Keeping "it" somewhat real in Brooklyn - a quick look back 1 month after start of FT living & work in NYC
If you've noticed a slow down of posts here, that's because I am less bored now (for the last month) & there's a lot to do - since the move to living full time in NYC (and by NYC I mean Sunset Park, Brooklyn). I've been spending a few days or a couple of weeks in NYC every month since December '08 (Maryland, the state of my previous permanent residence is only 4 hours away, so it is possible to work FT there & hang out in NYC part time, at least for a while, 'till you get tired of the back and forth) - but starting June 1 I've lived & worked in NYC on a full time, 5 days + a week, basis. Here are some things I learned:
- First, why move to NYC anyway?
Answers:
- Because it was there, not too far away from where I was living, & it's a massive city, with an epic & romantic (in a romanticizing of ordinary existence/On The Road kind of way, not like in an Annie Hall/indie rom com way - well, maybe a little like that too) history.
- I like meeting new people. And, as soon as you walk out you are surrounded by hundreds of people in NYC - can't avoid 'em, even at 2 in the AM, lots of people take the subway & I do too - I think for some people being around other people is an exciting thing - so maybe I am one of those people. So, people are another reason - lots of them here, not in cars and not miles away, but all around, pretty much all of the time. It's like one big party, even on weekdays.
- Injecting a dose of higher productivity & ambition into the system: lots of people are very busy in NYC - specially people who've moved here from other states & other countries. I know a few people here, & a lot of them work multiple jobs & or have multiple passions (a Starbucks employee I met is a substitute teacher in Brooklyn & acts & has a couple of other jobs, a young attorney I know in Manhattan owns a couple of businesses that employ a few people, etc.). So, people are ambitious here - and ambition is not looked down upon as they may be in some parts of the suburbs - so, that's pretty cool.
Alright, now on to some observations & notes:
- NY parking enforcement officials do have a soft side, they do cut some people some breaks sometimes (like letting someone i know slide about parking a u-haul truck close to a fire hydrant for a couple of hours, btw - in nyc there needs to be 15 feet of clearance on either side of a fire hydrant)
- New Yorkers are generally friendly on the streets & the subway (in a keep it to yourself unless you need some help way - i have not gotten lost on the subway or elsewhere 'cause people here tend to be very helpful whenever i need help)
- there is quiet a bit of day job work for creative types here (if you are not super picky) - lots of professionals are busy/not enough time in the day for them - so, they are on the lookout for reliable assistants - probably pretty good gigs if you can carve out some free time for your other/more important pursuits, also just all kinds of other work - 9 million or so people living in a relatively small space = several million tasks that need to be done each day just for survival = lots of work for lots of people
- some parts of Brooklyn (& i imagine elsewhere in nyc) have a great D.I.Y./start up quality - people opening up small new businesses (just saw a new French cafe/carry out in a neighborhood that otherwise is wall to wall cheap Chinese carry out joints & fast food places like McDonald's. saw the two owners - i assume - of the place hanging out outside their place & taking a cigarette break, one of them was the cook, told me about the tiramisu he makes - anyway, seemed like they were in their early 30's at most, interesting), & joints like art galleries - so, maybe a more entrepreneurial city than most cities - specially for odd & interesting little businesses
- have not had too much time to spend in Manhattan (maybe less than 5 trips there this month - couple of them were work related), so, need to go there more often - LOTS to explore there, and it's less than 30 minutes away if I get on the right train
- it took me a whole month but finally got things worked out so that I will have a significant amount of time to work on my movies & still be able to pay the rent & bills on time & not starve :) So, July should be interesting - more productive on the indie filmmaking front (which was #1 reason for moving to nyc in the first place).
- met/have seen a lot of hard working Latin American immigrants & families
- met/have seen a lot of hard working Chinese immigrants
Also, I like the fact that it is probably impossible for any one person to ever fully explore NYC - 'cause by the time you are done going through all the interesting places in Manhattan, Brooklyn & elsewhere once maybe a few hundred new places & things have started happening - no doubt a cycle that keeps repeating - so - an endless amount of interesting things here - nice place for people who get bored easy.
Maybe NYC is like a visible heart of America (if NYC were one of those see-through body parts from plastic see-through man science/biology toys): the past, present, & the future -and the hunger for success & the immigrant/transplant dreams & hopes are ever present & always new here - in other places those things are underneath several settled & calm layers accumulated through perhaps some wealth collected over time, perhaps families having spent generations here, & perhaps lots of losses over time - a blue layer, & other reasons - but in NYC a true and positive side of humans are on display/hard to miss/easily visible: that constantly on the move, trying new things, taking new risks, open or at least tolerant of differences (maybe not fully out of choice, but making the best of the situation) side. So, America is gigantic & kinda sleepy in most places - but, as shown by NYC - there is a lot of work happening here, & lots of people trying hard to make their dreams come true - in a way/degree/intensity/scale that may only be possible in America & just a few other places in this world for most people.
NYC is like television or the movies - only a little better - when it's good. It's a full immersion in a dream experience - like Jurassic Park - except not for dinosaur related attractions but for human ambition & urban history: big bridges, tall buildings, a train that runs all over at all times of the day, and lots of people with intense desires exist here. That tinge of sadness you get when a good movie or a TV show comes to an end when you are living in most places of the world does not exist here - 'cause most likely, a block or a few subway stops away something far more interesting than the movies is happening, & you can be a part of it - instead of just watching it on a screen - and the show never ends here.
- Sujewa
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