A friend of mine sent me a link to watch this guy who finds the hidden history of New York City. In this video, he jumps into the subway to see an abandoned station. He also shows an area underground where a lot of homeless go to get out of the weather. To finish the video, he climbs up to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge for a complete view of the city. Watch this, it’s awesome.
I was recently asked by a friend, “What has been the most difficult transition with moving to New York?” You probably wouldn’t guess my answer because this isn’t something you generally would think much about. Most of you reading my blog own a car, maybe even two of them. While I do still own my Honda Element, things are much different in the city. You also probably have the availability to store a lot of unnecessary collectibles and you probably even have an entire room dedicated to your laundry machines.
The most difficult transition is not driving, the people, the busyness or even working from home. All of that was relatively easy to adapt to. It is grocery shopping and doing laundry. In Tampa, grocery shopping consisted of visiting any store within a 10 mile radius and could even be a spurt-of-the-moment occurrence. Grocery shopping has to be woven into your schedule and planned at least 24 hours in advance along with a very specific list of items that can be carried in a single trip. Marlyse used to make fun of me when I would try to gather all of the groceries from the trunk of the car with a single trip. Now, that happens every single time we go shopping. The store we go to is 9 stops away while riding the train. We do have a closer one if we need a small amount of items but Trader Joe’s is the cheapest for the best quality.
While our first apartment was in a big complex and we had to do laundry at the buildings facility, this doesn’t come close to that experience. Laundry is the other event carefully planned out. There are three laundry mats within the decent walking distance. The location of choice is about six blocks away named the Laundry Lounge. Free drying and free Wi-Fi along with actual seats makes this an excellent laundry mat! One month ago, we did laundry at a location that had no seating, everyone was waiting for the dryer, all of the laundry carts were full and that one lady was taking up one fourth of the facility by deciding to wash all of her comforters, sheets, towels and clothes. Laundry is a four hour event that I typically do in the late hours to assure I have full access to washers and dryers. While folding all of our clothes, I’ll have my laptop streaming Netflix or Hulu.
We do have a trusty cart that makes life easier. I wonder how often New Yorkers go through these carts because they take a beating. We travel on the subway with this cart (and umbrella if it is going to rain) to the grocery store and when it is full of groceries, we cart them down the subway stairs, onto the busy train and then back on the subway stairs. That’s not usually the hard part. We live on the sixth floor with no elevator. Needless to say, I get my workout for the day every time we have to go grocery shopping or do laundry. Both the groceries and the laundry weigh anywhere from 50-100 pounds. There is no need for a gym while I am lifting this cart while scaling stairs in addition to taking the dogs out twice a day!
Chapter 7 – Parking and Driving in NYC
I am sitting in my Honda Element parked just outside our apartment doorstep during my lunch break. Twice a week, vehicles must move for an hour and a half due to the street sweeper or alternate side parking being in effect. Alternate side parking gives other people a chance to park on the street, otherwise, you would see vehicles never move. On my street, vehicles must be moved between 11-12:30 Tuesday and Friday. At 11:03, the street sweeper drives by. The cars that have not moved yet get reported to the police officers that follow the sweeper and write tickets. If you just saw the sweeper go by and you have not moved your car, you need to leave or else you would get a ticket.
I’m still trying to learn all of the specifics. On Tuesday, I saw the vehicle owners get in their cars at 11. The police drove by at 11:05 and delivered tickets. As long as you are sitting in your car, you are fine. At 11:15, I saw people leave their cars as if they did not have to stay until 12:30. “How do you know when you can leave your car?” Friday is when the sweeper comes around but people stick around their cars until 12:15 at least. This unwritten rule is not documented anywhere and I will have to talk to the locals about more specifics.
You cannot park within fifteen feet of a hydrant, but of course there are no markings on the road where that distance ends. You cannot park in front or behind a dumpster in the street. That is how we got our first ticket of $95. Anytime you park your car, you must look for a sign nearest to you. If you have any doubt of where you parked, take a picture of your car and the nearest sign.
