Last weekend, Lise and I were in New York City to be on a panel discussion at the Online News Association conference. Real journalists, it appears, are very interested in iBrattleboro. I'll let Lise give you the details of the presentation. I want to share what it is like to go to New York in 2005, especially for those of you who have never been there.
Taking the train to Penn Station, you come in to the city over Queens. The first thing that strikes you is that it is very large and there are many, many people packed in. The rows and rows of strangely familiar houses leads to the second thought -"Isn't this where Archie Bunker lived?" (The answer is yes, if TV were real).
The train goes underground and heads in to the station. Exiting the train, one is immediately aware of "the smell" - which is a bit hard to describe. It smells, well, like New York. A mixture of people, perfumes, garbage, and food that has been mixing and mingling for a hundred years. It isn't a bad smell, but is everpresent when one is in train stations or subways.
Going up and into the station is a bit disorienting. There are New Yorkers running for trains. Thousands of people bustling to and fro. Every other person seems to have an iPod and/or a cell phone. They clutch these like security blankets and continually dial, adjust, text message, etc.
There are advertisements and signs everywhere. You can't move without seeing ads for new movies, CD's coming out, Broadway shows, TV news stations, exhibits, and more. Through this fog of consumerism, one must find the signs that are actually useful - where you are, and where you might be headed.
People in New York were generally quite nice and helpful. There were times that they volunteered information, such as "Where are you trying to go? Oh. You need to get on that train over there..." before we even bothered to ask.
One thing any visitor to the city needs is a crash course in the subways. Quick - should we hop on the Express A Train or the Local? Will the 3 Train gets us there? There hasn't been a C Train in a while, should we take the B? Should we wait for the next train or just go walk? It isn't that hard to figure out if you are familiar with mass transit from other cities, but if you have never been on a subway (or L, or T, or Metro...), it can appear daunting. It costs $2 for a single ride.
New York doesn't go to sleep. You can go out for pizza, or sushi, or Italian food, at 3 am. You can buy a stereo at 5 am. Traffic and trains run all night, and people are out and about.
New York is also so packed with famous places that every block or so you find yourself saying "hey, look, it's the NBC Studios! It's Radio City Music Hall! It's the New York Times building! It's the Metropolitan Museum of Art! It's John Lennon's memorial! It's the David Letterman Show! It's the Empire State Building!" - and this goes on and on and on. Even when you are trying to avoid being a tourist.
New York is hard on the feet. There are few places to sit, and lots of places to stand or walk.
Times Square is filled with tourists. Hundreds of thousands of people walking around, looking for things to buy, and cheap show tickets. "It's the MTV studios! Toys R Us has a Ferris Wheel in the lobby! Look at those amazing video screens on all the buildings! It's a 40-story P-Diddy!" It is a sensory overload, especially when coming from a place with no advertising on billboards.
One of the main ways, I think, that New Yorkers stay sane is that they had the wisdom to preserve a large green space in the middle - Central Park. Central Park is bigger than Brattleboro. There are skating rinks, petting zoos, memorials and statues, gardens, walkways, ponds, lakes, rental boats, horse drawn carriages, bicycle drawn carriages, and food carts.
There are wide open green lawns to sit. People wander about taking pictures, walking tiny dogs, and playing the saxophone. Street performers set up and crowds gather. There are big, old trees, and winding paths with joggers, rollerbladers, and cabs rushing to get across town.
There are very few panhandlers. The poor seem to exist on another level entirely. You see them asleep on doorsteps late at night, or living on the subway line. They are ignored for the most part, and seem to ignore everyone else themselves.
The ASPCA was having a pet adoption weekend, so they were out in force on many street corners with cages of kittens and puppies awaiting adoption. There were probably more pets on corners awaiting adoption than citizens of Vermont.
Watching crowds go into the Met, it was obvious that more people were in the museum than live in Brattleboro. That's a big museum.
Food is everpresent. Restaurants for anything your heart desires. They are tiny, often packed with people, and efficient - getting people in and out as fast as possible. A small place in a good location might be pulling in $20,000 a night by cycling people in and out. Of course, their rent is probably that much a month. Or week. Space is at a premium.
Apartments and hotels are very small and expensive, unless one is very well off (such as the tiny, rich old ladies walking their poodles on the upper east side). You can pay $2000 a month for an apartment big enough to pack in a bed and a few personal items. Windows offer beautiful views of brick walls and other apartments. If you can pay $4000 a month, you can have a room with a kitchenette. $6000 a month gets you a few rooms. $795,000 will get you a three room condo. What a deal!
New Yorkers come in all flavors. On the subway you'll see people reading Russian newspapers, Japanese books, or speaking Spanish. You'll see fashion models waiting to be photographed in Central Park, buy a sandwich from a Saudi shopkeeper, see ballet dancers doing stretches waiting for trains, and musicians on the streets busking.
There seemed to be quite a few younger woman/older man couples for some reason. Race didn't seem to be much of an issue - mixed race couples walked without harassment. Same with sexual orientation - lesbian and gay couples seemed pretty much at ease.
There are historic areas that face extinction at the hands of greedy developers who, for example, want to tear down the old buildings in the Chelsea part of town to make way for large, uninspiring, character-less apartments and stores. We know this because of signs, asking for citizens to attend a meeting to save the historic neighborhood. Little tiny signs, with no video or flashing lights. Just a flyer taped to a post. One wonders if they have a chance.
New York City is like no other. It hits the senses hard, and doesn't let up. There is continual input - buy this, go here, shop here, watch this - and a never ending parade of interesting people to observe. You feel coated with a layer of "city" by the end of the day, and after a few days you either surrender and move in, or return home.