Activity #3

Jennifer Rios

Activity #3

For this activity I decided to walk a ten block radius from Hunter College on a Friday morning in order to analyze the different areas that can be classified as either public or private. I found this activity to be very challenging because labeling areas as public or private was not as easy as it seemed. For an area to be categorized as public, it must be an area where anyone is able to spend time in without any restrictions, such as a public park or the sidewalk. On the other hand, a private area is one in which there are regulations, such as a mall. As I walked from 68th Street and Lexington Avenue towards 58th Street, I saw many areas in which people could gather, such as small shops or chain businesses. Despite being a city girl, by walking these ten blocks and actually taking the time to analyze my surroundings, I realized that every big and little city are victims of, “clusters of discount merchandise marts, the whole destructive, wasteful, toxic, agoraphobia-including spectacle that politicians proudly call “growth”” (10).

I noticed that I was surrounded by buildings, business, and people who were in a rush to get to their destinations. Throughout the many times that I have been in Manhattan, I have never seen a moment in which the city was not, “Ever-busy, ever-building, ever-in-motion, ever-throwing-out the old for the new, we have hardly paused to think about what we are so busy building, and what we have thrown away” (10). I believe that this constant activity takes away from the ability to analyze our surroundings and the affects that it has on our lives. This activity, along with the large amounts of people that were present during this time, made it much easier to analyze my surroundings and find public and private places. Some public places where I saw many people go to were the subway stations. The reason why this area is public is because of the fact that anyone is able to use these services. Other places that can be considered a public place are the many stores where people can shop. Anyone is able to shop in these stores without any restrictions as to who can enter. In terms of private areas, churches, such as one located right on Lexington Avenue, can fall into this category. The reason why a church can be considered private is because of the fact that the doors are closed to the public all day, unless mass is being held.

At first, I felt that it was easy to decide whether an area was public or private but as I spent more time trying to categorize my surroundings; it became a concept that was difficult to understand. For example, while analyzing the subway a little longer, I realized that not everyone is able to use the services provided by the subway. A form of restriction posed onto the public is the price of the MTA fare, which keeps increasing little by little. Therefore, this gave me the idea that the subway may also be considered private due to this barrier between the public and the trains. On the other hand, churches can also be considered public due to the fact that when mass is in session, anyone can go in. Therefore, I believe that it is much harder than it seems to categorize areas into strictly public or private sectors. I feel that a majority of places are better labeled as being a little bit of both.

Activity 2 by Patricia Fraser. As a getting to know you exercise in class we had to talk to someone from a different borough than the one we lived in and tell each other about a place we enjoy visiting. I was told about the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. I grew up in Queens, but like most New York residents who've never visited their own landmarks, museums, etc, I had never been there. So one afternoon, I set out with my partner to explore this new place.

The museum is located on a quiet, unassuming street in Astoria, Queens, although it is surrounded by movie studios and a Starbuck's (where CAN'T you find a Starbuck's these days?). Anyway, I digress...The museum is undergoing a major renovation to be completed this fall, so the wheelchair accessible entrance was the active construction area. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of the behind-the-scenes themed museum.

I had a blast! The tour begins on the third floor and moves to the second floor exhibits. Walking in you're greeted by movie props from "The Exorcist", "Starman" and other movies. A life sized doll that looked like Linda Blair was glass enclosed but as I passed it, I could swear it was looking at me! The exhibit also included real models of the oldest television cameras, sets, recording devices and radios. It was awesome! There were old black and white cartoons from the early 1900's explaining the technology that was so innovative at the time.

On the second floor, the majority of the exhibit was costumes, pictures, makeup, accessories and props from many television shows and movies. Stars, movie houses, production companies and make up artists donated everything from Mork's spacesuit in "Mork and Mindy" to the sweaters worn by Bill Cosby in "The Cosby Show"; pictures and props from Bela Lagosi movies to Chewbacca's head in "Star Wars"; and my favorite - toys and games from the 50's through the 80's, including a "Star Trek" Happy Meal box from McDonad's and lunch boxes featuring Charlie's Angels, E.T., Pac Man and Fat Albert.

I can understand why my classmate likes this place. There is something for everyone. Regardless of age, it's like a trip down memory lane. Go check it out!

