The East Harlem “field trip” was interesting. It was nice to see all the community gardens, playgrounds, and inspirational murals. It was a cold day, though, and hardly anybody was out. Since most open spaces were empty, you could only guess what they really meant to the people there. It wasn’t my first time observing signs of gentrification. Something slightly encouraging was that my bodega-bought grilled cheese sandwich only cost $2. This shows that the neighborhood is not so gentrified that food is expensive; what’s available is still so cheap and lacking in nutritional value that enough people can afford it. What upset me most was bumping into an ambulance that was inching through the projects with its sirens blaring. It stopped and asked Ms. Gregory for directions to some address, and she couldn’t answer. How can an ambulance service claim to live up to its purpose if it gets lost in a housing project that is, by design, isolated from the street grid?