Today was the first day of Gotham Core, the New York Experience class and I was enthused with many mixed-emotions. Before that first Thursday class, I asked myself many philosophical questions to foreshadow how I see this experience going. As I became more excited about the class, I realized a few simple things right from the start. I knew I would be walking [A LOT.] I also noticed I would be spending a lot more money than I would have hoped to be spending for a day in the city. But what I found to be most rewarding aspect of it all, is that I would be meeting new people and making new experiences that I wouldn’t get to achieve in over any summer adventure in just four weeks, let alone just seven classes.
Brooklyn was the first city borough the class and I were going to [attempt] to conquer. I was relieved when I saw that Brooklyn would be the new starting point to our course because I hold many memories in this area and can navigate myself throughout this borough with little to no difficulty. I have had many friends who have attended PACE University and for the last three years, I have always considered Brooklyn to be a second home or getaway for myself.
The sun was shining when I left my house for the New Hyde Park train station. Forecasts predicted a decent evening followed by some rainfall towards the end of our scheduled class time. I took the 10:26 train to Penn and was first nervous that Mike and the group would be leaving without me. The train was scheduled to arrive at Penn at 10:58, and Mike had made it very clear during orientation and before the class began that the group would be leaving without anyone who found themselves to be even a minute past 11.
To my luck, the train arrived on time and I ran to meet the group. Of course I knew that this first encounter with the class in this setting would be somewhat awkward. It turns out that I was right! My classmates gave blank stares to one another, each one of us judging another to try and predict how the next four weeks would be like.
After enduring Mike’s really long, first class “pow-wow,” the class headed outside Penn Station straight to the D-train. The D-train was taking us to Coney Island, the first stop to our Brooklyn Borough adventure. As detailed in the Blue Guide of New York [pg. 492], Coney Island is “the birthplace of the American hot dog and home of the world’s most terrifying roller coaster—a place remarkable for high energy and dubious taste.” Once we stepped on the beach, the wind picked up and made it very hard to pay close attention to what Mike was saying. Mike and Don began describing some highlights of the Island and some specific points of its content. Home to the Coney Island Museum, Nathan’s Famous – established in 1916 [BG pg. 492] which is known for their famous hot dogs, and the New York Aquarium. Once the Aquarium was brought up, immediately Mike told Don to be quiet and don’t even mention it because it was a crappy excuse of an Aquarium. Don tried to defend his opinion of it, remarking it as being a respectable Aquarium and thus began the evidence to showcase Mike and Don’s everlasting love-hate relationship. (All in good fun)
The group split up after our beach lecture to explore the area ourselves. A few classmates and I seized the opportunity to grab a bite to eat. We went to the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand where I ate a hefty meal. I ordered a corn dog, cheese dog, french-fries, and a soda. The Price was reasonable and the food was AMAZING! The small group I was traveling with went back on the boardwalk to meet the rest of the class and prepare for what was next. We then took the D-train to J-street. Once we hopped out onto the streets, Mike quickly got us lost. Thanks to the enlightenment made by Don, we suddenly found ourselves at the Fulton Mall area. This mall area was familiar to me because me and my friends from PACE would frequently bargain for good deals in the same shops that surrounded me and my classmates. Our next order of business was to enter the Transit Museum where a tour guide waited our arrival. Looking back now, this museum tour was one of my favorite over the course of the class.
The New York Transit Museum is a “two-level subterranean museum, located in an unused subway station. It was inaugurated in 1976 for the bicentennial celebrations and proved too popular to close thereafter. Run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, it includes exhibits on buses, bridges, and tunnels, but the emphasis is on the subway.” [BG pg. 468] The tour guide was very compelling and made it easy for me to pay attention. I learned about how both above ground and below ground subways were built, what significance the sandhogs held for the creation of New York City’s transportation system, and some interesting “secrets of New York.” One of these “secrets” was that a small group of conductors from different generations would steal old railroad cars, thus how they were able to create the Transit Museum itself. The other secret was shared to us that the city’s first subway station, located under City Hall Park, can be seems ONLY by two ways. One way is through the Transit Museum’s special tour, where they take a small group down for an exclusive glimpse of the station that was supposed to be the center metropolis to the entire city. The second way is by taking the last stop of a specific local train (sorry I can’t remember which one she said) and ride it back the other way through City Hall Park, only if the conductor will allow you to, and even then you will only catch a 7 second view of the marvelous unnoticed station. Ending the tour was the train-car exhibit in which we were able to go on actual train cars from different decades. (There is a video I posted viewing some of the cars… Take a look!)
