From the sweltering, dark, narrow passageways of NYC’s subway system to the bright, sunny sidewalks of East 23rd and its surrounding blocks, these pages are dedicated to our interesting conversations with the residents of the neighborhood!
In total, we interviewed five different people, each diverse in their own backgrounds and personalities, and each from different parts of the neighborhood:
Chasity is a middle aged, African American, librarian from the Epiphany Library with a friendly attitude.
Chris is a young, 3rd generation Italian college student at Hunter with a passion for sarcasm.
Jane and John were 20-year-old, immigrant, Baruch students.
Corey is a SVA student, majoring in film.
(Make sure to check out our map to see where specific locations mentioned in the interviews are located!)
(Please note that not every participant answered each question/were asked the same questions due to things like an interview being cut short, preferring not to answer, not knowing enough to answer, etc.)
Now time for the questions!
1. What kinds of people are in this block? How diverse is this neighborhood?
Chasity: “Well, in the library, we get a lot of families, students, veterans, senior citizens, homeless people- although I think that’s the same in every library, we also get a lot of drug users from clinics. Also, we get a lot of people previously incarcerated since a lot of them go through the shelter system when they get released- oh, there’s a shelter nearby here too. So from what it seems, it’s pretty diverse.”
Chris: “Well, there’s certainly no on running around with pitchforks, and it’s pretty mutual in terms of race, so I’d say it’s pretty diverse around here. I also see a lot of students like from Baruch, NYU or SVA.”
Corey: “It seems predominately Caucasian, but by a small margin. Although you could still probably find any ethnicity around here.”
Jane: “All kinds of people, its very diverse.”
John: [In response to Jane’s answer] “Yeah… everyone here is also pretty busy, everyone’s really focused on doing their own thing, doing what they need to do.”
2. Do you know any history about this place/neighborhood/block?
Chasity: “ I know vague things, like I know this neighborhood used to be a lot more affluent- or at least I’ve heard, but now it’s more of a mix. I know this library has been here since 1911 and it was created by a Catholic church.”
Chris: “So this area is called Kips Bay. It’s pretty hip, but not super hip. The big draw is certainly 23rd street. I know the Brookdale dorms are falling apart and it used to be a hospital.”
Corey: “I know that it’s apparently been continually improving since the 60’s.”
3. What is your impression of this neighborhood?
Chasity: “…we have a mix of good and bad people, although from what I’ve learned is that it’s always been that way in terms of people, I guess from Union Square and that crowd of people.”
Corey: “ I couldn’t really say. It doesn’t have much of a distinct personality. Aside from SVA student who hang out around here, it seems most people just pass through to get somewhere else.”
Jane: “It’s good!”
John: “I can’t think of anything bad to say about it. Although I don’t live here. I wouldn’t want to live in a place so busy like this.”
4. What’s your favorite thing about the neighborhood? And what spaces have the greatest meaning in the neighborhood?
Chasity: “Hmm… that it’s convenient. Since we’re next to Union Square, it’s easy to go shopping. It’s also pretty quiet around here, although the walk to the [subway] station is far. But maybe that’s a good thing, so it’s not as crowded as it would be. Oh, and there’s lots of bars.”
Chris: “So the park next to the Brookdale dorms is where all the kids go to get f***ed up. There’s also the waterside, to cool out during the summer and breathe in the clean, healthy air from the East River. But I don’t know what people do in the East River though, for all I know, there might be corpses in there.”
Corey: “Well it’s relatively quiet and safe around here. And the bike trails near the East River are my favorite places to hang out and relax.”
5. Do you think this neighborhood is connected to the rest of the city? Like, do you feel that this neighborhood is the same as the rest of NYC or is it different?
Chasity: “I think this neighborhood is a good representation to NYC. Because I’ve been to other locations and I think some are very specific to the neighborhood. Here we get a lot more of a mixture of people and a lot more representation, whether it be income or ethnic wise.”
Chris: “It [the neighborhood] certainly has an identity and it definitely caters to the Hospital complexes around here. Every single building from 23rd to 27th street seems to be a hospital building of some sort, like the veteran building or Bellevue [hospital] on 28th.
Corey: “Pretty much. Decent amounts of people are usually roaming around, trying to get places. It doesn’t have much charm as other places though.”
6. What students do you come into contact with? Where do they come from?
Chasity: “Mostly from SVA, not so much from the NYU dorms. And those that come just do so to get library cards.”
Chris: “I see SVA kids, NYU kids, and Baruch kids. Baruch kids are the most involved in the city. And I see them the most since I have to walk past Baruch to get to the 6 train.”
Corey: “Sometimes I see friends I know from Hunter College around the neighborhood, but other than that I don’t think I’ve ever made direct contact with students from other colleges in the area. I always see other students around, but I’ve never talked to them.”
John: “I actually come into contact with Queens, York, NYU, and St. john’s students.”
7. Is there any group missing from this neighborhood? Is it a problem? Would you want to change this?
Chasity: “We get less of working people, because of our hours, and their work hours, etc. And we see more of the retired seniors, and those that don’t work… that’s a group I would like to see more of, because they’re the working people of the city. But it’s just a thing of timing.”
