Urban Walking

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After I read “Urban Walking Isn’t Just Good For The Soul” and using this reading for observational exercise with my everyday commute to college which is by train. It has become a daily routine that after reading this article I realize that I haven’t give a lot of attention to my surroundings, sometimes I see something new at the train station or sidewalks, but at the same time I wonder if it really is something new or if it’s something I haven’t notice. The article points out that the countryside is boring because “one field is very like another, and many of them are filled with cows…” which i totally disagree, to my personal opinion it’s better the countryside rather than a noisy and congested city.

Barclays Opening Night

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If you have access to the NYTimes, here is the article describing opening night at the Barclays Center: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/nyregion/barclays-centers-opening-is-met-with-protests.html

Here is a short history on the FUSION TV site: https://fusion.tv/video/150519/a-short-history-of-the-brooklyn-stadium-jay-z-helped-put-on-the-map/

One interesting possible research topic: tracking what developer’s promise versus what they deliver.

Architectural Review of the Barclays Center: https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/7549-barclays-center

Blog Post on site of Barclays Center before the project started construction: http://forgotten-ny.com/2005/12/before-ratnerville-preceding-barclays-center/

 

Urban Walking and Exploration In New York City

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Anyone who knows me moderately well, knows that I am a creature of habit. I take the same train and corresponding route to school, work, or wherever I need to be. Then, the same way home at the end of practically everyday. I have had this routine for years and I find comfort in it. Though I take this rather repetitious journey everyday, I would never describe my daily interaction with New York City as “boring” as Jonn Elledge stated in his short urban-walking memoir. In a city as vast as New York, you can take the same route everyday and experience a new adventure; meeting new people, taking in new cultures, and learning new points of view.

Normally, if I’m on a bus or train, you would find my nose buried in a book, my eyes captivated in a literary induced reverie. But once the sun goes down and the impending night rolls in, my innate paranoia of safety and awareness for my commute home becomes the forefront thought on my mind. I am then forced to walk in the clearest moments of observation of my entire day. I notice the last of CityTech students exiting Namm hall from their night classes as they make a beeline for the A train entrance, tourists desperately trying to find the Brooklyn Bridge on Adams Street, the homeless man curled on a bench in Columbus Park, and the colorful LED lights that illuminate the 1850’s Brooklyn Borough Hall at the end of the park. The open space in front of the massive stairs of the hall makes for skateboarders’ delight if the weather permits.

I agree with how Elledge described the urban city as opposed to the rural or suburban parts of town. That it’s more of human nature to watch other humans rather than observe inanimate nature. Everything most likely stays the same in less populated areas, while the constant motion of a diverse city ultimately gives rather divergent outputs of everyday life. The same buildings, bridges, parks, or other structures can become monotonous, redundant, or “boring” (as Elledge stated), but it’s the population, the people of this city, that add such a satisfaction that can’t be duplicated. It’s the New Yorkers that breathe life into New York City.

Urban Walking Prompt

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After reading “Urban Walking isn’t just Good for the Soul” and thinking about my daily walks to the train station, I then realize I don’t even pay attention to my neighborhood anymore. I’ve walked that same route for many years to the point where it’s a norm. In the article John Elledge states “I’ve since done that route so often that I’ve grown bored with it,” which relates with exactly how I feel about my walks to and from the train station every day. I did notice they added a new traffic light to a block that never had one. The only reason why I saw was that it affects me when it comes to crossing the street, some cars still don’t realize that the traffic light is there and they were both at the crosswalk looking at each other like are you going to cross or not.

 

Assignment 1_How is change managed in a city? Who manages that changes? Do people have a right to the city?

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City changes according to the change of society and culture. In my opinion, I believe that people are the major source of that change because people are expressing their culture and their traditional that they learned from their parents in the city that they are living in now. They change the atmosphere of the place that they are living in according to their culture. You can see that very clearly in the cities that have many different people from different countries. Brooklyn is a great example of that, it shows how city changes according to the people culture because it has the most emigrants from everywhere around the world. As you can see in the film “My Brooklyn”, it shows how society change very fast in past few years in Brooklyn because the traditional that people express from all around the world on one city. They are not controlling that change because they are doing that without feeling that they are impacting on the other people around them. Of course, people have the right to manage change in the city and I see this in a good way because you can learn a lot of new things and information from the people around you. In Brooklyn, you can meet hundreds of different cultures which is a great experience for anyone. I totally believe that PEOPLE are the CITY.

Our first site visit next week, and blogging assignment

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Today we learned about one-point linear perspective and reviewed the site report template.