Activity 1 - Being a Flaneur/Patricia Fraser

I chose to observe the South Street Seaport Mall on the lower east side of Manhattan. I stayed for little over an hour during the mid afternoon. I situated myself in what I felt was a central location to observe all the action around me – the middle landing area that overlooks the first floor shops, with a view of all the stores on the second floor and a partial view of the food court above. As I looked around, I saw only a sprinkling of people, mostly nannies and young moms pushing strollers or encouraging the one year old with walking on newly discovered legs. Some were tourists, walking in small groups with backpacks and cameras hanging off them. Later on in the hour, local school kids dropped by to walk around, try a game or two in GameStop or hang out in the massage chairs to talk and cuddle up. Some went to sleep in the chairs. But mostly I saw shopkeepers, some doing what I was doing, being a flaneur, watching everyone else go by. Some of the store owners/workers stepped outside their stores and away from their kiosks to interact with other store owners. They traded newspapers, looked at each others’ merchandise or observed their surrounding together.

As I looked around I kept thinking about what Jane Jacobs wrote about cities, about how they are most effective when shops and walkways are close together, allow for multiple uses at different times of day by different people, and encourages a natural interaction between the people and their environment. I felt like the mall was situated in an area that did not lend itself to being easily accessed by lots of people year round. I felt that site was mostly a tourist location for most of the year, and only at specific times, mainly weekend nights and the summer, was the area utilized by the most people. When I was there, the mall was quiet and almost empty. The first and only time I’ve ever visited was a summer night last year and there were many people in the food courts and restaurants, but all of the retail stores were closed. Even then I would say that they area was lacking in diversity of use because, again, it was mainly visited by tourists, it’s not open and available 24/7 and it’s across a lane of the FDR.

activity 1

Bianca Klotsman

To Be a Flaneur.

What is it to be a flaneur? By definition, it has the basic meaning of a "stroller" or “lounger”. For this assignment, I chose to be a flaneur at Bloomingdales department store on 59th street in New York City. It was a Monday and I had just finished an early class and had a long break ahead of me before I had to go back to Hunter. I entered the bright lobby of makeuo counters and eager employees trying to make an early sale. I noticed a woman who I assume was about 60 years old wearing an oversized long fur coat and hot pink ear muffs slowly browsing the handbag selection. I made my way to the second floor and found a comfortable couch to lounge on; this happens to be the contemporary clothing and shoe collection. Monday mornings are not the liveliest part of the day for shoppers. The store was quite quiet with the few occasional shoppers strolling the designer racks of clothing but the store mostly consisted of the young female employees dressed in black head-to-toe sorting through the clothing and organizing inventory before the customer count escalated. I noticed that the majority of early Monday morning customers were elder ladies assuming that people were either at school or at work. I began to stroll throughout the other floors of the massive department store making it up to the third floor of higher end clothing then the fourth and so on…noticing that as each floor escalated, it became quieter. I started to think I should just come back at a later hour to make my blog more interesting when I came across a few strange things that I did not expect to see at such a high end store. Coming back down to the second floor, I found a middle aged man wearing khaki pants and a black winter jacket taking a nap on one of the lounge chairs in the furthest back part of the store. Then I went to use the bathroom where I found a lady who I assume was about 30 years old using a flat iron and a large makeup bag spread across a small area of the counter as if it was her own bathroom at home. Over an hour had passed and I had to start making my way back before my next class. When I reached the lobby area which I have entered the store, I noticed the same woman in the fur coat and exotic ear muffs browsing the exact same selection. I thought that was very strange. Overall, my flaneur experience was different than I expected. As much as I shop at the Bloomingdales on 59^th street in New York City, I have never noticed the strange people wandering around and how quiet it could actually be.

What did he want...

Oceane Mercadal (Activity #1)