From the Transit Museum, the class took a break on the steps of the Neoclassic, Brooklyn Borough Hall. The view of the Brooklyn Bridge was incredible. We began again on foot passing Montague St., the home of “bank-row” and where we entered a Chase Bank known by Mike Russo as “the best bank ever.”
We ended at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a place I have ended up after many never ending nights with my friends, and where the historic battle known as the Battle of Brooklyn-Long Island took place. The same location where George Washington admitted inevitable defeat and fled from the English at that point in the battle. . .
The class walked through the promenade, staring with amazement at the beautiful site of the South Street Seaport and the City’s Skyline. A view of the Statue of Liberty and Elis Island could also be seen from the promenade. From then on, the rest of the day was claimed “dreadful” due to the miserable rain we encountered. We enjoyed the view and scenery of the promenade before making our way across the Brooklyn Bridge by foot. Mike took candid and not so candid shots of the class as we looked like the day would never end.
Up the path we went. I stared at the beautiful structure and was fascinated by how many individuals chose to try the new “Citi Bikes” as their mean of transportation for the day. A little background information on the bridge; “it opened on May 25, 1883, was the largest suspension bridge in existence, held itself above 276 feet of water, and spans 1,595 feet across the East River.” [BG pg. 464] It took us 16 minutes to walk the bridge, and finalized the completion of our first day in class. The conclusion of this class led to an eventful night in the city, where some of my friends and I went out on 38th street to enjoy at late happy hour.
Ending the class was bitter sweet. Tired from a long adventurous day, but enticed for next class to explore more of New York City.
Brooklyn was the first city borough the class and I were going to [attempt] to conquer. I was relieved when I saw that Brooklyn would be the new starting point to our course because I hold many memories in this area and can navigate myself throughout this borough with little to no difficulty. I have had many friends who have attended PACE University and for the last three years, I have always considered Brooklyn to be a second home or getaway for myself.
The sun was shining when I left my house for the New Hyde Park train station. Forecasts predicted a decent evening followed by some rainfall towards the end of our scheduled class time. I took the 10:26 train to Penn and was first nervous that Mike and the group would be leaving without me. The train was scheduled to arrive at Penn at 10:58, and Mike had made it very clear during orientation and before the class began that the group would be leaving without anyone who found themselves to be even a minute past 11.
To my luck, the train arrived on time and I ran to meet the group. Of course I knew that this first encounter with the class in this setting would be somewhat awkward. It turns out that I was right! My classmates gave blank stares to one another, each one of us judging another to try and predict how the next four weeks would be like.
