Throughout my time of attending Citytech, it was a great chance to explore the area and get to know it more. There are different areas around citytech that show many different New Yorks and how they overlap/juxtapost each other. I would say Brooklyn have many old & new sites that makes the “adventure” worth it.
Before I went off on my journey to walk 15 mins away from CityTech, I didn’t want to go alone, so, my very close friend came along. First, I chose to start our walk in front of the first train station point on the opposite side of Citytech’s sidewalk. But to make it short, it was at Metrotech. We were 3 mins away from the building, so, we started the watch and started walking.
We kept walking straight up Jay Street to the second corner that’s in front of Duane Reade. That street was busy with people walking or on bikes at the time. You can hear a lot of conversation, some with laughter and some with anger around us. You had to be careful with not getting hit by bikers mostly on this street. But you can hear the cars beeping in the distance. Then we made a right on Fulton Street towards the highway. We pass two small streets, Pearl St. & Red Hook Ln., on Fulton. You can smell the burgers from Burger King and spot the reddest bank which is obliviously Bank of America. Surprisingly you can hear gospel music every time you go up this street, but it’s usually the same song is repeated. There’s always many “interesting” characters/people around as well. But I don’t really focus on them at all. As we made it to the corner next to the highway, we just kept walking straight a crossed it into Joralemon St. We passed the Brooklyn Law School that didn’t look like a school, but a court building which is ironic. Even the students don’t look like “students”, but lawyers or business workers. Overall this area was filled with people and cars that seem very busy and loud. We passed a huge Sephora at the end of the block and two huge court buildings. Then we made a left on Court St. and seen a majority of fast food restaurants, stores, apartments. We first walked passed Livingston St. & then Schermerhorn St.. Finally made it to our destination at the corner of Court St. & State St.. We were next to a cinema and loads of trees near us.
The location I chose was about the movie theater that I heard was to close down and thought it was a good spot to see up and down the street clearly to find the juxtaposition.
I’ve realized that how the movie theater and the buildings on the same side look older compared to the buildings on the other side of Court St. It looks more modern and new. I find that the old & new New York are looking at each other without even knowing their ages or when they were built. I don’t think they’re overlapping but I found that to be interesting to point out. As I look back up the street, I can see the court building in the middle of court st, which is juxtaposed with a modern business building next to it. In that area is mostly busy with people with suits and ties. Noisy cars driving back and forth. There wasn’t that much nature in the area, but as you turn the corner down Court St., there’s more greenery sights as you pass and look down other streets. There are a lot of restaurants in the area, so, you smell different food in the air. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, etc. I would recommend if your really hunger, you should come here to get a lot of food choices to nimble on. This street doesn’t seem as busy as the other area I spoke about, but the people seem more laid back and having a good time. This area seems to be like a hang out area to go eat or do some shopping.
You would ask why I chose this subject or location in particular because where I stand from where I’m standing in the middle of Court St., on the corner of State St., I can see how the area of where the court buildings and law school and where I stood overlapped in someway that made me more interested. From seeing the other area is busy and in rush compared to the more relaxed one. The people and cars rushes passing through the street to court or work and then on the other side the people are smiling and having a good time as they go to hang out to shop at convenient stores or go to a restaurant. The two areas are their own New York. Both different in many ways. Anyway, there’s a old theater that I stand in front of that people still use. The theater doesn’t seems just “old”, but historical in this area of Brooklyn. I wonder as i look at the modernized buildings surrounding this wise & old one, what other buildings were here before they vanished. It’s a mystery to me. But I know that this building will vanish as well with or without warning even if we walk passed it everyday. Even from Colson Whitehead argues in the reading, “City Limits”, that we won’t get the chance to say out last goodbyes to the buildings we known for so long from the 8th paragraph. But Colson never made his goodbyes either because he thought that those buildings will always be there, but it didn’t stop him from believing they’re existence is still there. The thing that shocks me is that the theater will be relocated and it will change. This building will be different and modernized like the rest. It will disappear from a blink of an eye if new or old people want to visit it. Also, the old liking court building that stand mighty and tall in the beginning of Court St., shows that will be there as long as people use it and acknowledge its existence. It’s outer shell looks reinvented from a far, but it won’t be forgotten. Colson states, “The disappeared pizza parlor is still here because you are here, and when the beauty parlor replaces the travel and agency, the gentleman who still have his vacation and that lady will have her manicure.” If these two old buildings are gone, they still there because you still believe that it never left. “Our old buildings still stand because we saw them, moved in and out of their longshadows lucky enough to know them for a time. They are a part of the city we carry around.”, Colson argues from the second to last paragraph in the reading. The theater and the court building will be there when others see that they vanished but I know they are still there.
I never went inside the theater or the court building because I don’t live around this area or in Brooklyn in general, but I can still include this in my own New York. Even if we see things go away before our eyes, we should never forget what was there in the first place that made the are what it is now.
Bibliography/work cited :
Whitehead, Colson. “City Limits.” The Colossus Of New York
