brewsta brewsta #4

#5. ride one of the train lines from start to finish.
for this activity i chose the L train and got on @ 8th ave; the time was 2:51 on a sunny Friday
from 8th ave- 1st ave
it started out very empty with only a handful of people on the 2nd cart (where i was sitting)... the population was mainly young spanish school high school kids (in a group), following white middle class people both young and old and a few blacks.. the things i saw on the train were
-people listening to music, putting on make up, reading the paper, playing with their phone, looking around, day dreaming,looking out the window,sleeping,eating, searching their bags, looking at me look at them, and this lady next to me was actually reading my notes as i wrote my observations... from 8th ave -1st ave is usually where i catch the train (which is often times crowded) at this time i tend to feel a little on edge because most times i would have to stand due to lack of seats .. but today i was more filled with curiousity to see who gets on and off the train.. as i pass through these neighborghoods.. i get the feeling that the dwellers of these neighborhoodlead a very expensive life style (even if there apartments look a bit dated)just because its in the city and because theyr paying for the location more than anything else...
Bedford -Grand street
majority of the people now went from being young Latinas to white, then black
however there were white,asian,black,spanish,and hisidic jews from bedford to grand street ..ive never really thought of the way this area looks and ive also never gotten off to venture around either though i suppose its just another neighborhood filled with condensed apartments.. usually by the time i get to grand street im just begining to feel comfortable in the space that i am in .. and all of my edginess has gone..
montrose avenue -dekalb avenue
even though the cart still isnt close to being full a few more spanish people came ...mainly mothers with their young school children...there was a black lady leaning on a pole(reminded me of the priviatizing discussion we had in class).. people seem to share their day with there family members the same way .. they would at the dinner table.. young kids can be seen doing their homework (with parents assistance).. in addition they tell their parents about their day..the other day i noticed a school girl being congratulated after showing her mom her report card..
after a while more school kids began coming on the train.. a young white lady then randomly gets up and switches her seat for the one across the ailse ..and middle class black people with the exception of a few are now getting on the train..when passing through montrose and dekalb avenue ..i know for a fact that this would be condsidered the "hood" just because it is filled with abandoned buildings ..littered streets.. and condensed.. depressing looking apartments.. however from montrose all the way down to bushwick .. the words gentrification also comes to mind.. because these are the place that urban pioneers are now settling in.. when this movement first started taking place .. i admit i was pretty stoked that middle and upper class whites are now moving back into brooklyn and are reinvesting in the bourogh but now that i know of the consequences of it .. i feel a sense of woe for all the spanish/ black people who i feel are starting to feel as if they no longer belong in their own neighborhoods
myrtle- bushhwick
there is now less people on the train than before..all the white people got off at myrtle .. usually there would be one or two left but not this time.. any way at some point a young black lady (with a blond wig) got up from her seat so she can sit on the empty side with her leg up (something not often seen on the L train)
Broadway junction- Canarsie Rockaway parkway
usually by the time the train reaches junction it gets packed with middle class black people, school kids (usually high schoolers) Asians (starting to notice them more in my neighborhood) and Spanish people who usually get off at new lots ..but this time no one came on..
and I suppose the vacancy of the train was due to the weather out side .. I'm guessing because it was that nice out.. a lot of people decided to stay and hang out instead of rushing on the train like they usually do.. finally canarsie!.. thats how i feel.. since i live in this area .. as soon i get to the last stop i start to feel tired because i know that i would finally be able to relax in mhy own home..but passing through this neighborhood..maybe its due to my ignorance of other neighborhoods and what theyr really like ... i feel as though canarsie is better just because its not filled with apartments but is an isolated community of private housing.. law offices.. countless food stores.. churches..high schools..clinics and our own pier.. and plaza.. to me canarise is like its own town and that isnt very denpendent on outside business or support.

#10. photograph 2 different street configurations in manhattan.. location 1: macy's 34th street

in the first location, (34th street) the street configuration is a little peculaliar being that (as seen in the picture on the left)looking straight ahead is meant for pedestrian crossing .. where as to the left of the crossing is meant for both pedestrian and and cars.. however on the right..(i supppose can be discribed as a plaza) is an area for sitting ,strolling and looking around.

the 2nd locaion was 543 W.42nd near the castillo theater ..what you see here in the pictures below is the image of one way traffic merging into a busy two way streets on one side and . .. a car(where the black car is) exiting a parking lot into that same traffic..