Kathleen's space

High Security

I popped into Penn Station to grab a sandwich for lunch before sneaking off for the long weekend. I was amazed at the security there. I know it's the busiest travel day in the US, the day before Thanksgiving but man! Two security/police people at the top of the escalator, two at the bottom, more walking around, a dog...and probably even more I didn't see. With all that protection it would be pretty bad if something happened in the station.... OK before I even had a chance to post this, I was watching the news and found out the extra security wasn't due to the tourists but rather a threat of a terrorist attack on the LIRR. I'm sort of glad that I didn't know that when I was getting my lunch but now I understand that it wasn't overkill.

Street fairs

I've written about the NYC street fairs before. I still remember the first one I encountered when I moved here. So exciting - new and fun.  Then I encountered them almost every weekend in different parts of the city - so not new, all the same, all the time.

Well, in Sunday's FYI column in the NY Times, someone wrote in complaining about them.  "I am sick of street fairs" is how the person started the question.

What was interesting was the number of fairs the paper noted.  In 2006 there were 369 fairs in the city of NY.  In 2007 that went down to 357 and only 331 were scheduled in 2008. While declining, that's still a lot of fairs!

More on the cold

You know how cold it was on Saturday? It was so cold that a homeless guy actually snuck under the gate going to the super's entrance and camped out, out of the wind.

I saw the guy, sleeping when I left my place on Sunday.  I got home probably four hours later and the guy was still there, still lying down, still covered up. Trespassing but I chose not to call the super because of the cold. 

But, later in the day, I saw the super, Nelson's his name.  Well, first I saw two well-endowed young ladies leave his apartment...then I saw studly Nelson -- I asked no questions, just observed.  He stopped as the recycling room, where I was, was a bit of a mess. So that's when I asked him if he had been out at all that day. No was the answer (not judging, not questioning that it was 6ish and he was just coming out with the two ladies) but I did tell him about the guy. So, this is now at least six/seven hours after I first saw him. Nelson got mad and went outside. Next thing I know, I hear yelling, very angry yelling. Boy was Nelson mad.  He came back and told me the guy had built a house! A House!?!  I looked at him and said - it was REALLY cold last night, I don't really blame him. Of course, that wasn't a welcomed response because while he felt bad, Nelson's job is to clean up and he knew, better than I did, that this guy would be leaving a big old mess.  I still felt bad. But I'm going to try and not complain about the cold anymore.

Boston cold

It's cold in New York City. It's so cold a friend of mine last night described it as "Boston cold."  And as he so duly noted, in Boston a car would be involved in our outing -- very unlike our night out last night in NYC.  Actually, we didn't even stay in NYC.

Last night, we made our way to Jersey City which is in New Jersey (if you didn't figure that out). Three of us met up. One who lives in the Jersey suburbs and two of us in NYC.  To get to Jersey City, I took two subways and then the Path - the Path is like a commuter train to NJ.  To get to the Path from the subway meant getting out of the subway and walking a few blocks -- downtown by the World Trade Center -- and like I said, it was freezin'. And to make it worse, two of us were meeting at the Path station -- OUTSIDE!  So, needless to say, I was cold to the bones.

But, we made our way and actually it was pretty easy. One stop -- under water -- to get to our stop.  Once we got to NJ, we walked just a couple of blocks to get to our meeting place, the Iron Monkey. This restaurant is cute, has good food and good vibe, over all.  The only problem is that it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and at most, there were three tables full at any one time (ours being one). Maybe it was the cold? Otherwise, not sure how they stay in business. 

Anyway, back to the cold. The Boston cold was SO cold that I was very tempted to get a cab home -- which would've been a bit over the top!  I didn't. So, we took the Path, got out, took the subway, and switched, got out of the subway and walked two blocks home.  And due to that, when I got home, I got out a heating pad because other than drinking tea and taking a hot, hot shower, I didn't know how else to warm up them bones of mine.  I knew there were some good reasons I originally left Boston, last night was a reminder of one big one -- the weather.

rudeness

Three things have happened in the last week that are all about rudeness.  Well actually two things, but one happened twice.

About a week ago, I was walking to work. I was almost there. It was cold and I was tired and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, as I pass by some people, I hear - BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPP. As if it was in my ear. Right there, that close. No excuse me, no oops, no nothing. As if that's normal!?!

Yesterday, I was walking back to work. (You'd think that was the only thing I did in my life?!)  And, what do you know, another one - BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRP! (not quite so many Ps in that one.) But again, no excuse me, no oops, no oh my, chuckle, chuckle. Wham, bam, boom, nothing. 

And then the kicker.  Imagine, getting worse than that?!  (oh, and for those that know me, you know that I'm not opposed to burping over all. Especially those who knew me back when I used to be able to say motorcycle while burping. Yup, I was one of those...But, I've grown up and know better and stifle the burparonis and say excuse me, especially in public). And, for the record, I tend not to burp in strangers' ears!!!   Anyway, the kicker. Let's get back to the kicker.

I'm at the corner, waiting to cross the street on 6th Ave. It's really cold out, I have my hood on so can't see peripherally very well. A truck stops short because he couldn't make the light. This means I need to walk around the truck to get to the other side. And would you believe, the passenger hucks a lungi (and I have NO idea if I'm spelling that correctly but if you don't get it -- he spit a good one) which literally landed right near my feet.  HOW DISGUSTING! I'm telling you he's very lucky he didn't hit me. Either way, I swore, looked mean at him, crossed the street, looked back, exclaimed how rude he was and more and then stomped away. I mean, COME ON!?!  How rude and unnecessary was that?!

