Reviewing New York City
The view of Canal & Broadway from the 3rd floor fire escape was awesome. The hustle and bustle on a New York Saturday afternoon in China Town was in full swing. But I wasn’t on the 3rd floor of a building for the view — I was there as part of experiencing New York. The location with the great view was Sacred Tattoo where I was about to get tattoo #5. No silly t-shirt for me to remember the trip.
I wanted to share my thoughts and observations on NYC while they are still fresh in my mind. Although with over 1,000 photos I can easily go back and retrace my steps. I hold some strong beliefs about what makes a city great and specifically what we should be striving for. This trip to NYC as well as recent trips to Chicago and Oklahoma City have confirmed much of my thinking but challenged some notions on others.
While mostly in Manhattan I did spend time in Staten Island and Brooklyn. Most relate to Manhattan except where noted. These are in no particular order:
> It is the older 4-6 story buildings and old high rises that are most interesting. Some newer buildings are also interesting but most are just massive and sterile. Modern can be intimate but not at these scales.
> The Financial District is far more interesting seen from the air or the Staten Island Ferry than from the sidewalk.
> Trump Tower is truly garish inside and out. Acres of polished brass. But, the size and scale of the spaces and their relationships to each other was quite pleasant. The foyer is not some overwhelming scale but this is probably due to the price of real estate rather than sound aesthetic judgement on the part of Trump.
> NYC must be iPod capital of the world. I saw the white headphones everywhere. Some argue it is cutting down on social interaction on subways but I didn’t see many non-iPod strangers talking.
> I felt completely safe no matter where I was. Everyone was friendly. Passing people on residential sidewalks it was not uncommon to have natives say “hello” as we passed. We stopped to see people’s dogs as they were out walking them. Felt very neighborly.
> Public transportation is for everyone in NYC. But with neighborhoods so compact one resident I talked to said he hadn’t been on the subway in weeks — he simply walks where he is going. With a very complete subway system buses are a less visible than in St. Louis. Logically buses are more common where the subway doesn’t go (such as East-West along 125th Street).
> Yellow cabs and black Lincoln Town Cars are the most common vehicles on the road. Lots of both. Nearly saw one accident but it is amazing how they all speed around without getting into more collisions.
> Took a pedicab ride from Central Park to Trump Tower. Very fun. As gas prices rise I think we’ll see more and more of these efficient cabs throughout America. Seems like the pedicab drives and taxi drivers have some sort of mutual respect. At one point we were so close to a cab I could have reached out and touched it.
> Bicyclists were pretty common throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Not so much on Staten Island but they may have something to do with the hilly terrain. Seldom was a cyclist wearing a helmet. It was common to see cyclists riding the wrong way on the road. All the rules of the road that I am certified to teach were thrown out the window. Very seldom did I see a bike rack — parking meters, railings and anything secure was used to lock bikes. Most have massive chains that are hard to cut. With a 5th floor walk-up apartment you are likely to store your bike outside. Not a place for a pretty bike unless you can keep it indoors.
> The length of mid-town and uptown blocks in the East-West direction are way too long. This is compounded by the fact that most subways go North-South. I found myself trying to decide on which subway to take so that I could save a block or two in the East-West direction.
> Buildings, even in burroughs other than Manhattan, occupy nearly all of the lot. Very little yard or garden space. This is not all bad as parks are throughout the grid. It seems the combination of very little personal yard and small living spaces get people out onto the sidewalks and into the public parks. Could this be the key to a vibrant urban city — reduce living spaces and yards?
> I was amazed at the number of “projects” still in use in NYC including the Lower East Side, Harlem, and the Bronx. We walked through ‘Alphabet City’ on the Lower East Side. The sheer number of people kept the projects from seeming vacant but they certainly were low on life compared to the blocks around them. Jane Jacobs was so right.
> Street vendors were everywhere. Some were selling various foods and sodas while others offered their own original art. Many were targeting tourists with NYC merchandise. Regardless of what they sell they add life to the city.
> I love fire escapes. I must admit I was nervous out on one. I can’t imagine using it to get down multiple flights in an emergency as they have far too little railing for my comfort. I think they add a nice element to the fronts of buildings. The streetscapes would be too sterile without them.
