I am amazed that I live in New York City. I sit in front of the television, watching the opening credits to Law & Order, then I realize that I can recognize all the buildings and streets. I can readily distinguish whether a homocide has taken place on the Upper West Side or the Chelsea before a word is uttered by the actors. Feature films that I've watched since I was a child suddenly spring forward with newfound familiarity. The funny thing is that this was never the place where I wanted to live. As an Army brat, I had lived in all over the country- from Alaska to Georgia to Western Europe. The one corner of the world that had always intimidated me was the New York. There was something elitist and rough about it. The movies have certainly had a lot to do with it. There ARE far more dodgy corners of the globe, but there was always something a little offputting to me about this city. I had NEVER perceived it as a place where to REALLY live. As far as I was concerned, New York was the land of Italian gangsters, transvestite street hustlers, and Wall Street. It was a concrete jungle where arrogant, self-centered giants of industry and entertainment waged war against one other to find out who was Top Dog. I grew up in the homogenized, safe life of a U.S. Army base or in the suburbs of America, as depicted in early Steven Spielberg movies, where the only threat to life-and-limb came from ancient burial grounds or government supression of alien visitors. My idea of a great adventure was a 1 mile bike ride to the 7-11 to buy a couple packs of Star Wars bubblegum cards or the newest issue of X-Men. Despite the fact that Army bases and suburban life were eye-tearingly dull (especially in the days before the video game revolution that swept roller-skating rinks and bowling alleys), I found them comforting. Sesame Street was as close to the Urban Experience as I thought I would ever know. Little did I suspect that the New York City of the 21st century would bear little resemblance to the portrait of Urban Decay that I'd had fed to me through the eyes of a camera lens. In the last 5 years, I have I discovered a city unlike any other, and (to paraphrase Lou Reed) where everybody is ALMOST ready to leave.
A couple years ago, I was watching Midnight Cowboy- widely-considered to be one of the quintessential films of New York City in the 1960s (I know, I know... Cassavetes rocks, but work with me here). I'd seen this movie at least 6 or 7 times and owned it on DVD, but not since I'd moved to the City. There was Jon Voight, sloughing down Broadway in Times Square when he passes a large, neon store marque that reads 'COLONY' in 6 foot, red-neon lettering. I'd just been to Colony Music the day before. I knew that area - I had BEEN right there, wher Jon Voight was standing 35 years earlier. Had it not been for those 6 foot letters though, I wouldn't have known that it was the same place. The hooker and titty bar that enveloped Voight through Times Square had completely disappeared. Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and a myriad of myopic, massive corporations have bought block-upon-block of the White Way and transformed it into a staggering display of pricey Advertising and pricier Broadway shows. For 10 to 30 stories in every direction, fluttering eyes of consumer foreplay compete for the errant eye. Jon Voight would have been priced out of a Manhattan hotel room the second he set foot-to-pavement at the Port Authority bus station. Nowadays, he'd be reduced to shacking up on a bunk bed in a hostel on the Upper West Side with a bunch of German, blond-dreadlocked teenagers.
It is strange to live in a place that has such Iconic status with the rest of the world. Like London, Paris, Bangkok, Istanbul, Shanghai, Tokyo and Rome, New York City has had so many images placed upon it, it's easy to build a mental image of what it's like. Even visiting the city for a few days can leave one with the wrong impression. You really have to live in a place for a number of years before you can even the most basic idea of what a city is all about. In a metropolis like New York, even after a lifetime here, I'll only ever know a small corner of it. I think that's one of the reasons that people are almost always thinking about leaving. The density of cultures, attitudes combines with this strange compulsion to always feel like you're running behind schedule. But then, where do you go from here?
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Bro you kill me. Sometime I would like to talk to you about art. I would know as much about art as you do vehicles. Cars are a love of mine and bikes are a passion. I don't need Cocaine, Marijuana, Meth or Heroin. I just need a fast vehicle. My old man said it was time to get a smaller engine in my vehicle. I look at gas prices and traffic like this. Some people have hobbies like glass, cats, and dogs. My hobby is V 8 engines. People spend hundred and thousands of dollars to keep their animal alive. I see no difference. You are probably reading this and thnking I am crazy. Look at a vehicle, point A to point B and keeps you warm and dry and plays any song you want. I understand that in NY it is much different than here. We don't have a bus or train we are a little too spread out.
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