Cars get towed in two minutes flat because the police run the tow trucks. If this happens, you have to find a cab that will drive that direction. Not all cabs will drive wherever you want to go. A friend that was visiting stopped in front of a store for approximately five minutes. He walked outside and could not find his rental car. If you cannot find your car, more than likely it has been towed and not stolen.
All cars are towed to Chelsea Piers which cycles through a high turn around rate. It is a well-organized, air conditioned building that makes $200 per vehicle towed there. If this building is full, they will then tow your car to the Bronx which you had no idea until you got the cab to Chelsea Piers. Now you have to take another cab to the Bronx where you have collectively spent $50 easy on cabs alone unless you can navigate via bus because the trains do not go to these locations.
Regarding driving, there are no legal right turns if the light is red. You must be behind the line, otherwise, you may get a ticket. There are traffic cameras at a ton of lights. There is an Android app that tells you where they all are, but honestly, they seem to be on every cross street unless you do not drive the main streets. The high-traffic intersections have painted white lines all over the center of the intersections. If you see this, and you are stuck in this grid due to traffic not moving, you will get a ticket. Blocking traffic is a high offense. Even though your light is green, if you pull out to try and beat the light and you are in this grid, you will get a ticket.
I write about the towing experiences and tickets not from my own encounter, but other friends who have wasted half a day retrieving their vehicles and shelling out hard earned cash. Keep all of this in mind if you plan on keeping a car or simply driving through New York City.
Read More →Go figure, there’s a movie coming out called Premium Rush where the plot revolves around bicycle couriers in New York City. The main role is Joseph Gordon-Levitt that played Tommy on 3rd Rock From the Sun and was also on Inception. I’m posting this because I really want to see this movie!
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Chapter 6 – Attend free events
Looking for free events is the name of the game. What is even better is when you are not bound to a schedule and you end up stumbling across a free event to enjoy. One fine Saturday, Marlyse and I decided to take a stroll through Central Park. We were anticipating on just walking but once we emerged from the subway station, Humana was waiting for us to come see what they were doing. “We are offering free bike rides for two hours. We are promoting healthy living.” Umm, heck yes I will take a free bicycle ride through Central Park!
Not absolutely dressed and ready for a bike ride, Marlyse and I head off while she adorns a purple down jacket just purchased on the side of the street and also wearing a pair of shorts to match. Somehow, she manages to stuff this jacket in the bike’s fanny pack attached to the handlebars so she can enjoy the cool breeze we get from this excellent Central Park tour.
While riding, we pass the Avett Brothers playing on a stage in the center of Central Park, kids run up to pop gigantic soap bubbles that a street performer was creating, inline skaters perform well-balanced maneuvers through cones and to top we see an old man wearing something similar to what Richard Simmons would be able to pull off. I was not able to get a clear photo of this to prove it.
After two hours of free bike riding, we meet up with a co-worker of Marlyse’s at a ping pong social club. Her friend’s boyfriend had a Groupon to try this place out. We go down into the basement of a building to find a plethora of ping pong tables and a sea of ping pong balls on the ground. I expected to see nothing but professionals training for the Olympics but it was not even close. Everyone there was at beginner status. After learning paddle control an hour later, we begin to keep score and then go into competition mode. Who knew you could break a sweat volleying ultra-light ping pong balls! We ended up only paying for the food and not absorbing a twenty dollar table fee.
Frequently, Marlyse and I check the local papers to see what is going on. Generally, you could attend something for free every day of the week. It just depends if it fits into your schedule or if it is even close to your vicinity. Things are seasonal too. If you hear that something is free, do not anticipate of participating next week. Just make room in your schedule and do it. Free kayaking where all you have to do is sign a waiver and take out a kayak. This event is a 30 minute bike ride from our apartment but did not do it before it got too chilly.
Photo from Harlem Bespoke
As I type, I am doing laundry in the new LG laundry lounge. They have free wi-fi and drying is free. You just have to purchase washing and there is no additional cost to you. Everything is nice, neat, clean and white unlike all of the other laundry places around. It has seats to sit down on. That is unheard of! Room to sit? Naaahhh. Well, I have to fold my laundry so I will blog with you all later!