> Window boxes and planters were everywhere. All shapes and sizes. The city felt lush and green in most places.
> The basement level apartments and restaurants are interesting. Shows how valuable the real estate really is.
> Restaurants are small and full most hours of the day and night. St. Louis places could never survive being so small because they depend upon large lunch and dinner crowds whereas in NYC they have a constant stream of customers. The number of restaurants with roll-out awnings on the front to create covered outdoor seating is quite high. I love roll out awnings compared to fixed awnings such as those on Blockbuster. A considerable number of restaurants also had opening windows and/or doors. Keep in mind they have much more severe winters than we do and get just as hot in the summer. If they can do it so can we.
> We saw a taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Wednesday. We had to wait a good two hours on the sidewalk and another 45 minutes inside. The studio was much smaller than expected and is in one of the areas that is not the most attractive, Hell’s Kitchen.
> SoHo has become a big chain store stopping district. Still active with lots of people and great architecture but the stores are commonplace. I visited only one — The Apple Store.
I’m sure I have lots more on NYC but that is what comes to mind right now. While St. Louis will never be New York we can certainly apply some lessons of efficient public transportation, creating urban streetscapes and models for urban parks.
– Steve
[UPDATED 8/29/05; 8:30pm — added photo]
Growing up in Chelsea (West 20s, Manhattan) after World War II, I lived in rooming-houses in which the fire escape was an extension of your room–especially on hot summer nights, when indoor spaces were ovens. We usually lived in less expensive rooms “to the back,” where you looked out on other fire escapes and alleys–as opposed to rooms “to the front,” from which you could observe the nonstop drama taking place downstairs, in the street below.
Front or back, the fire escape was the place where you stored your food (in winter, anyway) if you didn’t have a fridge; and the drying rack on which you hung your laundry, which you’d washed in the bathtub of a bathroom you shared with four or five other families.
I love fire escapes, too.
I love Hell’s Kitchen! Great cheap restaurants abound along 10th avenue. And they have two HUD buildings for actors — they charge rent based on how much the actors make in the theatre. One way of keeping the artists alive in the city. Speaking of — no shows? Theatre capital of the world — and no shows? What’s up with that?
[REPLY – The income based rent sounds like a good idea to encourage theatre. We didn’t see any live stage shows but did manage to see The Daily Show – I think that counts some. When I have more time I’ll try to get some show tickets. – Steve]
Steve, at least defend yourself by saying that you and I supported New york theater immediately post 9/11 when nobody else did. We saw Bat Boy at the Union Square Theater (oh, and we got free tickets to The Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City — icky, but what a great venue). Brad, that was the same trip that we visited you in DC. What a surreal time in our history…
Wow, Steve, great website!
I’ve lived here in New York City for six years and in the metropolitan area for my whole life (29 years), excluding college. Thanks for visiting and for furthering the discourse about what makes a great city. Here’s my critique of your critique.
> It is the older 4-6 story buildings and old high rises that are most interesting. Some newer buildings are also interesting but most are just massive and sterile. Modern can be intimate but not at these scales.
Hear hear! The older the stuff is, generally, the better. But there’s been a lot of high-rise development recently that has replaced parking lots and gasoline stations, so I have to think of that as a good thing.
> The Financial District is far more interesting seen from the air or the Staten Island Ferry than from the sidewalk.
I’m sorry you feel that way. As a resident of the Financial District, I would have pointed you to all the ancient cobble-stone paved winding alleyways that make the place unlike any other. From Chelsea and the East Village north you have a relentless gridiron that, while it has its numerous advantages, does not have the charm of these 1600’s-era cowpaths.
> Trump Tower is truly garish inside and out. Acres of polished brass. But, the size and scale of the spaces and their relationships to each other was quite pleasant. The foyer is not some overwhelming scale but this is probably due to the price of real estate rather than sound aesthetic judgement on the part of Trump.
True. Trump gets his fair share of bashing, but a lot of the stuff he’s done, if architecturally questionable, is actually quite good from an urban design perspective.
> NYC must be iPod capital of the world. I saw the white headphones everywhere. Some argue it is cutting down on social interaction on subways but I didn’t see many non-iPod strangers talking.
