Eddy's 1st Derive
February 20, 2018, by Eddy
The idea of a “guided wandering” intrigued me from the first day that it was introduced to us in class and I was very excited to experience a derive. Getting lost in the city fascinates me and it helps me reflect on the wonder that this city holds. Being from the Bronx, I am not able to stay in Manhattan for a long time to go about and appreciate the surrounding area, but the derive gave me an opportunity to really look at the city as a body and made me want to study further into the way people maneuver through this city. The derive calls for disorientation and a recognition of how each street plays a different role in New York City.
I was lucky enough to explore an area that I was semi-familiar with: Chinatown and Soho. I started my derive on Howard and Broadway, the corner having a vacant shop available for people to rent out. I found it ironic because it was the beginning of a new history, and mutability was directly shown through that corner. George G. Foster talks about mutability, calling it “a dread word containing the whole history of the past” (152). There used to be a shop, but now no more and the history of that corner will continue on as something new. The corner will serve as a spot of remembrance for the people that used to consume whatever was provided at the shop before.
I wanted to meander away from the busy street of Broadway to have a different perspective on the city. Every time that I would encounter Broadway, it was busy and full of life. People were walking with a purpose and were trying to reach their destination without any distraction. Most of the people were in the area to shop, evident in the amount of shopping bags that were in the hands of some people. I walked from Howard and Broadway to Grand and Broadway before turning onto Grand and Mercer.
When I walked up and down through Mercer, the area changed instantaneously. There was less foot traffic, the floor was not smooth concrete anymore, but a cobblestone road took its place. Cars did not even drive through this street while I was observing. The derive app told me to find a place that I could relax and take note of the surroundings. I decided to sit down in front of Nike 21 Mercer and reflect on the street because it was different from the New York city that I usually inhabit. This street was filled with hypebeasts. A hypebeast is considered one who is obsessed and usually wears the latest street fashion. I realized there that I was on a street where money was of the utmost importance. There was Nike 21 Lab, there was also Billionaire Boys Club located later on into the street. The people on this street had the intention of spending their money to look good and have the latest style of footwear or clothing.
The derive app told me to walk around the block, leading me back to Broadway and I noticed the division of how money was spent. More expensive shops were located on the streets off of Broadway instead of on Broadway, closer to Canal. Broadway was home to 99 cent stores and stores with cheaply made clothes, showing the oversaturation of the crowd of that street. With less expensive items, more people would be able to buy more product.
Graffiti was a constant recurrence throughout my trip. This artform had not died and there was work on the sides of buildings, on metal platforms, even on boarded-up windows. From block to block, I was intrigued by the different tags that were a part of the buildings. They gave flare and color to the buildings. I had never walked down Lispenard Street but noticed that there was so much art on the sides that it must have been either a popular spot for graffiti artists to gravitate towards or that it was so out of other people’s walking route that artists tagged there for anonymity reasons.
As I walked across Lispenard, I was instructed to walk up two blocks, so I was leaving Chinatown and had to walk towards Soho. I was on a secluded block as well, all filled with cobblestone store and a sense of tranquility rushed over me. It was not busy and I did not feel the sense of being rushed. I could see that in other people’s demeanors as well. Whether it was a family outing or an intimate walk between a couple, the overbearing feeling of having to work was eliminated, allowing for leisure to be the main priority. The shops were still open, yet the street was not flooded enough for it feel like they were.
Of course, there were still instances of New York work being done. For example, I sat down and witnessed a photoshoot while on Mercer. The quiet street provided the perfect background for the photographer and subject, trying to show off his streetwear style of clothing. I am personally into streetwear, so I appreciated the work that was behind the presentation of the clothes.
I was instructed to walk up North, but I was surprised to find that it is hard to truly walk up North. I thought I was walking North but then checked a compass and realized that the best I could do was walk northwest since north would require me to actually go diagonally across the buildings. I was walking upwards into Soho and westward, away from the middle street of Broadway and there was a stark difference in the way the street operated. Instead of shops, cafes and boutiques filled up the streets, catching the eyes of the New Yorkers walking by. I was able to get away from the hustle of New York City and found a solace in the new area around Prince and Thompson.
Throughout the trip, I noticed more of how the citizens of New York operated. There was a lack of people of color throughout my trip and oddly I felt like an outsider in my own city. I observed how people were dressed and everything was of a higher degree as opposed to my native borough of the Bronx. There was a class difference between each avenue and there was a different volume of people throughout each street, allowing me to become part of the ebb and flow that is Lower Manhattan.