Skye’s Derive 2
March 13, 2018, by Skye
This time around, the starting point for my derive was in an even more familiar area as I live in Greenwich Hall on Greenwich St between Barrow and Morton Streets. I decided because I had a decent knowledge of my surroundings, I would start my derive at night to change things up a bit. My starting point was at the corner of Washington and Horatio Streets. The West Village in general is pretty residential with the exception of Hudson St, where there are a lot of restaurants, but this part of the West Village also had a few restaurants and bars. It was pretty quiet, but it was also a Wednesday night so that made perfect sense.
The first thing the derive app told me to do was turn left, so nothing too exciting there. The next card told me to “discover an interesting sound and take a picture of it”. As noted earlier, there aren’t many sounds in the West Village as it’s mostly residential. This part of the West Village is also where the apartment buildings, restaurants, and bars meet the crazy expensive stores in Meatpacking, so I expected some noise, but again, it was a Wednesday night so it was pretty dead. The only sound that I was able to capture a photo of was the sound of cars passing by me, so here it is:
Card number three told me to “follow someone until they move indoors. Document their dwelling”. This was a slightly creepy card and got me out of my comfort zone, but I guess that’s what derives are supposed to do. Since the West Village is so quiet at this time, it was hard to blend in while following someone— and since I didn’t want to get arrested or whatever for doing so, I followed this guy from a distance. It turns out his “dwelling” was the car that made the supposedly interesting sound from earlier. He was just waiting to be picked up by his Uber. There was no way to follow him after that, so I moved onto the next card.
The last card made me think about living in NYC and if I’ve ever been followed. It’s hard to tell if you ever are being followed because I’m sure if I knew to keep a distance and try to blend in, any other creep would also try to do the same. I’ve lived in New York for about 3 years now, so there’s a likely chance that I have been— which is pretty creepy to think about. I feel like it would be hard to follow a “true” New Yorker though, since most of us are always running around and trying to get somewhere, but what do I know. Maybe that’s why tourists are the ones that are terrified of being robbed? I don’t know.
The next two cards both told me to get a drink, although of different kinds. The first one was a coffee and the second, a beer. While I would’ve loved both, I didn’t want to get a coffee at 6pm, nor did I think any place would be serving coffee at this time, and I’m also not of age to get a beer. I stood outside a place called Barbuto though, and assumed that the place served both. It’s funny because I did the outside portion of this derive a week or two ago and I’m writing up the reflection right now after reading an Eater article on the best restaurants in the West Village, Barbuto was on the list. I’m on a plane right now with wifi that only lets me go to the United Airlines website (what a scam), but I should check out what they serve later. Or maybe not, because it’s in the West Village and eating there would probably cost an arm and a leg. So hopefully their website has prices too.
One of the cards told me to compare where I was to the city center. NYU loves to market the school and its location as the “heart of New York City,” so I’m referring to that as my city center. The West Village is pretty close to the city center then (aka Greenwich Village), but that makes sense because Manhattan is only so wide. The vibe is definitely different in the West Village as again, it’s much more quiet and there aren’t as many people. The buildings are low like the East Village, but the WV is much different than EV I think. Maybe it’s because the WV is newer than EV, or maybe because NYU students have taken over the East Village while most can’t afford to live in the WV— thank you NYU dorming. I’d personally much rather live in the WV than the East, and it’s mostly because I’d rather be away from the “NYU bubble”. Maybe I sound conceited and annoying saying that, but it’s nice to be away (but not too far) from the college campus feel even though we barely have one.
My roommate from freshman year asked where I’d want to live in New York City if money weren’t an issue and I don’t remember what I told her then, but I’d prefer to live on the west side for sure. Maybe not the West Village since it’s mostly just super rich families, but maybe the mysterious Hudson Yards/Hells Kitchen area where no one knows where it begins or ends and becomes the Upper West Side. I’m probably fond of the west side because when you drive down the Henry Hudson, all you see are these giant beautiful buildings with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and I know that I definitely want one of those apartments one day— if money isn’t an issue. It’s where I’m looking to move next semester, but my friends are pushing for Williamsburg because it’s closer to campus. But I really don’t want to move somewhere and invest in moving somewhere if the trains are going to be shut down. I also can’t stand Williamsburg after interning there for eight months. I see the appeal with the brand new Whole Foods and all the restaurants and bars, but something about Williamsburg is so pretentious to me. Yet I live in the West Village, but it’s different, of course. So would that mean that the West Village is my “real village joint,” according to Live at the Village Vanguard since it’s a place that I enjoy and feel hasn’t changed too much with gentrification (Gordon 14)?.
It’s interesting to think about all the different stereotypes that each little neighborhood in New York has, because it’s true— each area of the city is so different and has its own personality. The West Village makes you think about super rich families and Sex and the City and Williamsburg makes you think about entitled hipsters that think they’re the shit. The Upper East Side is all about Gossip Girl, of course, and Midtown is somewhere you want to avoid at all costs.
Follow something yellow.
Browse around for an interesting shadow.