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“The Colossus of New York” by Colson Whitehead serves to capture the essence of New York and all its nuances in the form of terse observations. Whether he’s writing about walking down Broadway, visiting Central Park, or waiting for the subway, we get a sense of the way the Whitehead sees the world. He describes all the details of the city that often fly over the heads of most and recreates specific experiences around New York that its inhabitants would consider to be nothing out of the ordinary. These observations function to place us in the heart of the city as we read, but Whitehead’s ultimate goal is to depict the effect that a city like New York has on our fantasy. His preoccupation with the way that we internally formulate individualistic accounts of our experiences, juxtaposed with the impersonality of a grand city reveals his beliefs that our imagination is not inclusive. It is a means of satisfaction and mental freedom, but it simultaneously isolates us from society. He tells us that New York is not only a city of 8 million stories, but rather 8 million stories that we will never hear. Some are born in New York, some move there for work or school and most are there to visit. Everyone is capable of becoming a New Yorker, however, as Whitehead suggests in “City Limits”. “You are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey’s, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge”, he writes (3). It is a city that permits everybody; it’s just a matter of time. We are free to take note of “the dizzying hustle of Eighth Avenue” or the Empire State Building (4). We can decide our own “favorite newsstands, restaurants, movie theaters subway stations and barbershops” because it is a city of ... ... middle of paper ... ...Whitehead’s New York doesn’t contain more than anyone else’s, but it means something entirely different. In his New York, there are a lot of people, few of which he knows, but he enjoys it being that way. He doesn’t seek the relational connection that most people have, and that is because he is relishing the power of his own imagination. Everything he knows of the city he has learned on his own. He writes in “Times Square”, “The loneliness is the worst, because this knowledge is something that cannot be shared”, going on to say “why should anyone else have it easy. Spoken like a true New Yorker” (154). He is a true New Yorker because he is unafraid to let his mind of the leash. Some do not even have the audacity to visit New York, those are the ones Whitehead sees as out of touch with their fantasy. He has created his own New York and lives in it.
In September 1954, he moved out of Northwood in Long Island onto the Northern State Parkway to see his new house in the countryside. He specifically said that Long Island had been one of the most beautiful places in the United States, and his house was one small reason it would not remain that way much longer. His new house lacked in exterior grandeur, but it made up for comfort inside and costs in all together $25,000. Kunstler got his first glimpse of what real American towns were like when he was sent away to a boys’ camp in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He visited his hometown Northwood when he became a teenager and saw how it has entered into a coma with so little for one to do there. Northwood had no public gathering places, so teens were stuck in their little holes who smoked pot and imitated rock and roll. For the teenagers there, the waiting transforming moment was when one became a licensed driver, as I can say the same about my town. Kunstler went to a state college in a small town, Brockport in western New York State. The college was the only thing that kept the town alive with healthy conditions where it was scaled to people, not cars. He ends the chapter by pointing out that this book is an attempt to discover how and why landscape of scary places, the geography of nowhere, has simply ceased to be a credible human habitat happened and what we might do about
New Amsterdam became New York and changed hands from the Dutch to the English. But it is not only Dutch place names and styles of architecture scattered across the five boroughs and all of the Empire State that beat witness to this moment in history. The values of openness, tolerance, liberalism and engagement with the world remain the hallmarks of New York, city and state alike. They have made it one of the economic, intellectual and cultural centers of the
Moving to New York from India marked an immense transition in my life. The culture and tradition I learned back home deviated vastly from those that were taught in the U.S.A. Despite all the differences, there were two things that India and New York City shared – diversity and population. New York City is a place where I can be surrounded by thousands of people, originating from thousands of different places and feel like I fit just right in.
*Westchester County has nearly one million residents living throughout the 450 square miles and its population is larger than five states and 77 countries (Westchester gov.com, 2014). This region has a lot to offer historical; Westchester County played a key role in the American Revolution, cultural; arts, music, theater, museums, gardens, literary arts, cultural centers, and so on, geography; its locale is right along the Long Island Sound on the southeast and the Hudson River on the west, rolling hills, retaining rural characters, while adopting the urban and suburban lifestyles and New York City in close proximity, and population trends; the county’s population grew 3% between the 2000 and 2010 Census (Arts Westchester, n.d., Westchester
Dumenil, Lynn, ed. "New York City." The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History. N.p.: Oxford UP, 2012. Oxford Reference. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.
...nter of culture and civilization” (39). He has faith that in the near future, New York can come together and turn their city into a model city for all other cities in the world.