In New York City we don’t have the luxury of space as a buffer between people. So while most commuters in most cities can retreat into their private environment to unwind after a day at the office, we must share our space with strangers on the subway. This leads people to ignore one another and set up a kind of facade of aloofness. Whether its reading, doing a word-find puzzle, listening to an iPod or just staring blankly into space, all of these thing telegraph: “I don’t want to be bothered.” iPods or no, it is *very* rare to talk to strangers on the subway. This is part of the reason New Yorkers have a stereotype of being unfriendly.
> I felt completely safe no matter where I was. Everyone was friendly. Passing people on residential sidewalks it was not uncommon to have natives say “hello” as we passed. We stopped to see people’s dogs as they were out walking them. Felt very neighborly.
I’d be curious to find out what neighborhood you were in where people were so friendly. That isn’t always the case in the huge, anonymous city. Imagine if you had to say “hi” and start a conversation with everyone who you passed on the street. It could take an hour to get one block! So people often drift into their own worlds.
> Public transportation is for everyone in NYC. But with neighborhoods so compact one resident I talked to said he hadn’t been on the subway in weeks — he simply walks where he is going. With a very complete subway system buses are a less visible than in St. Louis. Logically buses are more common where the subway doesn’t go (such as East-West along 125th Street).
Surprisingly, many of the most heavily traveled buses are right on top of subway lines. Go figure. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip on 125th Street. We at the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corp. are working to bring economic revitalization to 125th Street and elsewhere north of 96th Street.
> Took a pedicab ride from Central Park to Trump Tower. Very fun. As gas prices rise I think we’ll see more and more of these efficient cabs throughout America. Seems like the pedicab drives and taxi drivers have some sort of mutual respect. At one point we were so close to a cab I could have reached out and touched it.
I’m glad you took that ride. They’re a lot of fun. And you’re absolutely right about gasoline prices and pedicabs.
> Bicyclists were pretty common throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Not so much on Staten Island but they may have something to do with the hilly terrain. Seldom was a cyclist wearing a helmet. It was common to see cyclists riding the wrong way on the road. All the rules of the road that I am certified to teach were thrown out the window. Very seldom did I see a bike rack — parking meters, railings and anything secure was used to lock bikes. Most have massive chains that are hard to cut. With a 5th floor walk-up apartment you are likely to store your bike outside. Not a place for a pretty bike unless you can keep it indoors.
NYC’s built environment is so dense and so large that aside from the pedicabs, there are two economic uses for bicycles: Food delivery guys and bike messengers. You may have seen many food delivery guys, who never wear helmets and don’t worry about the rules of the road. Many of them are illegal aliens, all of them work for next-to-nothing. Bike messengers are a bit better, but still paid low wages and less likely to wear a helmet than your average bike commuter.
> The length of mid-town and uptown blocks in the East-West direction are way too long. This is compounded by the fact that most subways go North-South. I found myself trying to decide on which subway to take so that I could save a block or two in the East-West direction.
Yes, the long crosstown blocks are annoying. Back in 1811, when they laid out the grid plan, the planners thought that in the future, most of the traffic would be in the same direction that most of the traffic was then in: Movement of goods from the Hudson River to the East River and vice versa. So they planned for many east-west routes and few north-south routes. This also led an inequity in sunlight distribution: Most of the brownstone and rowhouse residences either have southern exposures (which get light all day), or northern exposures (which get no light).
> Buildings, even in burroughs other than Manhattan, occupy nearly all of the lot. Very little yard or garden space. This is not all bad as parks are throughout the grid. It seems the combination of very little personal yard and small living spaces get people out onto the sidewalks and into the public parks. Could this be the key to a vibrant urban city — reduce living spaces and yards?
Yes, Jane Jacobs writes of the need for high ground coverage and well-defined public parks, and she was right about that. Overall, U.S. culture could be described as private splendor and public squalor. The high ground coverage and well-defined parks leads to lots of public interaction at the parks, and less of the informal isolation when people each stay on their own sides of their property lines.
Phew! I could go on, but that’s enough for now, right?
Great site Steve! Keep up the excellent work. I wish there were more people (and sites) like yours in other cities around the country. I enjoyed your observations of NYC, it is nice to get a visitor’s perspective once in a while.