Assignment 8 Benjamin Hom

For the field trips, both groups decided to take a few hours and explore two very different parts of New York City. KC from Group 5 and I both went to high school in different parts of the city so we decided to each give a tour about that area. KC went first and this was her itinerary:

Jamba Juice on Lexington between 86th and 87th
Saint Ignatius Church on Park Avenue between 84th and 83rd
Marymount High School on 5th Avenue between 84th and 83rd
The Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue between 83rd and 82nd
Central Park- The Great Lawn
The Reservoir

We were supposed to make a quick stop at Jamba Juice, but we ended up staying there for longer than we had expected. I'm not a big fan of Jamba Juice, but it's always an experience going into one. To me, they're like the Starbucks of smoothies. They're almost everywhere now and have become an integral part of our generation's culture. If you're not part of the Starbucks cult, you're definitely part of the Jamba Juice cult.

We glanced around the area a bit, which had a lot of stuff for a four block radius. There was a barnes & nobles, a game stop, a hot and crusty, a wall greens AND a gym. We then walked over to Park Avenue and visited Saint Ignatius Church. It's always so strange to look at Churches in the city because if you don't give them a second glance as you walk by, you wouldn't even be able to tell it was a church. We walked inside and it was like you see one church, you've seen them all. KC told us more about the statues, which her and I both knew very well since we've both been going to Catholic schools for basically our entire lives.

We then actually visited her school. Marymount High School was the most interesting Catholic school I've ever seen. Like my high school, Marymount was technically private but it wasn't secular. The thing that blew my mind about Marymount was that it was an all girls school that went from kindergarten to the 12th grade. There's no place that's more blatantly gendered than a same-sex school, but a school that's same-sex from kindergarten up? KC told us a little bit of the history of her school. The buildings that made up Marymount were all privately donated for the sole purpose of being a school nearly a century ago, which explained why they were so nice.

Then she took us to the Met. I've only actually been inside the Met once in my life, but I've past by it a bunch of times. I've never actually just sat on the steps and people watched before, but that's what we did. We weren't the only ones, either. There was a bunch of people gathered outside the Met just hanging out. I doubt many of them even went inside the Met, so I guess it's safe to say that the Met is a gathering space.

Next stop was the Great Lawn. Calling Central Park the biggest gathering place in New York City would be an understatement. People of all ages were everywhere from the park benches to the grass. The Great Lawn is one of the only places in New York were you feel somewhat disconnected from the hustle and bustle of living in a city, which is probably why a lot of people enjoy going there during their breaks and what not.

We moved on over to the reservoir, which I was excited about since the last time I was even near the reservoir was when I was in the 8th grade. It was beautiful and serene; the perfect place to just relax. Even though there were people running all around the place, it didn't take away from the peacefulness and the calm of the area. In fact, those people were our own personal source of free entertainment.

My itinerary was a little less specific:

Fifth Avenue
South Side of Union Square
North Side of Union Square

I went to school on 16th street between 5th and 6th avenues so Union Square was a part of my daily life. I wanted to take the group around that area because it's very interesting. Union Square is known for being the trendy place where all the indie and hipster people go to discuss how anti-establishment they are, but it is surrounded by all these name-brand, commercial chains.

We started off on 5th avenue with a little window shopping. Downtown 5th avenue isn't as bawdy as midtown 5th avenue so there is some modesty in regards to the stores. There's an H&M, a Daffy's, a Victoria's Secret, and the Gap. From 5th avenue and 16th street, I pointed out my high school, which you could only distinguish as a school by the big maroon awning and the banner hanging down the side that said "Xavier High School."

We walked down to 14th street and headed east towards Union Square. I pointed out the Wendy's and the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut which basically made up my diet for my first two years of high school. There were always homeless people standing outside either place that would hold the doors open for change and sure enough there was a homeless man standing outside of Wendy's.

We got to Union Square, and I pointed out all the big stores in the area. I also pointed out the site of the old Virgin Megastore which was boarded up for the most part. It was a big eyesore. We went to sit on top of the stairs and just people watched. I told a few stories about my experiences with the Silent Rave and the Pillow Fight. There is always someone either showing of their skills, preaching something, or advertising something, and on this particular day there was someone advertising something. There was a man in a huge bowling pin suit that was advertising the Bowlmar Bowling lanes. Anyone who comes to Union Square with an agenda knows that most of the people there on any given day appreciate big, eye-grabbing gestures. A guy dressed up as a bowling pin is not only normal, but expected from Union Square.

We walked uptown and I was a bit disappointed because I had really expected that the people with their kiosks would be there. Union Square is usually has an open, outdoor farmer's market but on this particular day there was nothing. I pointed out all the grandiose statuses in the area, the little children's park and the big patch of grass that people like to take naps on during the spring and summer. At the very top of Union Square, there is this small part of the street that is closed off to cars where there are these cool designs permanently drawn into the ground. That area is usually filled with skateboarders and so it was on this day. I pointed out the huge Barnes and Nobles were many people gathered to browse around but failed to buy anything.

When comparing Group 5's tour and our tour, the major differences became quite apparent. There were many more private spaces to see along Group 5's tour. Since we visited both places at around the same time, I saw that KC's part of Manhattan was a lot quieter than Union Square. While we encountered just as many crowds in both places, they each had different agendas. The goal of the people uptown was to relax while the goal of the people in Union Square was to congregate. Union Square was much more consumer driven. Even though you could lounge about in Union Square for as long as you'd like for free, there are so many different places that could tempt you to spend money. You'd have to travel all the way to the West Side by the River to escape all this commercial pressure. Having Central Park so close to them, the people in the area uptown could easily make an excursion to get away from all the disadvantages of living in the city.