Through this blog and its accompanying entries, I have tried to explore what it means to be an inhabitant of New York City. Rather, I have attempted to demonstrate the role we as individuals play in shaping the city, as well as how the city–in turn–shapes us. Even though I have only been living in New York for approximately four months, I have already come to better understand the symbiotic relationship existing between myself and my surroundings. Who I am as an individual–all the parts that make up my being–have an undeniable effect on how I experience New York City. For example, because I live in Brooklyn Heights and attend Baruch College, many of my experiences are shaped by my commute between these two places; the parts of the city that are now familiar to me exist along that route and its surrounding areas. However, these places weren’t always familiar to me.
For a very long period of time, I felt completely disconnected from my surroundings, because despite spending most of my time here, New York still didn’t feel like home. I passed by thousands of people each and every day, yet still felt “alone in a crowded room”. In one of my projects, I attempted to remedy this feeling by exploring the area right outside of my dorm and documenting it with photographs. Ultimately, those photos were an attempt to connect myself with my surroundings–to show myself, as well as others, how I see and experience the city. Although none of the photos include me, they are truly a reflection of me and my life as a New Yorker.
In another one of my projects, I observed the organization of Madison Square Park in hopes that I would discover something about its greater purpose. In doing so, I found that the park actually happens to be a wonderful example of the aforementioned symbiotic relationship between the individual and New York. While elements such as benches, restaurants, and walkways clearly make up the park, it is in fact the people who give it life and ultimately purpose. We as humans built the park, effectively changing the landscape of the city and subsequently guiding the way we move through it. In essence, Madison Square Park becomes a center of interaction–an exchange between the individual and New York City.
To further explore this concept, I asked sixteen students (eight males and eight females) questions relating to New York City. The first was as follows: “What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of New York City?”; the second was: “In one word, what do you want and/or see for the future of New York City?”. Though I received a wide range of answers, there was a clear pattern emerging–a huge disparity existed between how these individuals viewed New York in the present and how they envisioned New York in the future. Each student’s response was undoubtedly influenced by their personal experiences in the city, and thus a reflection of who they are in relation to New York as a whole. When it came to the first question, some answers were negative, some neutral, some positive, yet their answers to the second question were extremely illuminating–each student, regardless of background, pictured a brighter, more beautiful, more efficient, more accepting city. From this, one could derive an overall message of hope, but above all else, I want everyone to understand that we have agency. We are shaped by the city, but we also have the amazing power to shape it. We are the individuals who hold the key to making these visions a reality. WE are the individuals who can not only change New York City, but the entire world.
