Edwin Contreras

Prof. Rosen

English 1101

 

   The Brooklyn Heights Promenade is a place where people come to relax and enjoy the view of Manhattan. Observing Manhattan then looking at the area around me, I could see the big difference in height. Manhattan is the place for opportunities, they say if you can make it in New York then you could make it anywhere in the world. Having the chance to explore the area around City Tech, I believe the Brooklyn Heights Promenade has one of the greatest view in New York City. Everyone has their own perspective of the city we all love. Colson Whitehead wrote an article called “City limits” in which he explains that you have the ability to view the manhatten in your own individual way.

       Being able to live in New york City is a privilege, it’s the city that never sleeps, the city where your dreams come true, a place that I call home. Being able to see the Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade is great because it’s not to far away from my school. The Brooklyn Heights Promenade is a long walk way, right over the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. People come onto the promenade for a light jog, to take pictures, and to sit down on a benches to enjoy the view of the Manhattan skyline. Standing in the Promenaded other then seeing the Manhattan Skyline, you also able to see the Brooklyn bridge and also the Statue of Liberty. Depending on the weather conditions, if it gets so foggy or misty then only the Manhattan is visible with the top of the skyscrapers covered by the mist or fog.  

       The Brooklyn Heights Promenade has a spectacular view of Manhattan. Juxtaposing Manhattan to Brooklyn, Brooklyn seems like a small neighborhood compared to the tall skyscrapers that Manhattan contains. Being able to see them both from a view, I can see how Manhatten stands tall and proud while Brooklyn just stands still, without no motion of growth. In the article “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, he states “The New York City you live in is not my New York City…”, the author states that not everyone sees the same New York. Everyone has their own perspective of New York City.

       Being able to look at something in a group, I notice that not everyone thinks alike. My friend Citlalli came with me once to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and I told her about the project I was doing and asked for her help. I told her to to tell me what she sees when she looks at the Manhattan skyline. She said she saw “sadness” and a place where she “lost an opportunity to do something in life”. This was nothing compared to what I saw when I looked at Manhattan. I saw the opportunity to become someone in life and also a place where my dreams can come true. Citlalli told me that she saw sadness because one of her family members has cancer and she goes with her to Manhattan for her treatments, she also stated that her dream were crushed because she was not accepted to a college which is located in Manhattan. I on the other hand see a place for better life because my parents migrated from our homeland and came to New York for better opportunities.

     The manhattan skyline is always changing with time. In the late eighteenth century the manhattan skyline didn’t contain any buildings taller than ten stories high. The Brooklyn Heights Promenade contain pictures of the Manhattan skyline made out of stone, here you can see how manhattan has changing over time. The most recent change to the Manhattan skyline was the incident in 2001, when the twin towers were knocked down, in its place the Freedom tower now stands. When I see the Manhattan I see the Freedom Tower while someone who much older than me imagines the Twin Towers standing tall and proud. This reminded me of a quote in “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead which states “You are a real new Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.” Someone older than me would imagine the Twin Towers standing rather than the Freedom tower. Since I was not old enough to see the Twin Towers it’s difficult for me to imagine them in the Freedom towers place.

     When I see the Manhattan skyline, I see a place where anything is possible in life. In “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead argues “ … You have your own personal skyline“, not everyone sees the same Manhattan, we all think differently and have our own personal viewpoints. Citlali and I have two different viewpoints of the same city and someone else could have a different viewpoint from both of us.

References:

 

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