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Chapter 5 – living like a New Yorker
Step one is learn how to tune the rest of the world out by putting on headphones and pretend there is no one around you. My problem is that I want to experience my surroundings. Sometimes it is an odd feeling to be surrounded by so many people on the bus or train and not a soul is talking. In addition, no one looks at anyone so people stare at the advertisements on the wall as if they have never seen them before. There are so many blank stares for such a highly populated area. There is also the person that closes their eyes so they do not have to look at the surroundings but yet they are far from tired to close their eyes.
Step two is only acknowledge your neighbors and not try to engage in any conversation. They are too busy to talk if they have walked out their door. But I work from home and the only live humans I could talk to are my neighbors or wait until church on Sunday. Try to ignore me as you will neighbors but I will talk to you and engage in conversation one of these days!
Step three is to make sure your shoes are set for walking. New York City is a walking city. Even if you own a car, to pull directly up to the location you are going to do not exist anymore. A typical day consists of walking three miles. If I go out for lunch or nightlife, it will be more than three and on average six miles for the day. This is not flatland Florida either! The typical amount of stairs briefly brushed by my sneakers presence is a rough estimate of four hundred per day. It is eighty six stairs just to get out of my front door.
Step four is do not purchase an expensive umbrella. Cheap umbrellas break just as simple as hundred dollar umbrellas. Something I see about twenty five percent of the time is one single person will be embracing an umbrella fit for a family of four. The umbrella has a wingspan of five feet easily. Do not buy one of these and pursue to walk through the busiest walkways of Manhattan. Also, if you see someone walking the opposite direction with an umbrella, common courtesy is for the taller person to lift their umbrella higher and the shorter person to lower theirs. Do not walk aimlessly on a crowded sidewalk as if you forgot there were others around you nearly taking a spoke of your umbrella through the eye.
Step five is enjoy the food and surroundings of the incredible city you help populate. Even Yelp nor Google Maps have every restaurant on the map so try something new every time you go out. We will soon participate in step five but we are waiting for Mar’s check to start coming through on a regular basis since she just started teaching this week. We have definitely been enjoying the surroundings since that comes at a cost of time instead of greenbacks.
Some of the New York dweller’s mannerisms I will never follow but I will enjoy this great city and work on opening people’s minds near me to be a little more selfless.
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10 years since disaster hit New York City
Last year I blogged about where I was and what I was doing while lower Manhattan was being changed forever by people that have been brainwashed into thinking sacrificing their lives to take as many of other people’s lives would land them in the hierarchy of heaven. I am not going to recap that but you could read it if you want.
Now that I live in New York City, I am experiencing the effect this tragedy had on people that actually knew others in the towers or those that were travelling through their daily lives and saw this first hand, not through the television. Security is super heightened in the subways, tunnels, crowded areas and lower Manhattan. In some sense, I feel like I’m in a different country since Police are walking around with guns in hand in public places.
While flipping through the local free weekly publishing, I notice the amount of memorial events going on Sunday. I couldn’t help but notice a price tag on quite a few events and asking myself, “How many people are profiting off of this?” I see benefit concerts and art events listed where a portion goes to “some unknown 9/11 relief charity”. What is the portion and what does the charity do beside put on more events to raise money? I personally do not have the time to research any of this but I am certain of the sick people looking at disastrous events as a means to make a profit.
Near the World Trade Center is St. Paul’s Chapel where I saw numerous white ribbons tied up on the fence. I got a closer look and it was notes written to the loved ones lost in 2001.
Standing in the World Trade Center area is eerie in a sense that this is where we have come in ten years but yet we are anticipating another event. You can see and reminisce the feeling of possibly how that day unfolded had you been there in 2001. While looking around, others have a blank stare while they are playing possible events through their mind of the unforeseen day. Seeing an unfinished building as a replacement to be even a taller building is slightly heartbreaking. What is the meaning of building an even taller building in its place except an ego trip as if you went to Africa just to shoot an endangered animal “for sport”? But again, this is from my cranium without having lived here during the actual event ten years ago.