Jane: “I don’t know, I haven’t really paid attention. But every time I’m here, I see all kinds of people so it’s diverse. But I don’t pay much attention to it.”
John: “I mean I would assume that anyone coming here is for school, I can’t tell who lives here or doesn’t live here.”
8. What would you change about this neighborhood?
Chasity: “Mmm, I don’t think I would change anything. The only thing is probably transportation, which they are supposedly doing something about with the 2nd avenue train, I guess that eventually won’t be a issue. Otherwise, the way NYC is set up, you can’t say that maybe if we didn’t have these kinds of people or those kinds, then it would be easier to do whatever, or we wouldn’t have this. But NYC is a city, so regardless of the elements that make it less fun, it’s just the nature of being in NYC. So there’s nothing I could change, because that’s kind of eliminating aspects. The only that would be nice is less criminal activity, because we’ve gotten our door broken in. But that’s NYC so you cant really complain *shrug*. ”
Chris: “I would probably make it less busier, but I think that’s everyone’s complaint, that they wish it were less hectic. I mean it’s not that bad around here. But with all the hospitals around here, it’s kind of hard to sleep at night with all the ambulances. But I did grow up on a busy street, so I’m used to it. But someone not from NYC might get startled by all the noises.”
Corey: “I can’t really think of anything I would change. Maybe a nicer place to hangout outside or a little more greenery could be visually appealing.”
Jane: “I would put more places to eat! There are very few places and we eat the same thing every day!”
9. What official/unofficial things happen in this neighborhood?
Chasity: “There’s a mixture of stuff around here, like I was saying there’s a mixture of people here so I would a imagine a mixture of official/unofficial activities. I do think there are a couple of particular people who are like public menaces because cops know them by their name. But for the most part, I feel like most people behave, but like I said before, I think it’s representative of NYC. Because it [the neighborhood] is okay most of the time, but sometimes, it’s not okay. So I would say most of the time official things happen around here.”
Chris: “The waterside is where kids go to have ‘fun’.“
Corey: “Not much really happens here, I think.”
10. Do you think this neighborhood is catered to dogs?
Chris: “Yeah sure, there’s a dog park at the end of West 23rd, it’s far from here but it’s nice and free.”
Corey: “There aren’t that many dogs, probably because dog owners would prefer to walk their pet in a park or a nicer area with grass. It’s not a very residential area, either. This is probably similar to most non-residential areas.”
*Make sure to check out Jalissa’s article about dog and corporate brand stores!!!*
11. Would you say this is an important block of NYC?
Chasity: “Hahaha, I think every block is important. We have certain things in this neighborhood, like a deaf school, dorms, SVA, s it has a lot of important elements to it.”
Corey: “There’s nothing very specifically unique about this block. It’s got some decent restaurants and diners, plus a lot of thrift stores.”
12. What problems/ conflicts do you see around here?
Chasity: “Well, like I said we have a recently incarcerated population around here. And we’ve gotten our building vandalized a few times.”
Corey: “I can’t really think of many problems that arise around the area aside from the occasional random fights that people engage in on the streets.”
13. What evidence or artifacts of connection to the broader city (i.e. bus lines, buildings dedicated to city services, etc.) do you see in this area (Kips Bay)?
Corey: “There are local and express buses, as well as subway stations, that run nearby the area. It’s pretty easy to get around if you’re willing to do a little walking to and from the stations and stops.”
14. Why would someone come to this area to live?
Chris: “Because it’s right next to the water and the property value is probably really high. And the architecture is really nice; the buildings are certainly well built, not necessarily beautiful, but more like American utilitarianism. There’s a nice view, Queens on one side, Brooklyn on the other. Of course, the whole East side is like this, but this area especially. And there’s also some nice apartments near the water. And there’s an International School for Children here. And this is a very dog friendly neighborhood.”
Corey: “NYC is very unique and different from any other place in the world. Some people thrive on the energy and movement of the city, it’s something most people should get to experience.”
15. Why would someone leave this place?
Chris: “Should I start form the beginning? It’s loud, you can’t play music very loud [in the dorms], it’s hard to park, you have to deal with people all the time and the 6 train is far. There’s definitely more but… *laugh*.”
Corey: “The city definitely isn’t for everyone. Anyone who’s anxious about being around large groups of people will certainly not be satisfied here. Also, the sense of freedom and openness is lacking.”
16. Is there anything else you’d like to say about this neighborhood?
Chasity: “Its okay, I like it. I think that anywhere in NYC, you get a little bit of everything, although I do appreciate that- because I prefer working on the lower east side rather than the upper east side because the people are less snobby. But I will say that you shouldn’t judge an area by all the bad stuff, because then you’re completely missing all the good elements, like there are some good kids and parents here. So I rather focus on the positive not the bad. I think this neighborhood is a good one though, I wouldn’t say it’s the safest, but its not a scary place. In NYC, you have to take things at face value, but around here, I think it’s a good place.”
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