Tag Archives: Obediah Poteat

Project #2: Overlapping New Yorks

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    New York has overlapping parts to it that you would never notice, which made me want to walk and check out the area around City Tech since I’m going to be here for quite a while. Usually I would spend my spare time at the gym but City Tech’s gym in under construction. So I decided to walk and search for ways to make up for the loss of the gym.          

After the third week of class I was shocked to find out City Tech’s gym was being demolished for rebuilding that would take until 2017. So I took it upon myself to find somewhere close to the campus where students can stay physical during their free hours. McLaughlin Park, which is right across from the Midway Building. To get to McLaughlin Park I take my everyday route which is the 4 train to Borough Hall. After I arrive at Borough Hall I usually walk through Columbus Park going towards Johnson Street where you would the U.S. Post Office. After you pass the Henry Beecher statue I would make a right going toward Adams Street and crossover. Now I would be at City Tech where I would continue down Adams Street until I got to Tillary Street and make a right down to Jay Street. Now McLaughlin Park is in plain sight.

            The first thing you would see is an area in the park where you have pull-up bars to work on you upper-body strength and durability. The pull-up bars look somewhat old but they will do the job, they have sturdy black poles up to about six to seven feet to support the blue painted pole where you test your strengths. Just next to the exercise area you have a basketball court, my favorite part of the park. Basketball is one of my favorite sports, not only do I get to enjoy myself; I can also work on my cardio and practice. In the middle of the court there’s a City of New York Parks & Recreation logo that is painted green. Along that are the white lines to note the half-court, out of bounds, three-point and free-throw lines. The pavement on the court is coordinate with red and blue, this court also has the luxury of glass backboards and rims that still have their nets. There are blue benches and bleachers in case you just wanted to come to the park just to be entertained by neighborhood’s talents. There is also a handball court where people can play handball and an open grass field. There are plenty of sports you can play in an open field like: football, soccer, baseball etc.  Some of my friends that have been at City Tech longer than me say that sometimes McLaughlin Park is dangerous but I say “It’s all hokum… Never listen to what people tell you about old New York…” because this park can do so much for us since our gym is under construction.

            McLaughlin Park, if you stood right at the entrance on Jay Street you could kind of see an overlapping view of the park’s perfect venue for exercises. On the handball courts you would be able to work on many different aspects of your body; while playing handball I would be using my arms and legs primarily and adjusting my hand-eye coordination. Next would be the small area where you use to the pull-up bars to work on you upper-body strength and durability; there is also a bench where you can work on your abdomen muscles by doing sit-ups. Just over the gate you have a basketball court where you can unconsciously exercise your whole body playing pick-up basketball games. The last thing I saw was a soccer ball bouncing around in the open grass field where it seemed to be a group of colleagues having fun. Discovering this park just outside my school proves that walking would take you “through parts of the city that most people never notice…” Before I actually walked in the park I didn’t know that McLaughlin Park had not just one but two basketball courts or even the grass field right next to it.

            Now that I have found McLaughlin Park I would like to know more about it, like whom is it named after? That could lead to monument to help me understand the meaning of the park and what it means to for it to have been built. The history and making of the park may be interesting and beneficial to my knowledge for future projects. When the park was established is something else I would be interested in knowing also,

            After discovering McLaughlin Park I feel like the loss of the school gym isn’t so bad. Also walking isn’t so bad either, prior to the walk I was reluctant to travel anywhere by foot. Now that I know about McLaughlin Park I will visit it more frequently. This was a great experience now that I could play basketball and get exercise routine done.

 

Bibliography:

–          McGrath, Charles. “A Literary Visitor Strolls in from the Airport.” New York Times, December 6, 2006. Web

–          Whitehead, Colson. “City Limits.” The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Parts. New York: Random House, 2004. 1-12. Web.

A Walk In New York

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The last time I had a good walk was last week September 19th, it was a Thursday. Sitting in the library bored and overwhelmed with stress from doing homework I decided to call one of my best friends. We came up with the idea to take a stroll on 86th street until we found something good to eat.

We started from the number 4 train station where we decided meet up at. As soon as we stepped out of the train station on 86th street you can feel busy city vibe from the vibrations of the pavement. You could here the music coming from the H&M clothing store as soon as you walked passed it then my stomach started rumbling. The delicious smells of burgers and fries was flowing through the air made me crave as we walked further down 86th street going 2nd Ave. Then that hunger when we came to a construction site on 2nd Ave, all you could smell was metal and gases. We made a right on that corner passing pizza shops where you saw what looked a like a rush our because people were flowing in and out so fast. But my friend said she wasn’t in the mood for pizza, I started to think she was purposely passing these restaurants just to spite me. There was a place where adults went for drinks, the outside appeared to be vintage and you smell the alcohol though the wooden doors. We finally came to a stop on 2nd Ave and 82nd Street where we encountered the most delicious burgers I had in my life at a place called BurgerFi. Right next door was the place that made us feel young again. 16 Handles, a ice cream shop, it had a kiddie atmosphere. After that stroll in the city my day was complete.

City Limits Summary

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In Colson Whitehead’s opinionated essay City Limits he believes that once you have been to New York you are ruined for anywhere else. New York makes any other hometown “look really drab and tiny”. You start building your own New York with your first experience there. Everybody who has been to New York has there own perspective, how they see New York. He calls the first New York experience the “first brick” and that’s when you start building your own New York.

No matter what others tell him about New York, Whitehead says he is sticking with what her first saw and experienced. It does not matter what other people tell you about New York you will always see it how see it. Nothing can change Whitehead’s mind that the Met Life Building still says Pan Am. Anything someone tries to tell you about how New York used is to be is hokum. Your bricks then start to add up as you go along. As a New Yorker you will move to different places from time to time. All the different buildings you lived in can represent a time in your life. They hold memories that you may not remember about yourself. If buildings could talk they would remind you of your past and all the experiences you had at that time. Over time you will remember those places as you saw them. After a while they will change but they will always remember as you remember them. Whitehead thinks it is important that you remember them because one they will be gone and you won’t get the chance to say goodbye.