There’s so much to discover out there everyday. You walk the same old route back and fourth everyday, why not take a detour for once and possibly find a new place of your interest? Let’s say you’ve got nothing to do after school and you’re in no rush at all to go home. Get to know the area you travel to more well. Take my  route that takes you through a lot of different stores from food to clothes shopping and even seeing some beautiful areas along the way. This route is from City Tech to the A, C, and G subway station at Hoyt and Schermerhorn street. You never know when you’re going to have to get off of the train at a different stop,. Discover new places and try to get out of that well known crowded area of Jay Street MetroTech.

Once you exit City Tech, take a right and walk down Jay Street. You’ll be walking through that crowded area of Jay Street MetroTech. Crossing the street as you see the Marriott building you’ll notice a plaza area. This area isn’t usually too crowded, so you can take a nice stroll through it. It’s very beautiful around this time of year because it’s decorated for Christmas. You can find several food places here if you want to grab something to eat before you go home. There’s places such as StarBucks, Chipotle, Five Guys and even more. If you walk into the plaza you’ll see all of those and across from Five Guys there’s a huge Christmas Tree that looks amazing! It’s not as big, or well decorated as the one in Rockefeller Center but it definitely did remind me of that as the huge tree is in the middle of this area.  Right behind the tree you’ll notice a work of art that actually changes every few months. In that area you may notice how at this time of year all of the trees around the donated piece of art have no leaves at all and it’s very interesting to see. You can sit down at the benches in this area if you want to relax or if you’ve gotten yourself a snack or you can sit outside at one of the tables from the store you went to. This is just another extra detour if you would like to appreciate some art work and beauty around your area and even find a place to eat. After this you can continue your journey, walking back to the subway station and walking down Jay Street once again.

As you’re walking down Jay Street you’ll pass by many food places. A lot you’ll recognize such as Subway or Dunkin Donuts. So there is even more food options! If you’re feeling like trying something new  or going to a place that’s not so well known, there’s tons of cafes and restaurants along the route! One happens to be on Smith Street which you’ll walk straight into as you’re walking down Jay Street, it’s called Apollo Diner. Once you’re through Jay Street and have walked into Smith street the crowds are gone and it’s much nicer in an emptier area.

Walking down Smith Street you’ll walk past a car parking service that you can’t miss because of the huge sign and the appearance of cars stacked up. You’ll come upon Schermerhorn Street on your left and walk down there, and as you do the main thing you’ll most likely focus on is a tall glass building! It’s not like anything in Manhattan but it sure will catch your eye. The architecture of the different buildings on this route is definitely an interesting aspect. Now if you all of a suden realize that you’ve got to rush home for something, no worries because there’s several different entrances to the same Subway station, though this will take you to the last one on Hoyt so you can see all of the stores! There are many Cafe’s and restaurants that you’ll notice along here. The buildings on Schermerhorn seem to be mostly stone but you’ll come across two tall glass buildings, one of which was right as we turn. It is really interesting to see the different buildings, and how they even varied in size. The stone buildings along Schermerhorn street look more class in a way and less modern which is not bad, it’s interesting to see older styled buildings especially when you can compare it to more of modern day buildings directly across the street! This walk is much more peaceful because it isn’t crowded at all and you can take your time to actually notice the different buildings and all of the stores. Eventually after 2 blocks down Schermerhorn street you’ll find the subway station for the A, C, and G trains. Right next to it is also a Goodwill so if you’ve got time you can even go shopping there.

This route takes you from beauty and peaceful relaxing areas to areas that you can discover new things, and new places to visit. You can find new food stores, clothing stores, and a lot more! This route really has a little bit of everything at some points, but it mainly takes you into a much less crowded and less noisy area to walk through. You can find your happiness if you take a new route, even with the smallest change.

