Saturday, January 17, 2009

Why I Won't Set Foot Back in Manhattan Until I Have A Job

Going to Manhattan is an expensive endeavor. First of all, the process of getting there costs $4. Unless you decide to visit separate parts of Manhattan, then it's $8. We decided to check out Union Square, since it's right off of the L and we figured we could get a cup of coffee.

I have been saying that I've never felt out of place in Brooklyn. I never felt that I was in a dangerous part of the city, and I've never felt fear or anxiety. I have, however, felt out of place in Manhattan. Multiple times. Union Square is one of those times. Columbus Circle is another one of those times. People look at you with your beard and your backpack and greasy jeans and give you looks of disdain. What were we doing in Union Square? Obviously not where we belonged.

We went to Eva's in the West Village for some tea and to sort things out. Not a bad place, but still much classier than we wanted. We were looking for a diner run by one dude with tattoos where the coffee was good and people were hospitable. Nate called and we went for sushi.

Yummy Village Sushi was one of the best places we've been so far in the city. 95 Macdougal St in the West Village, the four of us gorged on sushi and sake like we all had an income (Not one of us do). The service was great, they put heat lamps right next to our table and gave us complimentary edamame.

Afterwards we went to 62nd st and Broadway to see Slumdog Millionaire. Unfortunately, after the Golden Globe victories, everyone else is also going to see it. We got tickets for Che:Part 1. Apparently the movie Che is in two parts, both clocking in around 2 hours and 17 minutes. Yikes.

Benicio Del Toro was great. I'm a huge fan of the Motorcycle Diaries, and this sort of picks up where that leaves off. Unfortunately, Part 1 was $11 and we could not afford Part 2.

In any case, we could not afford drinks after that. Subway+Tea+Sushi+Movie = roughly $50. Thanks Manhattan.

Today we are living the opposite life. Drinking out of flasks, staying in Brooklyn, and setting our spending goal at $10/day to make up for yesterday. If I got paid by the cover letter since the beginning of January, I'd have made up the difference by now.

Hire me?

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. i am confused re: your union square comment. you are aware that union square is basically the epicenter of NYU, correct?

    what do NYU students wear? jeans, t-shirts, backpacks...

    maybe you get looked at with disdain because you walk around like a clueless tourist!

    stop being so pretentious.

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  3. nobody told you??? living in the city is expensive.

    it seems like you think those parts of manhattan are against your hipster 'culture', but in reality, i don't think people really care. i mean, you're in nyc, they've seen it all before.

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  4. In reply to both of these at once, I think what I want to emphasize here is the feeling of not fitting in because of the size of my wallet, not what I'm wearing. Maybe I am a clueless tourist, because I just moved here. My previous trips to Manhattan were Times Square, Broadway, etc. Tourist trips. I've only been here since January and am getting acclimated to surroundings.

    I am simply commenting on parts of Manhattan that I am not a fan of. Union Square being one of them. Walking into the epicenter of NYU and seeing Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, etc is a little heart-breaking if NYU is supposed to be the epicenter of knowledge in the city.

    Anyway, I think the point of this was to stress that Brooklyn is exponentially cheaper to live than Manhattan, which is common knowledge. This entry was a confirmation of this fact.

    And not all parts of Manhattan are like Union Square. I thoroughly enjoyed the West Village and the places we went while there. I still have much to see, so rather than criticize my entry, why not suggest other places that are worth checking out? It would be much more useful to me and other people reading this than petty arguments that won't amount to anything.

    I'm not writing this blog for arguing. I'll reply to every disagreement with reasoning, but the days of petty disagreements over word choice are over. I thought everyone was finally mature enough to get over internet arguing, but maybe I was wrong. Grow up.

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  5. nobody is arguing with you, quit being on the defensive. your observations of the city (to me, a lifelong resident) seemed a bit off and i was just commenting.

    what i was really trying to do was point out that you are already cutting yourself out of neighborhoods based on misconceptions... every neighborhood has its chains, but if you had explored union square a bit more, and walked down to 12th and broadway rather than turning around the second you saw borders, you'd have found strand, a three floored used bookstore that makes webster's look like a hole in the wall. it's probably my favorite place in the entire city. if i'm making fun of your reactions, part of it is to show you you're only cutting yourself out of cool places by making kneejerk reactions based on superficial observations.

    after all, you wouldn't be writing in your blog if you didn't want people to read it, right? be glad you have readership!

    ps: get a monthly metrocard. that way you're not throwing down $4 everytime you want to ride the subway... for someone without a job it might be a cost-effective way of getting around.

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