And there you have it, my rant for the day.

I'm in the NY Times!

Self serving post, nothing to do with life in NYC, but check this out: http://www.pencil.org/filelibrary/New%20York%20Times-%202008.pdf

I'm one of 600 - I know, not a big deal, but unexpected and kind of fun. I just got involved with this organization, Pencil, here in NYC. I think it's a great program -- from what I've seen so far. Very professional, great partners.  I'm looking forward to working with my partner school and colleagues to make a bit of a difference in NYC schools.

Let the river run...

 What do you think of when you think of the Staten Island Ferry??

I think of Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford. Working Girl, baby.  And I think of that song - Let the river run...la la la la...you know the one? When she hits the "big time" and she's in her cool office in downtown Manhattan.

The other day, I took the Staten Island Ferry for the first time and got up and close (sort of -- well, not really) with the Statue of Liberty.  But, it was the closest I've been to the Statue and the only time I've been on Staten Island, albeit for maybe 5 minutes.

It was cool. I think the amount of tourists and their pushiness impressed me more than the experience itself.  Well, maybe I'm being harsh, the experience and views were good.

Also, when I think about the movie, in today's context, it's not so positive.  If she hit the big time today, Melanie would've lasted about a week and then would've been out walking the street looking for a new job due to the massive layoffs in her company.

Either way, the tourists are many and the views are great. Here are a couple of my views.

   

African Burial Ground National Monument

I had the chance to visit this memorial that many people don't know about around here. I learned about it on Fire Island this summer. Our guide at the Fire Island lighthouse used to work at the African Burial ground in Manhattan. It's downtown and a fairly simple structure/monument.  Very sad, though, when you understand what it's all about.

We went on the weekend so the actual 'museum' was closed. That said, I was peeking through the window and saw the park ranger on duty and asked her if we could come in. Obviously she said no. But she did come out and offer a brochure which probably has all the info that was on display inside. So, I'm giving it away, I didn't remember all of what I'm writing, I have a cheat sheet!

The burial ground was uncovered during pre-construction of 290 Broadway (near Duane and Reade streets).  There are 6.6 acres of the historical cemetery with an estimated nearly 15,000 Africans are buried there.

From what I can gather, it became known in the early 90s.  Less than an acre was excavated between 1991 and 1992 before it was halted due to petitions, 24-hour vigils and more.  A total of 419 African ancestral remains were removed during the excavation. These were later transfered to Washington DC.  And then, in 2003, these 419 were reinterned in hand-carved mahogany coffins at the burial ground.  When you get there, besides the below structures, there are distinct graves, mounds of green grass rising from the ground. 

The memorial is an Ancestral Libation Chamber - There's a cosmogram at its center, the crossroads of birth, life, death and rebirth in Congo cosmology.  Here are a few of my pictures (you can see my mama checking out the scene in the last one).

 

A bit of Berlin in NYC

So, we're walking down the street the other day and I see this from afar.  Before we got close enough to read the plaque next to it, I said, this HAS to be a piece of the Berlin wall. Alas, it is.  It's interesting because it's such a sad thing, yet with the colors and the way it's set up, next to the table and chairs, it looks really nice but knowing what it is, makes it seem out of place.

Seeing it reminded me of my first visit to Berlin in college.  Touring Europe with a Eurorail pass, a few bucks in my pocket and a backpack with all my precious belongings on my back, we went to Checkpoint Charlie and spent a lot of time wandering around East Berlin. I'm dating myself when I say it was a ghost town. Sad, empty and grey streets. No one was around. It was in stark contrast to West Berlin which was a jumble of movement (I don't know if jumble of movement really makes sense, but I'm sticking with it). I understand that East Berlin has changed a LOT since back in 1992, but I still have those images in my mind and they came right up to the front when I saw this piece of the Berlin wall right here in Manhattan.

GYPSY

Had a chance to go to Gypsy on Friday night - It was my gift to my mom for her big 75th year on earth.  She came too :)  She came to town for the weekend and I treated her fine....and Gypsy started the whirlwind. Actually, dinner at Beppe started us off and they treated us well.  Mick set us up with a special appetizer treat, truffled fries and a delicious hot chocolate to end our org... I mean meal.  We were full on the way out. We were also very happy. 

We took the subway uptown and then we got WOWED by Ms. Patti Lupone (aka Corky's mom on Life Goes on...remember that?!)  My mom told me that and I thought she was talking about his REAL mom, but alas, Patti was his TV mom.

Anyway, who knew that Corky's mom had such a voice - a force to be reckoned with, an amazing thing to hear, a jewel on broadway.  I was blown away, especially the last number -- Rose's turn. Un-freakin-believable. And what stamina to be that good at the end of a long show - quite a feat for a woman of any age yet amazing for her age.

The other crazy good thing was the transformation, a true metamorphisis, of Baby Louise to Gypsy Rose Lee. From tomboy to stripper, from rough and tumble to va-va-voom.  Pretty impressive hair, makeup and wardrobe.

Needless to say, I recommend the show to all.