Peter's Derive
February 19, 2018, by Peter
It’s been a bit of time since I last walked around the Lower East Side and NoLita. I recently moved outside of New York City limits into my grandmother’s home on Long Island. As a teenager going into New York city growing up, I often passed through this neighborhood coming in from the Williamsburg Bridge and into Delancey, marveling at the neighborhood’s graffiti presence, and driving across Kenmare’s hip stores. A few years later I found myself wandering to this neighborhood from my relatively near-by dorm in The Village. This morning is temperate for February, and it had freshly rained. I think fresh rain is the ideal scent for a city.
I started off on Delancey between two parts of Sara D. Roosevelt Park. I ended up walking west past The Bowery Ballroom, and I moved forward some time in my nostalgia. I remembered a concert I attended as a freshman three years ago, in which I had trouble locating the venue. It was dark that night, and the venue looks more like an old warehouse than a music hall. In fact, the Bowery Ballroom it likely was a warehouse at some point in time.
I moved forward throughout the neighborhood passing through the narrow streets of The Lower East Side and NoLita. I was prompted by the derive app to watch people’s faces. In this moment, I noticed the extreme social inequality which is characteristic of New York in recent years, as well as in the U.S. in general. This area is one of the world’s most fashionable. I noticed the primarily white passer-bys who look like they could be models, and notice those loading in goods to all the restaurants in the morning. Working people, mostly of color, who compose close to 70% of New York City’s actual population. I reflect on the discomfort this causes me, but this discomfort has become a daily occurrence, so I check my app and move on.
I continue up on Mulberry Street and notice the beautiful library, and check the surrounding buildings on Jersey Street. I marvel at their architecture and pristine condition, showing off styles from a New York past. I wonder how I could have never seen this building in New York. I’ve gone to much more remote parts of New York to gawk at architecture, like Riverdale and Douglaston, but have somehow missed this area.
Ending my journey, I am directed further north and continue up Broadway in the Village, a street I was on almost every day when I worked at the NYU Bookstore. I notice how much younger everyone has become, with many NYU students now in the picture. Most are walking south from three subway or dormitories to get to classes, against me. Reflecting on this moment, I remember how much older most other people in the city are than me, and being such a young transplant is really quite a privilege.
I grew up very close to New York City, and never really fitting in in my hometown, I really feel like the city is home when I’m there. During this derive, I recalled some old memories, and made new ones. Although I was already familiar with the area, I was glad there was still something to be discovered no matter how much time I seem to spend here, part of the reason I enjoy the city so much.
