GE building was another cool location we were taken to. It is a 50 story Art Deco building which I had never even heard of. ( ENY, 52) Mike brought it to our attention that in front of the building was a statue of a man holding a lightning bolt! It was the buildings main design motif, which represents the power of electricity. (ENY, 52) It was a great location to stop at because I always see the GE logo around but never understood its meaning or history of it. I really appreciated this location.
After the exciting Tram ride to Roosevelt Island (which was probably one of the coolest things ever!) It was lunch time and it was something I will not forget. We took the subway to Jackson Heights and after getting off the subway, we arrived in what felt like, India! I was definitely culture shocked and was not expecting it to be that intense. Im not the biggest fan of Indian food and walking into the buffet actually turned my stomach. Thankfully, we found the closest thing to an American Diner about three blocks away! I was actually starved.
Something that really took my breathe away during the day was Roosevelt Island. The view was unreal and I was not expecting to see such a breath taking place right then and there. We took so many pictures and captured great memories as we walked along the water. You can see all the sights we were visiting that day yet it felt like we were in another country. Seeing the Pepsi- Cola sign was also cool because we were able to get so close to it! Our day ended on the grass pretty much directly next to it. The weather was beautiful and although my feet were throbbing, I had an amazing day.
Journal 2 Brooklyn
Our trip to Brooklyn was probably one of the funniest days I have had in a while. I got so many laughs through out the day that I wasn’t quite expecting to have. It amazed me that I was actually attending " school" during this trip because of how much fun I was actually having. We started the day and I was a bit nervous after the first class. I don't think I was able to feel my feet all weekend after Queens so I was preparing myself for day two.
We started the day off with a nice relaxing subway ride to Coney Island. Growing up I have heard so much about this place yet never took the chance to go out there and experience it all for myself. My parents made me promise I would ride the infamous Cyclone and eat a Nathan's hotdog. As we started the subway ride I did notice one thing along the way. I always assumed subways were underground and I was shocked to find us outside above the usual subway lines I take and higher up. It was a really cool view because I honestly have never taken the time to admire Brooklyn. I truly had no idea what to expect upon entering the streets of Coney Island. Coney Island is home to about 60,000 inhabitants but it still continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attractions ( ENY,115). All of which, I was about to see first hand. We stepped out into the streets to find Mike and Don giving us the news we have one hour to explore. My friends and I ran straight to the Cyclone. The cyclone is an 85-foot tall, wooden roller coaster at Luna Park that has been thrilling adventure-seekers since 1927 (ENY, 116). We got our tickets, got buckled in and prepared ourselves for what was ahead. I looked above to see what looked like a roller coaster that could fall apart any second. With no time to back out, we were off. Little did I know, the Cyclone was actually an intense coaster! My friends and I were screaming and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Carissa was screaming as if she was being kidnapped and Katie was videotaping the whole ride. We got to the end and tears of laughter were streaming down all of our faces. It was a memory I will truly hold on to forever. We wanted to keep the thrill going so we headed over to a different roller coaster. Lets just say, I want a refund. It was not fun at all and half the time there was actually tears of fear coming down our faces! With little time left, we decided on Grimaldis Brick Oven Pizza. We enjoyed some awesome thin crust pizza and stocked up some candy across the street so that we refueled our bodies for our next adventure that day!
Next stop: Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. I am not going to lie, I had never heard of DUMBO before in my life. I was definitely intrigued to find out. Brooklyn Heights was truly one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been too. Indeed the architectural richness of Brooklyn Heights is so prominent that the neighborhood was one of the first in the City to be protected by New Yorks 1965 Landmark Preservation Law (ENY, 123) Out of all the spots Mike and Don took us, my favorite was the Brooklyn Bridge. Although by that time I was truly exhausted and drained, it woke me up! WHAT A VIEW! At 1.1 miles in length it is the oldest suspension bridge in the United States. (ENY, 130) I have drove over it before but never took the chance to head out there and walk on foot. The scenery blew me away and although, almost killed by numerous bicyclists, I truly enjoyed it. We also went to the Brooklyn Trust Company Building. Now a branch of Chase Bank, this is arguably one of the most beautiful banks in the city. It was built between 1913 and 1916 by the most architectural form of York and Sawyer in Italian Renaissance style (ENY,126) This bank was… unreal. Right when Mike walked us in I was stunned. The ceilings were something that really caught my eyes and also, the mosaic floors. I said that if I were interested at all in working in a bank, I would only work in this one!
We also stopped at the Transit Museum! It is located in the refurbished 1930s Court Street Shuttle and dedicated to the history of mass transportation in New York (ENY, 125) This museum was really cool. It at first feels like your walking down to a subway but in reality, you walk into a museum! Although our tour guide got a little messed up, Mike took charge and gave us an awesome introduction to the world of the Transit Museum. My favorite part was definitely downstairs where all the old subway cars were. The museum put them in order by years so you can see the transformation. My friends and I hung ourselves from the bars for a great photo. I really enjoyed this museum because it helps me appreciate how far we have come in our subway systems.
