Professor Prabal De, CCNY 2014
Posts tagged Dyckman Farm House
Oasis
010 years
The subway held no wonders for me and the Dunkin’ Donuts breakfast had started the day off on the wrong foot. I mean hash-brown. The wrong hash-brown. Perhaps if I had devoured deviled eggs at the tea room…
The bustle of the the city had vanished. There was no clear pollution in the air, there were crisp breaths in and out of my lungs as I saw middle aged couples jog down their routine paths. How do I know it was a routine path? I had absolutely no discernible idea, it was the place itself, their run looked practiced, worn over. The run had become part of their relationship and for my curious pair of eyes, they were ingrained into a landscape painting of Fort Tryon Park’s slanting path.
Retracing my steps I found myself in a European landscape. An early birth had separated Hudson Heights from its midtown neighborhood brethren and made it the quiet one in the family. And I for one had found my favorite in the family. A welcoming vibe ushered me through its winding walkways and uneven terrain. The family trait of a grid structure was diminished in Hudson Heights and this metropolis as I knew from innumerable movie introductions turned around to reveal an unseen facet… and it was beautiful.
Nestled cozily within the semi-ultra-urban neighborhood lay Dyckman House, peacefully resting as visitors walked by, peering in but unable to quite disturb an old established silence. A blanket of history kept the silence intact as the woman ushered us through it’s hallways and proudly pointed towards the remnants of a life style that led the world centuries earlier. It was beautiful for what it was and the fire crackled a warmth as I imagined a well deserved evening’s rest in the armchair. The weather was in perfect sync to keep things at a cool slow pace, nothing to jump and surprise the bejabbers out of us. The walk was a trip into the past while consistently reminded of the present and the people of New York revealed yet another side to them. And it was beautiful.
In the Heights
010 years
New York City is astounding. There is no other place in the world that encompasses the same amount of diversity as that within its 468 square miles. The Hudson Heights neighborhood visit exemplifies and is a testament to this wondrous quality of NYC. The impression that Hudson Heights radiates is unlike any other part of the city—one that emulates a quaint, peaceful Victorian village full of Gothic era apartment complexes, rather than a booming metropolis that never sleeps. It’s hard to imagine that this area, which is comprised of less than 50-blocks, and a 15-minute trip by public transportation from mid-town Manhattan, truly exists amidst the all too stereotypical viewpoint of New York City. The amount of history that is contained in Hudson Heights is overwhelming; the area has been subject to so many influences over the course of its relatively short life span, and all of these influences have culminated into what is currently observable.
Fort Tryon Park was an esthetically pleasing park. Although it was a rather overcast day, it would be safe to say that on a beautiful sunny day during the pinnacle of Spring, the park would be glorious. The views of the Hudson River and New Jersey on the other side were juxtaposed with the West Side Highway that ran underneath us. This juxtaposition demonstrates how much we have advanced as a city and in doing so, how much we have altered the natural beauty of the area, to make it all possible. One of the biggest losses as a result of urbanization is the loss of the natural beauty of NYC.
During the last part of our neighborhood walk we visited Dyckman Farm House. It is amazing to see how antiquated this building is and what it currently represents; for example sustenance agriculture. Again, the juxtaposition of the old with the new is incredible. Dyckman Farm house is surrounded on all sides by tall buildings, billboards, restaurants, supermarkets, and everything in between.
New York City is such a wonderful place to be because there is such immense dichotomy everywhere one looks. I have always known that this existed, but this vision was made so vividly made and so much more evident from our visit. From Chinatown to the Bronx, you never know how wonderful and diverse the city of New York City and its inhabitants are until you experience it yourself.