Looking ahead to next week, classes are not held on Monday, September 10 and Tuesday, September 11. The college is open, and the library is open 9-5 both days. On Thursday, September 13, we meet in our classroom at 2:30pm sharp for our first walking tour of our study site. Please come prepared to be out for 2 hours with a charged phone or camera and notebook and pencils for sketching. Your blogging assignment due Thursday, September 13 is one 100-word post. First read this opinion piece, “Urban Walking isn’t just Good for the Soul,” and then complete the following observational exercise: document the observations of your experience between your front door and the bus, subway, or parking space you use for your everyday commute. Post observations in a 100 word blog post.

 

 

Assignment 1

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How is change managed in a city? Who manages that changes? Do people have a right to the city?

As the population of New York City is actively increasing the city itself seems to be improving overall. There are new changes that benefit New Yorkers as a place to live. Mayor Bloomberg, who agree to the ideas of “improve this city”. The mayor is allowing the plans of tall buildings to be built in Brooklyn. However, there are cons to those plans. In a film called “My Brooklyn”, they explain how Brooklyn’s markets and stores are being overpriced and kicking people from their location to replacing with new modern office buildings. We as New Yorkers should have a right to our city. This means that our voice should be heard.  However, now they are trying to clear out Fulton Mall… A place where you can hear jazz playing and people promoting their sales. People who work at the mall are trying to protest to keep it open. However, the city isn’t listening to them and giving everyone a deadline to leave the building. These people are being mistreated. Their voices are not truly being heard. So, do we have a right in our city? When it really matters… the people who “own” the city (government) make it harder for the true creators of New York to promote change. The true creators are the people working in that mall pushing their limits to create business and earn money for their families.

Blog prompt #1

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I am neutral in the belief that people do have a right to the city because on one hand as we saw in “My Brooklyn” the people of Fulton Mall area and other zones of Brooklyn, although being there for many years and having an attachment to that particular zone could not prevent the change that happened in that area. Despite that they protested, met with the committee in charge of deciding whether the change would happen or not, and even wrote letters, their claim to the city/zone was not enough to stop the power play of change. Meanwhile in Citizen Jane, her claim to the city played a major role in the reversal of the change that was going to happen. Her observation skills and protesting skills helped her gather people together to stop the city from going in the direction that would negatively impact the lives of so many people.
So now my Question is “Do only a certain group of people have a right to the city? And Are they the only ones who can stop change from presenting itself within?” I think watching both films showed me that power and influence plays a huge role in the outcome of a city and that not every group of people within that city can attain both or one in order to invoke or deny any sort of change.

How is change managed in a city, and who manages that change? Do people have a “right” to the city?

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Changes can be hard to accept, whether it’s a huge or something very small. In fact, changes are necessary sometimes. During two of our last classes, we watched movies about changes that happened and are happening in NYC. These are the changes that we ordinary residents of the city cannot manage, because of our limited power. Changes in a city are managed by the higher class people, who have enough money to afford convincing government that their plan is good. In reality, all they think about is making more money. I believe people don’t really have the right to manage changes in their neighborhoods. They do have some power to stop those changes temporarily, but eventually, they will have to give up. Though, I do think that people should not have too much power over managing the changes, because they will almost always choose the old over new, where they feel comfortable, but they do need the change. I think people who make changes, do need to highly respect what locals want, whether it’s something new or old. By respect I mean, integrating old stuff into new to make everyone happy.

How is change managed in a city, and who manages that change? Do people have a “right” to the city?

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Change is inevitable. It must be managed in a way that would influence sustenance. Sustaining the livelihood and social interactions that occur in cities is perhaps one of the many positive ways to manage change in a city. Reflecting upon the film Citizen Jane, It seems that great ideas to facilitate change are created. Specifically, the design of the building towers proposed by Le Corbusier that was intended to be used as high rise offices that would facilitate light and air for these spaces. More importantly the idea behind Robert Moses’s initial thought of cleaning up the streets for the sake of the people; The urban condition post depression consisted of slums and over populated living spaces. These great ideas are then viewed through the eyes of bureaucracy  where developers and city officials begin to interchange information and ideas that modify what was initially intended to favor currency and the wants of each party. Simultaneously the social needs of the individuals of a city are forsaken. Take for example the public housing projects that overturned Le Corbusier concept. As described in Citizen Jane, these projects  isolated the inhabitants of the high rise residential tower from the surrounding communities physically and in economic stature, creating unsafe and desolate areas. The lack of social interactions and isolating a certain group of people through any means whether economically socially or physically, resulted in a city failure. How can  livelihood and social interactions be sustained if bureaucracy forsaken it? The individuals in the city must be apart of the efforts and ideas that facilitate change if there is hopes of managing it. Reflecting on both films saving Brooklyn featured sitter a developer who spoke of the needs of the inhabitant of Brooklyn but really didn’t represent them.  In citizen Jane  we see a individual who lived in the areas and was apart of these communities but also had the means to revolt against the bureaucracy.