The trip to Brooklyn was absolute one of my favorites so far! I can only hope that I have as much fun every other day as I did in Brooklyn! With the help of Mike and Don, I am sure I will!
Our trip to Brooklyn was probably one of the funniest days I have had in a while. I got so many laughs through out the day that I wasn’t quite expecting to have. It amazed me that I was actually attending " school" during this trip because of how much fun I was actually having. We started the day and I was a bit nervous after the first class. I don't think I was able to feel my feet all weekend after Queens so I was preparing myself for day two.
We started the day off with a nice relaxing subway ride to Coney Island. Growing up I have heard so much about this place yet never took the chance to go out there and experience it all for myself. My parents made me promise I would ride the infamous Cyclone and eat a Nathan's hotdog. As we started the subway ride I did notice one thing along the way. I always assumed subways were underground and I was shocked to find us outside above the usual subway lines I take and higher up. It was a really cool view because I honestly have never taken the time to admire Brooklyn. I truly had no idea what to expect upon entering the streets of Coney Island. Coney Island is home to about 60,000 inhabitants but it still continues to be known for its amusement parks and seaside attractions ( ENY,115). All of which, I was about to see first hand. We stepped out into the streets to find Mike and Don giving us the news we have one hour to explore. My friends and I ran straight to the Cyclone. The cyclone is an 85-foot tall, wooden roller coaster at Luna Park that has been thrilling adventure-seekers since 1927 (ENY, 116). We got our tickets, got buckled in and prepared ourselves for what was ahead. I looked above to see what looked like a roller coaster that could fall apart any second. With no time to back out, we were off. Little did I know, the Cyclone was actually an intense coaster! My friends and I were screaming and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Carissa was screaming as if she was being kidnapped and Katie was videotaping the whole ride. We got to the end and tears of laughter were streaming down all of our faces. It was a memory I will truly hold on to forever. We wanted to keep the thrill going so we headed over to a different roller coaster. Lets just say, I want a refund. It was not fun at all and half the time there was actually tears of fear coming down our faces! With little time left, we decided on Grimaldis Brick Oven Pizza. We enjoyed some awesome thin crust pizza and stocked up some candy across the street so that we refueled our bodies for our next adventure that day!
Next stop: Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO. I am not going to lie, I had never heard of DUMBO before in my life. I was definitely intrigued to find out. Brooklyn Heights was truly one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been too. Indeed the architectural richness of Brooklyn Heights is so prominent that the neighborhood was one of the first in the City to be protected by New Yorks 1965 Landmark Preservation Law (ENY, 123) Out of all the spots Mike and Don took us, my favorite was the Brooklyn Bridge. Although by that time I was truly exhausted and drained, it woke me up! WHAT A VIEW! At 1.1 miles in length it is the oldest suspension bridge in the United States. (ENY, 130) I have drove over it before but never took the chance to head out there and walk on foot. The scenery blew me away and although, almost killed by numerous bicyclists, I truly enjoyed it. We also went to the Brooklyn Trust Company Building. Now a branch of Chase Bank, this is arguably one of the most beautiful banks in the city. It was built between 1913 and 1916 by the most architectural form of York and Sawyer in Italian Renaissance style (ENY,126) This bank was… unreal. Right when Mike walked us in I was stunned. The ceilings were something that really caught my eyes and also, the mosaic floors. I said that if I were interested at all in working in a bank, I would only work in this one!
We also stopped at the Transit Museum! It is located in the refurbished 1930s Court Street Shuttle and dedicated to the history of mass transportation in New York (ENY, 125) This museum was really cool. It at first feels like your walking down to a subway but in reality, you walk into a museum! Although our tour guide got a little messed up, Mike took charge and gave us an awesome introduction to the world of the Transit Museum. My favorite part was definitely downstairs where all the old subway cars were. The museum put them in order by years so you can see the transformation. My friends and I hung ourselves from the bars for a great photo. I really enjoyed this museum because it helps me appreciate how far we have come in our subway systems.
The trip to Brooklyn was absolute one of my favorites so far! I can only hope that I have as much fun every other day as I did in Brooklyn! With the help of Mike and Don, I am sure I will!
Journal 3- The VillageFor our third class it was clear I had high expectations since I had so much fun in Brooklyn. We were heading over to The East Village. This is an area that I am familiar with because The East Village has a great nightlife. My friends and I go there a lot and it’s a great atmosphere.
We started our day off by walking the High Line. This was a really cool path that led us from one of side of the village to another. There is beautiful scenery and great landscape along the High Line. I had no idea such a place existed until Mike and Don brought us.