After enduring Mike’s really long, first class “pow-wow,” the class headed outside Penn Station straight to the D-train. The D-train was taking us to Coney Island, the first stop to our Brooklyn Borough adventure. As detailed in the Blue Guide of New York [pg. 492], Coney Island is “the birthplace of the American hot dog and home of the world’s most terrifying roller coaster—a place remarkable for high energy and dubious taste.” Once we stepped on the beach, the wind picked up and made it very hard to pay close attention to what Mike was saying. Mike and Don began describing some highlights of the Island and some specific points of its content. Home to the Coney Island Museum, Nathan’s Famous – established in 1916 [BG pg. 492] which is known for their famous hot dogs, and the New York Aquarium. Once the Aquarium was brought up, immediately Mike told Don to be quiet and don’t even mention it because it was a crappy excuse of an Aquarium. Don tried to defend his opinion of it, remarking it as being a respectable Aquarium and thus began the evidence to showcase Mike and Don’s everlasting love-hate relationship. (All in good fun)
The group split up after our beach lecture to explore the area ourselves. A few classmates and I seized the opportunity to grab a bite to eat. We went to the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand where I ate a hefty meal. I ordered a corn dog, cheese dog, french-fries, and a soda. The Price was reasonable and the food was AMAZING! The small group I was traveling with went back on the boardwalk to meet the rest of the class and prepare for what was next. We then took the D-train to J-street. Once we hopped out onto the streets, Mike quickly got us lost. Thanks to the enlightenment made by Don, we suddenly found ourselves at the Fulton Mall area. This mall area was familiar to me because me and my friends from PACE would frequently bargain for good deals in the same shops that surrounded me and my classmates. Our next order of business was to enter the Transit Museum where a tour guide waited our arrival. Looking back now, this museum tour was one of my favorite over the course of the class.
The New York Transit Museum is a “two-level subterranean museum, located in an unused subway station. It was inaugurated in 1976 for the bicentennial celebrations and proved too popular to close thereafter. Run by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, it includes exhibits on buses, bridges, and tunnels, but the emphasis is on the subway.” [BG pg. 468] The tour guide was very compelling and made it easy for me to pay attention. I learned about how both above ground and below ground subways were built, what significance the sandhogs held for the creation of New York City’s transportation system, and some interesting “secrets of New York.” One of these “secrets” was that a small group of conductors from different generations would steal old railroad cars, thus how they were able to create the Transit Museum itself. The other secret was shared to us that the city’s first subway station, located under City Hall Park, can be seems ONLY by two ways. One way is through the Transit Museum’s special tour, where they take a small group down for an exclusive glimpse of the station that was supposed to be the center metropolis to the entire city. The second way is by taking the last stop of a specific local train (sorry I can’t remember which one she said) and ride it back the other way through City Hall Park, only if the conductor will allow you to, and even then you will only catch a 7 second view of the marvelous unnoticed station. Ending the tour was the train-car exhibit in which we were able to go on actual train cars from different decades. (There is a video I posted viewing some of the cars… Take a look!)
From the Transit Museum, the class took a break on the steps of the Neoclassic, Brooklyn Borough Hall. The view of the Brooklyn Bridge was incredible. We began again on foot passing Montague St., the home of “bank-row” and where we entered a Chase Bank known by Mike Russo as “the best bank ever.”
We ended at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a place I have ended up after many never ending nights with my friends, and where the historic battle known as the Battle of Brooklyn-Long Island took place. The same location where George Washington admitted inevitable defeat and fled from the English at that point in the battle. . .
The class walked through the promenade, staring with amazement at the beautiful site of the South Street Seaport and the City’s Skyline. A view of the Statue of Liberty and Elis Island could also be seen from the promenade. From then on, the rest of the day was claimed “dreadful” due to the miserable rain we encountered. We enjoyed the view and scenery of the promenade before making our way across the Brooklyn Bridge by foot. Mike took candid and not so candid shots of the class as we looked like the day would never end.
Up the path we went. I stared at the beautiful structure and was fascinated by how many individuals chose to try the new “Citi Bikes” as their mean of transportation for the day. A little background information on the bridge; “it opened on May 25, 1883, was the largest suspension bridge in existence, held itself above 276 feet of water, and spans 1,595 feet across the East River.” [BG pg. 464] It took us 16 minutes to walk the bridge, and finalized the completion of our first day in class. The conclusion of this class led to an eventful night in the city, where some of my friends and I went out on 38th street to enjoy at late happy hour.
Ending the class was bitter sweet. Tired from a long adventurous day, but enticed for next class to explore more of New York City.
| Click here to watch a short video clip of me at the NY Transit Museum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNiG7g-VegA&feature=youtu.be | Check out Mike Russo's photos of the class! |
| |  |
RSS Feed