The small city of Nice were I grew up doesn’t have malls so when I went to the Manhattan mall I was shocked by its grandeur. After a little tour I decided to stay in front of Victoria's Secret and observe what people did and how they acted. Nothing happened at first as it was 1pm and people were probably having lunch but an hour later the place started filling up. Some were wondering around, window shopping while others were literally running from one place to another with a Starbuck's coffee cup as you see on the streets. What attracted my eyes the most was a group of young girls around 16-17 years old wondering around laughing like nothing mattered in life. Sort of reminded me the way my friends and I were at their age. Who cares about homework and chores, we can always do them tomorrow. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened until this one man shows up out of nowhere probably because I wasn’t paying attention. He looked dirty and had a lot of bags, which made me think he was homeless. His clothes where dirty, old looking and way too large for him. I thought he was just going to walk by or ask people for some help but he actually went into Victoria's Secret, which sort of shocked me. At home when I walk around the city with my friends we mostly see homeless people by banks or on large streets hoping someone will stop to help. I felt so sorry for this man when he opened the door but was also curious to see what was going to happen. It’s funny how people react to certain every day events. A few minutes later the old man was escorted out of the store by the security guards. He was yelling and mumbling words no one could understand and yet it was funny to see how life stopped for a second. Every one who was around literally stopped on the spot and stared at this poor guy being kicked out. When he stopped screaming people kept staring like if they were frozen on the spot and then started moving again like nothing had happened. I was in front of this man trying to know what could have possibly gone through his mind. Seriously did he not know he was going to get kicked out? He doesn’t fit into the category of shoppers. He can’t afford anything in this store and probably smelled bad so why did he go there? I really thought things like that only happened in movies, like people being kicked out of a casino because they drank too much or because they were rude to a waitress. What still troubles me today I guess would be that I’m still wondering what this guy wanted from this store. If someone has an idea please share.

Activity 1:To be a Flaneur

Rosedelle A Chery

Activity 1: To be a Flaneur

So for this first activity I decided to Queens Place mall, near Queens Center Mall, on Valentine’s Day. I figured it would be fun to watch couples pack the mall, trying to get a seat at Red Lobster or the Outback Steak House and to see how they would pass the time. Also I hadn’t been to this mall in a couple of years, so it was nice going back. I decided to go later in the day, around 6, and you can already guess that mall was super packed. I don’t think I have ever seen a mall so packed in my life. I decided to sit at the waiting tables in front of Red Lobster so I could blend in; I didn’t want to look like a crazy lonely person watching people on Valentine’s Day. I sat there for about 2 hours and literally saw only about 3 parties enter the restaurant. As people waited there, they sat hugging each other and showing massive amounts of PDA, I guess they were trying to make the best of the situation. One of the weirdest things I saw was a couple sitting on the stairs playing cards. I know that’s not super weird but I couldn’t help but to wonder who brings a deck of cards on a Valentine’s Day date. Then it hit me that they could just be friends caught up in the Valentine’s Day frenzy. Eventually after the girl won like 5 times, the guy decided to give up and they left.

After about 15 minutes there, this guy and girl sat next to me and the guy looked really nervous. About an hour later, when they realized that they weren’t going to get a seat in the restaurant anytime soon, he decided to give his date her valentine gift. I don’t know why he decided to do it in such an unromantic space, but hey to each his own. Since my role there was to observe, I felt obligated to see what he was giving his date. The guy, who looked like he was in his early 20s, definitely pulled out that magical blue box that most females love to see, a Tiffany’s box. The girl was so ecstatic when she opened up the box and saw a silver charm bracelet. Then she started kissing her date and they really started starting going at it right there in the waiting area. I guess their excitement overwhelmed their common sense because they started touching inappropriately. I couldn't help but laugh as I crept away from this couple who obviously needed their space. I found a seat on the stairs near by and sat there for about an hour. I started to see employees come out looking very tired. One of the employees just came out shaking her head in disbelief when she saw the massive line of people still waiting to get in. Once I saw people starting to lay on the floor either because they were tired or there were no more seats left, I decided that it was time to go. I figured I might as well give up my seat to one of the couples so they can at least relax as they wait. Overall, it was a pretty interesting night in which I learned that there is a desperate need for more restaurants in Queens and the importance of reservations in the city, especially on Valentine’s Day. With that, I decided that one day I want to open up my own restaurant because there is big business and big money to be made there.