As we walked along the streets of the village I noticed how pretty the area was. Along the way we saw the famous Andy Cohen eating lunch with a friend! That was definitely exciting because I was not expecting at all to see someone famous. The gallery's were some of the most fascinating things I have ever seen! One gallery I truly enjoyed was Juxtapoz gallery. I felt that this gallery had no more art in it that I could truly relate to in comparison to the others. There was an awesome Abraham Lincoln piece that really impressed me. A second gallery we attended was Katja Loher- Bang bang. This was a very interesting gallery to say the least. What looked like bouncy balls hanging from the ceiling with images playing through them. The same Asian woman seemed to be the main character of the gallery. In all honesty, I was not a fan of any of the gallery's except the Juxtapoz.
My favorite part of the day was The Merchant House. The Merchant House is a wonderfully preserved Federal- style house, filled with period furnishing and decorations. The house was built by Joseph Brewster in 1832 and sold to Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy merchant, in 1835 for $18,000 (ENY) I was fascinated by the story of the Tredwell’s. It was so crazy to see how they lived and how far we have come since then. They had servants who worked for 1 dollar a week and did everything for the Tredwell’s. The servants only received about fours off a week! That blew my mind considering how hard they worked. I also thought it was cool how the women and men while in the “parlor” were dressed to impress and our tour guide said “ it was if they were on display” you couldn’t fix your hair, or do anything of that sort. I couldn’t imagine living that way. Our tour guide was amazing! She truly was one of the most intelligent people I have met when it comes to history. She told us how the Merchant House is known to be the most haunted house in New York City. We got to hear about all the ghost encounters that have happened in the home and times that workers of the museum have actually seen the Tredwell’s ghost’s. Luckily, she told us these stories at the end otherwise I would have never made it through the tour!
The Alamo was another one of my favorite spots in the village. The name for this piece derived from Rosenthal’s wife comment that the sculpture had the strength of a fortress (ENY). You could actually stand on the sides of the cube and push it around in a full circle. Lots of tourist came by as we were standing there and were all taking videos of them pushing the cube. That would make a great video!
Our last spot was Big Gay Ice Cream shop. There ice cream was great! Mike really talked it up so I had very high expectations and they definitely were reached. I don’t mind at all going to all these infamous ice cream shops during class at all! We were cut loose a little earlier than usual so Katie and I decided to walk around the village and shop. It was a great time to just go at our own pace and enjoy ourselves!
We started our day off by walking the High Line. This was a really cool path that led us from one of side of the village to another. There is beautiful scenery and great landscape along the High Line. I had no idea such a place existed until Mike and Don brought us.
As we walked along the streets of the village I noticed how pretty the area was. Along the way we saw the famous Andy Cohen eating lunch with a friend! That was definitely exciting because I was not expecting at all to see someone famous. The gallery's were some of the most fascinating things I have ever seen! One gallery I truly enjoyed was Juxtapoz gallery. I felt that this gallery had no more art in it that I could truly relate to in comparison to the others. There was an awesome Abraham Lincoln piece that really impressed me. A second gallery we attended was Katja Loher- Bang bang. This was a very interesting gallery to say the least. What looked like bouncy balls hanging from the ceiling with images playing through them. The same Asian woman seemed to be the main character of the gallery. In all honesty, I was not a fan of any of the gallery's except the Juxtapoz.
My favorite part of the day was The Merchant House. The Merchant House is a wonderfully preserved Federal- style house, filled with period furnishing and decorations. The house was built by Joseph Brewster in 1832 and sold to Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy merchant, in 1835 for $18,000 (ENY) I was fascinated by the story of the Tredwell’s. It was so crazy to see how they lived and how far we have come since then. They had servants who worked for 1 dollar a week and did everything for the Tredwell’s. The servants only received about fours off a week! That blew my mind considering how hard they worked. I also thought it was cool how the women and men while in the “parlor” were dressed to impress and our tour guide said “ it was if they were on display” you couldn’t fix your hair, or do anything of that sort. I couldn’t imagine living that way. Our tour guide was amazing! She truly was one of the most intelligent people I have met when it comes to history. She told us how the Merchant House is known to be the most haunted house in New York City. We got to hear about all the ghost encounters that have happened in the home and times that workers of the museum have actually seen the Tredwell’s ghost’s. Luckily, she told us these stories at the end otherwise I would have never made it through the tour!
The Alamo was another one of my favorite spots in the village. The name for this piece derived from Rosenthal’s wife comment that the sculpture had the strength of a fortress (ENY). You could actually stand on the sides of the cube and push it around in a full circle. Lots of tourist came by as we were standing there and were all taking videos of them pushing the cube. That would make a great video!
Our last spot was Big Gay Ice Cream shop. There ice cream was great! Mike really talked it up so I had very high expectations and they definitely were reached. I don’t mind at all going to all these infamous ice cream shops during class at all! We were cut loose a little earlier than usual so Katie and I decided to walk around the village and shop. It was a great time to just go at our own pace and enjoy ourselves!