Just look at the quote I gave you earlier: “Brooklyn, New York, as the undefined, hard-to–remember the shape of a stain.” He sees it as nothing but a stain on the map. He goes on to talk about “…the sludge at the bottom of the canal causes it to bubble.” Giving us something we can see, something we can hear because you can just imagine being near the canal and hearing the sludge bubble make their popping noises as the gas is released. He “The train sounds different – lighter, quieter—in the open air,” when it comes from underground and the sight he sees on the rooftops. Although some are negative, such as the sagging of roofs and graffiti, his tone towards the moment seems to be admiration. In the second section, he talks about the smells of Brooklyn and the taste of food. He’d talk about how his daughter compares the tastes of pizzas with her “…stern judgments of pizza. Low end… New Hampshire pizza. … In the middle… zoo pizza. …very top… two blocks from our house,” and different it was where he’d grown up. He talks about the immense amount of “smells in Brooklyn: Coffee, fingernail polish, eucalyptus…” and how other might hate it, but he enjoys it. In the same section, he describes how he enjoys the Brooklyn accent and the noise and smells that other people make on the streets and at the park across from his house. “Charcoal smoke drifts into the
How has the city of New York influenced your writing on Tough Love and the characters?
Each borough in New York City has different levels of income, whether it’s high, middle or low. Although no one can choose where there are born, they can choose where to live when they become adults. Many people remain in the same place where they were born. For some, it’s a choice and for others, it’s because of unfair circumstances. As a result, they contribute to the statistics of certain incomes in each borough. Socio-economic class plays a huge role when it comes to where and how people live.
New York is one of the most fascinating places to live in. There are around 26,000 people living in each square mile, it is also an city that contain huge amount of diversity, with much cultural influences spreading every single day. In the novel "The colossus of New York" by Colson Whitehead, he describes his experience while living in Manhattan. Now, we will discuss what it's like to live in New York and be a New Yorker through the eyes of Colson Whitehead.
The endless possibilities that are included with a life in New York City have given me hope and motivation. As a young girl, I wanted my whole career to start and end in New York. I was going to attend college at either New York University, Columbia University, or Parsons School of Design and I was going to live in Manhattan or Park Avenue. Not only that but I was also going to become either a world-renowned surgeon or an international fashion designer. Now although some of those plans are rather unrealistic and my ideas about life have drastically changed, my plans have and will always center around New York City.
“The City Born Great” by N.K. Jemisin is a short story that talks about a homeless graffiti artist living in New York City who meets a man by the name of Paolo. Paolo would always give this homeless man either money or buy him breakfast; however the artist would still assume Paolo wanted something from him, yet he knows it isn’t anything sexual related. However, Paolo just wanted the artist to listen to the city and how it will be born into a new life, in which it needs to be protected from the ancient evil during its birth. Mainly, I enjoyed the narrator’s voice and perspective on New York especially being born and raised from there. There were several themes of the story that can be applied to how people view the world, for example, when
The book points out that the insiders of New York architecturally designed the borough to have aesthetically pleasing lights which draw people into the city (Makagon, 2004, p.152.). Being in an aesthetically pleasing space that is described as “open” by Makagon allows for tourist to buy overpriced items almost without even realizing it (Makagon, 2004, p.153.). For example, the mouthwatering burger a five-star restaurant sells for thirty bucks, when the same burger for five dollars back at home. The genius business work in the city of Manhattan allows for the city to work the way it does, which is what Daniel Makagon attemps to convey through his book. This book would be perfect for a business class to read, so they can understand the complex behind the scenes action taken in order to make businesses (Time Square itself) work
When you associate anything with New York City it is usually the extraordinary buildings that pierce the sky or the congested sidewalks with people desperate to shop in the famous stores in which celebrities dwell. Even with my short visit there I found myself lost within the Big Apple. The voices of the never-ending attractions call out and envelop you in their awe. The streets are filled with an atmosphere that is like a young child on a shopping spree in a candy store. Although your feet swelter from the continuous walking, you find yourself pressing on with the yearning to discover the 'New York Experience'.
Sanderson told Miller, "I 'd like every New Yorker to know that they live in a place that had this fabulous ecology. That New York isn 't just a place of fabulous art, music, culture, and communications, but also a place of amazing natural potential--even if you have to look a little harder here" (6). The audience does not have to focus on New York’s natural potential, it could be anywhere. This allows the audience to relate by using their own imaginations. Miller uses phenomenal imagery to compliment his writing. A photo of a beaver and elk naturally spending their time beside a creek, long before the same spot transformed into Times Square, shocks the audience into realizing that this chaotic metropolitan was once a peaceful home to