Even though there are numerous people wearing security shirts, full combat-ready police officers, squadrons of Camaro police cars driving around with their sirens on, random bag checks in the subway and news crews everywhere you look, you can still see hope in the Manhattan dwellers that this is able to be rebuilt. What has been taken from us will be restored. Tragedy struck but we are not holding to only the past but we are looking forward to the future.
I just hope we do not fall too deep in the financial debt hole to provide the security and peace of mind many Americans feel they lack. I have now seen a city worry more about a terrorist attack but yet stay snug in their homes a couple of weeks ago stating, “I am not leaving because of some hurricane!”
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Chapter 4 – Two natural disasters in one week
“Stop working and take lunch”, I tell myself but I’m nearly finished so I do not want to break my concentration on this Tuesday afternoon. I have been copying all of the support pages to each individual HTML page so I can edit it and place each page on a different platform, WordPress, so I can easily manage the website. “Wow, am I that deprived of food that my head is spinning? I must be delirious and I have to stop and eat something. Man, I’m really dizzy!” About that time, I look at the power cable coming from the printer I have suspended on a shelf above my computer all to see that it is swaying.
“It’s not my head…” I look at my glass of water to the left of my hand to see that it is rocking back and forth as if I were on the Caribbean Cruise Lines but in fact I’m on the sixth floor of my apartment in the Upper West part of Manhattan. Both dogs jump up to their feet raising their ears in caution that something is not right with this situation. The first thing I do is grab my phone and text Marlyse about the situation. I start putting my shoes on swiftly and grab the leashes to run the dogs down stairs because I think the building structure is coming unglued when the swaying stops. I jump on Twitter to find out that I just felt an earthquake that happened only a 4 hour drive away. There was nothing catastrophic in New York but that was a feeling I hadn’t felt before!
Friday, Marlyse and I go to Pet Supermarket to pick up more dog food for the pups and then we go to Target to stock our food supply because New York City is getting hit by Hurricane Irene. Carts completely full and overflowing pass us while we have maybe thirty dollars of food. Shelves are empty but luckily we already have bread, cheese, lunchmeat and most everything else we need. We already do have quite a bit of food but this is what you’re supposed to do, chipmunk. “Let’s get big cans of Chef Boyardee!” Sure, because that’s what you’re supposed to eat during hurricanes!
The media continually presents worst case scenario and what might happen to make the people of the city on alert. Part of me says, “You came from Florida. You know what’s up!” But the other part says, “You’re going to lose power and gas. But not only that, you’re six floors up in the penthouse of an old building.” Caution definitely fills my mind but reality brings me back down from being a frantic mess. I want to stay in the know but I don’t want my mind overtaken by what the media uses to keep you on your toes.
Most of Saturday is supposed to be rain while Hurricane Irene should make landfall in NYC early Sunday morning. Most of Saturday was surprisingly not raining and we decided to walk around our neighborhood. Strolling through the local park, we stumbled on a community garden that was open and people were tending to their veggies. So we walked in, looked around and then sparked up conversation with the green thumbs. “Do you want some basil, cucumber and sunflower seeds?” asked the gardener. “Um, yea we’ll take all of that!” On the way home, we stop by a store to pick up ingredients to make pesto while others were still buying necessities to stock their emergency shelving.
After sharpening the knives, I check out the window to expect a ludicrous amount of rain falling but I see absolutely nothing but cloudy skies. We blend the ingredients, make some tasty pesto, and then begin hanging wall décor that we have not had time to get to. We spent around 3 hours hanging pictures and paintings, look out the window, still nothing. Maybe a little rain but that is all. The news is still full blast about evacuation, 3,000 people losing power in Queens but I see nothing out of the ordinary yet. We retire to bed.