Everyone has their own New York. Each persons New York is different with their perspective and memories. By taking a walk in New York you’re bypassing someones New York. One persons New York might be the busy city with all of the crowds. Another persons might be a more calm area. Each New Yorker has their own perspective of New York. I took a walk to Court Street and discovered a juxtaposition of two different New Yorks. Everyone has their own New York which is different.

The first New York I saw on Court Street was right where the government buildings are, one of them was for the Supreme Court. The area was right by Colombus Park where the fountain is placed. What I noticed that was unique to this New York was that it had a lot of security, being that there are government buildings there. There were also many professionally dressed people. Those people most likely being lawyers or anyone who works in those government buildings. The New York I was viewing was most likely a part of their New York. The area seemed to have little to no construction going on. The buildings there, at the glance that I remember, seemed to be there for several years. I wouldn’t think that they’ve been under construction anytime recently. But you never know when an building is going to go away and change. You never know when your New York will no longer be the same for anyone new to the area. Even if a building seems to be permanent in its area, that can always change. As Colson Whitehead explains in his piece of City Limits, we never know when we’re going to be seeing a building for the last time. A place can go out of business or under construction without us having a clue that it was going to happen. Whatever it turns into is also someone elses own unique New York. For the time and day that I went the area was also not crowded. There were people taking pictures and just sitting on the steps in front of one of the buildings. I assume seeing that happening is a daily thing for those whose New York this is. This all describes the New York of one or more people, but everyone is different. Not everyone has the same New York.

The other New York that I saw was when I walked a little more down from my last location near the government buildings. Court Street splits farther down on one side and it goes into Joralemon Street on the other side. I walked further down Court Street where the Borough Hall station is. I immediately thought that this area resembles more of a busy city rather than what I just saw. The area specifically reminded me of Manhattan, with all of the stores and buildings to shop at. There was also a building that had a screen on it playing a video which really reminded me of Manhattan. This area would be more of the commercial side. This New York would probably belong to someone who walks through it everyday or lives near by, and has gotten to know the overall area. I walked down Court Street smelling food, which was different from the other area with the government buildings. This area of Court Street had more construction. That also caused this area to be much louder with jack hammers and various other construction sounds. I could tell and see that there were many buildings being rebuilt and some stores changing. That made me think that this is more than one New York here for people. Some people might remember all of the stores that used to be in the area, maybe the StarBucks right by the subway station used to be a completely different building or store. In one persons New York there’s a StarBucks there, in another persons there was another store there before. Both those people have their own different New York because New York is constantly changing. Once again in Colson Whitehead’s City Limits, he talks about still calling the Met Life building the Pan Am Building because that’s what it was when he got to New York. To someone else who’s newer, it’s the Met Life building. That’s also two different New Yorks and shows that New York has constant change going on. But it’s also not always changing in every area, like the government side that I saw. Change in New York is a cause of many people having their own New York. Everyone being at a different spot in New York at a different time causes us to have different memories and sites.

Although those two New Yorks have many differences, they also have a couple of similarities. Much less than the differences being that every persons New York is different, not completely the same. One similarity between the two would be the obvious fact that they’re both in Downtown Brooklyn. Even being in the same area, they still make up different New Yorks. Although the buildings are newer on the commercial side rather than the government side, on both sides I noticed that the buildings have similar heights. There honestly were not many similarities, and I’m not surprised by that. Being that I recognized the two areas of Court Street as different New Yorks, they’re bound to be more different. Also going back to saying that everyone has their own New York, of course the two areas wouldn’t be very similar to each other.

Each person lives in a different part of New York. Each of us has our own unique New York, whether it be from out memories making up what it is, or the area in general being unique. New York constantly has new people moving in and out and buildings coming and going. This all contributes to the unique New York of each person. I was able to see two different New Yorks on my walk in Court Street. One may be for lawyers working in government buildings, the other may be for people who possibly live around the area, go to school there, or work nearby. Even though those are two different New Yorks, everyone has their own memories that make it unique to them. Everyone has their own New York.

Works Cited: Whitehead, Colson. “City Limits.” The Colossus of New York