Activity #2

Jennifer Rios

Activity #2

For people who have lived in cities their entire life, it is very difficult to break away from the usual sightings of buildings, traffic, and mass amounts of people. Although there are parks scattered around many cities, they usually contain gates around the perimeter or have an entrance fee, as if intentionally attempting to seclude parks from people. I was told by a classmate to visit the New York Botanical Garden, which I thought would be a great place to experience the scents and sights of grass, trees, and plants that are unusual to me, since “new developments spreading beyond the cities are reducing cities and countryside alike” (Jacobs, 6). On my way to the garden, I felt as if I was not going to have a valuable experience since I believed that there was nothing I could possibly appreciate from a large amount of grass, trees, and plants on display. I even considered not going to the garden and choosing another place to visit for this activity instead. Once I got to the garden, I had to pay in order to be able to enter the World of Plants exhibition. Through this display, I was able to see vegetation from tropical rainforests, the African deserts, and aquatic plants as well. After spending some time and analyzing everything that was on display, I realized that I would have regretted not going to the New York Botanical Garden because after an hour of walking around this exhibition, I was able to learn and see other forms of life that I would not otherwise see in the city. I believe that places such as this garden should be promoted more often and should also be free to the public. If free entrance to this attraction is not an option, the entrance price should definitely be lowered so that a larger number of people would be able to benefit and learn from this experience.

In terms of Jane Jacobs, I do not feel that the New York Botanical Garden reflects her perspective of “Mixed-Use Development” because of the fact that the garden is fenced and an entrance fee is in place. These restrictions can cause limitations to many people who would like to experience the Botanical Garden but are not able to as a result of the entry price, causing the garden to contradict the idea of it being used by a variety of people for different services. Therefore, as a lack of Mixed-Use Development, Jacobs’s principle of “The Case for Higher Density” is also affected since these restrictions cause a lack of high density of people to take place and experience the garden. In regards to the “Bottom-Up Community Planning“, I do not believe that the Botanical Garden supports this idea because of the fact that this principle and the garden are not relevant in the sense that the garden was not built by the community. Instead, this garden was built by the judgment of outside experts who decided that “mush like this must be good for us, as long as it comes bedded with grass” (Jacobs, 7). Therefore, it is believed that as long as cities have scattered patches of grass, it would be beneficial for the community, which coincides with “Cities as Ecosystems” principle. I believe that such open areas as the Botanical Garden are necessary elements of a city since it helps provide a balance between the city life and life surrounded by mother nature. Also, I feel that this supports the fact that some form of vegetation would be beneficial for people in cities, in order to get away from the routines of the city life.

Activity #1

Jennifer Rios
Activity #1

During my childhood years, the Manhattan Mall was a shopping center that I would spend most of my time in with my family. For a child who has always resided in the borough of Queens, this particular mall was my mother’s way of getting me out of the usual routines of Queens and rewarding me if I had been behaving well and keeping my grades up in school. Despite what my mother’s reasons for taking me to the Manhattan Mall were, I was mainly concerned with getting out of my borough and into a mall I considered a “real mall.” During this time, Queens Center Mall consisted of four floors with a variety of stores that I could count on my fingers, making it in the mind of a seven year old “fake.” Since shopping was always difficult at Queen Center Mall, the mall in Manhattan was the place to go to. Despite my fondness of this particular mall, after reconstruction was done to the Queens Center Mall, I began to travel less to the Manhattan Mall and became one of the many local shoppers at the Queens shopping center.

Since I have not been to the Manhattan Mall in several years, I decided to break away from the “realm of ordinary routines” (93) of my local shopping center and be a flaneur in the Manhattan Mall. When I got there, I began to walk aimlessly around this shopping center but I did not feel as if this was the mall I had spent so much time in as a child and began to feel as if I had never stepped in this building before. The stores in the Manhattan Mall have been updated to what fits the trends of the present time, making it feel like a whole new place and experience. As a child, I remember that it was always very common to run into other children who were spending family time with their parents. This time around, I noticed that there were barely any children around the mall. Instead of seeing children with their families, I noticed that adolescents had become the dominant group in the mall.

A majority of these adolescents looked as if they were from the Latino and African American descent, which was also a surprise to me. Looking back to my childhood years, not many of the children that I would play with in the stores, while my mother picked out new clothes for me, were Latino or African American. I realized that the children that I would run into were mostly Caucasian. As I walked and analyzed people further, I wondered and tried to come up with reasons for this shift in the population. I came to the conclusion that the media has had a large part in making adolescents the targeted audience, due to the fact that many teenagers have a desire to be a part of the latest trend and are a little more careless when spending money. By spending some time at this mall I was able to have “A reflective detachment on daily life [and] a means to push [myself] away from the ordinary” (99), which helped me realize the shift in stores and population in the Manhattan Mall.