8 am I woke up expecting a stormy mayhem to be wreaking havoc but as I glaze out the window, I see nothing but a calm drizzle. Not even bothering to wake up Marlyse, I suit up and take the dogs out for a walk but still taking the camera in case I see something interesting. The rain and wind were picking up, of course, as I’m walking the dogs. “Hold on to your fur pups!” The picky and snobby dogs do not want to use any of the 20 small trees we pass towards the park. They must use the grassy turf of the park, rain or shine. “You are getting yourself even more soaked pups so let’s hurry up and get to the park!” The howling wind blows through the rustling trees, small limbs and leaves cover the rain-soaked ground and there are flooded walkways even though we’re at least one hundred feet above the rest of the park. “Let’s walk where there are not as many trees just in case.”
We come up to an old tree that couldn’t hold up to the powerful wind gusts and snapped about four feet from the ground. In front of that are two other fallen comrades to the muscle of Irene. The pups business is done and they “busted a move” (bowel movement that is) so we can head back home. The eye of the storm rolls over us with little to no rain and a strong wind. I worried for a bit that my air conditioners wouldn’t withstand the blasts but everything held up. I watched way too many episodes of Chopped, where a group of chefs are given 4 weird ingredients to make a dish out of. I decided to do the same thing with random items I found in the fridge but it ended up turning out incredible! So, I just might do this some more.
Later this lazy Sunday, we took the pups out again while no rain but still a lot of wind. I think the pups thoroughly enjoyed playing around in the wind. We also enjoyed seeing their ears flap in the wind.
So, we have large cans of unconsumed Chef Boyardee, lots of decorating finished, learned how to make homemade pesto and now the weekend is over. Even though it was kind of a lazy weekend, I want a regular weekend! That will have to be next week I suppose.
Chapter 1 – Moving
Chapter 2 – Hurry up and Wait
Chapter 3 – A New Lifestyle
Chapter 3 – A New Lifestyle
The sights, smells, energy and movement are not something we were accustomed to in Tampa. You can choose who you want to providing your energy from five different companies. There are less options if you need internet, phone and cable. There are 86 stairs before you make it to the street that is on a 12 degree slope so you think everything through before you stroll out the door. Laziness is nor tiredness is no longer acceptable to take Ellie and Rhino outside at least twice a day, it must be done. There are neighbors and lots of them. All four of us are getting the hang of that too.
There are free events going on daily, all throughout the day so something could always be attended without ripping open the wallet. The scenery is endless and breathtaking. The locals are not as difficult to talk to as they are made up to be. Our daily routing is being established but still presenting to be difficult to change.
The first night in New York, we take Ellie and Rhino out. There are so many things to see and smell that their noses and ears are on overload. We walk down the hill to the corner of Broadway where there is train that goes underground one block away. The ground begins to tremble underneath the pups paws. Ears are raise up high and the confused dogs retain stance not knowing what to do next! “It’s the subway Ellie and Rhino.” Yea right. You’re telling me the ground is supposed to shake like this? What in the world is going on?? I have no answers for the pups except hold on for a world of change.
The fridge is bare and the cabinets need filling. The Fairway Market isn’t that far away but it is down by the water. Meaning five blocks downhill at a constant 10-12 degree slope. This makes getting there easy but once I have a book bag or cart full of groceries, this ends up being my biggest workout for the day! The architecture all around this stroll is magnificent.
When we crossed the Georgia border, my smartphone became dumb and the screen stopped responding to any touch. All of my “pre-operating system” phones were already in New York so I couldn’t even change to an old one. Now after being in New York for a week, I see how connected I was to my phone but also could definitely use some of my apps to find out where I am, where I am going and what there is to do. I’ve been carrying a paper map and also starring at the maps when we get off the subway. I have only gotten turned around a couple of times. Usually it is when I need to know which street to look for.
“Great. A parking ticket.” Something I anticipated a few of while trying to grasp the new lifestyle of not parking however I want in my yard. So, what do I do? I start researching all of the parking codes on each street and typed out the times NOT to park on each side of the street. This way I can keep a map in the glove box and on my wall so I know when to move it. Parallel parking to the extreme has been an experience. Today, I saw what looked like around 9 feet to fit the Element in. With about a 15-point turn, I got the car in with about 7 inches at the front and the back bumper to spare. I finally got a month long public transportation card so I’m not paying $2.25 each way. I don’t have to worry about filling my card with $20 every 4 days.
Marlyse and I are meeting new people at the New York Dream Center. People that want to see change in the city by passing out food and clothing, doing Adopt-a-Block and having a lot of events to connect with people. It’s definitely sparking things back up from when we were in the Tampa Bay Dream Center. We are seeing more and more people with a heart to make a difference. A difficult thing we face together daily is the fact that we miss our friends and family back in Tampa. This is something we think about all the time. Just to stay in the loop, we check Facebook for updates from friends while trying to connect with more friends here in New York.
Missing everyone made me think of City and Colour – Hello, I’m in Delaware. Go listen.
All this to say, we’re getting use to the new lifestyle. It’s not an easy road but someone has to pave it! We wanted to try living outside of Tampa so here we are. It’s not for everybody and we’re trying to figure it out one step at a time!
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Chapter 2 – Hurry Up and Wait
The walls are bare, the white tile floor is empty and the dogs howling and barking echo throughout the house without reverberating off the furniture that is now located in New York. “Now what do I do?” I begin to focus my efforts on repairs and fortifications while I’m in my empty Tampa house for the next three weeks. Not four days earlier I said my goodbyes alongside of Marlyse to all of our friends and family. I’m back again for three more weeks. This is possibly the weirdest feeling to describe to anyone. It almost seems like you’re a ghost overseeing everyone you just left and said your peace with, as morbid as that sounds.
Now surrounded by our renter’s furniture and belongings, the freshly painted walls take shape for a new family. Our dogs have a look of sadness but then a look of, “so what’s next?” I try to get them accustom to walking on a leash morning and night and I do not let them run through our yard. That was difficult for me than it was for them.
Daily, Marlyse and I would talk and text on the phone keeping each other updated as what we did that day. Marlyse still has her Bath and Body Works job so this keeps her mind occupied and meeting new people while I’m not in Manhattan with her yet. She takes on beautiful sights of the city but when you cannot share those views with anyone it is not as fun. She continues to try and make the apartment feel more like home but with me and the pups away, this is an unending task.
August 5th, it’s time to jump in the Element and leave Tampa. I wanted to leave in the morning so most of the day was driving but I had to wait for Tim to get off work. So I perfected the packing job in the Element to retain space for the dogs to still be comfortable. This game of Tetris was NOT easy! I had enough stuff to fill the whole Element but I needed about three feet deep of space for Ellie and Rhino. With no regard for looking back, we leave around 8pm. There was no stopping and sighing, I wanted to be gone.
I take the first leg of driving but both of us are already tired from me packing and him working. The dogs think they’re just going to the dog park 5 minutes down the road. About three hours into the drive, they both finally sit. About 10 hours in, Ellie finally lays down. Just like the drive in the budget truck with Marlyse, this 24 hour driving is not easy. So, in North Carolina we stopped and took an hour long nap. We hit DC around 2pm but traffic was stopped. We should have gone around the city. Trying to get through what should have taken 20 minutes took 2 hours.
In New Jersey we stopped at a Chick-fil-a because there are not any in New York (that we have found). One last sandwich and then we cross the George Washington Bridge. This bridge is always super busy and no one wants to let you in. Turn signals are nearly extinct and no one wants to let you in. If you are a passive driver or a distracted driver, take a cab. There is no room for your driving inability in New York City!
The rain drizzles down just enough to make the roads slippery. No cell phone is used by drivers surrounding me. A certain speed has to be maintained or else you get honked at or you nearly cause a wreck. You have to brake from that certain speed to an absolute halt on a declining and winding road. “I’m almost home. God do not let me wreck while I have been driving this long to get here!” I get off of the Henry Hudson Parkway, otherwise known as the last racing game I played. The dogs stare intently through the windows at the amount of movement they see going on. There it is. The apartment complex. We made it home and visiting friends that are leaving at the same time are standing on the doorstep to wave goodbye. I let the dogs out in the rain and they cannot understand what all is going on around them. Marlyse, Tim and I empty the Element and then we find a parking spot down the road. Everything from our Tampa life has been reunited in its new location. We’re home. Now for the adventure to start.
