As the resident commentator from Northern Westchester, I probably have a different relationship with law enforcement than most of my friends born and raised in the city. In my town, the police weren’t an entity to be feared or avoided. One of my best friends in high school’s father was a police officer and I frequently sat with him at their dinner table and thought nothing of it. The biggest impact cops made on my upbringing was the fact that they would frequently stop teenagers speeding down back roads when we were running late for school.
In all honesty, I’d never even had a one-on-one conversation with a working police officer until I was 19 and got pulled over for not coming to a full and complete stop before turning right at a red light. That experience was far from the violent, aggressive, or fear invoking one my friends in the city have experienced. The officer was nothing but friendly and respectful. Now, I think it would be naive to ignore the fact that being a young, female, and white most likely played a factor in how I was treated but nonetheless. The officer wrote my ticket and let me go on with my evening. That experience is a far cry from my young, male, black friend who was arrested and detained as a sophomore in high school by law enforcement in Brooklyn simply because he fit a suspect profile. My opinion of the police is largely different from my peers and is largely a product of where I grew up.
All posts by aliyahrosemeyer
About Me and My Transit Experience
About Me
My ancestors came to America in the mid-1930s just before WWII. My family tree is laden with Eastern-European Jews who emigrated through Ellis Island to escape the Nazi regime. I grew up in Somers, NY a primarily white catholic town in Northern Westchester. My school district was exceptional and I am grateful for all the opportunities my hometown afforded me academically, but the lack of diversity and the abundance of wealthy entitlement is one of the biggest reasons I chose Macaulay at Hunter. I am so appreciative of the diversity I get to experience in this city and my ability to learn about the world from my peers in a way I could not have prior to college. I also love the passion in New York City. There are so many people who are committed to so many different crafts and fields of study, it’s empowering to get to join the ranks. Finally, I love my proximity to home. My mom and I are extremely close so I love to be able to go home and spend time with her and my dogs. But I am far enough away that I am living on my own and getting to experience the pseudo-adulthood that is college in Manhattan.
One thing I don’t like about the city is how easy it is to be lonely in New York City because almost everyone is so consumed with their own busy lives that they don’t pay attention to those outside their circle of peers. This leads to my second non-favorite thing about the city: the pace only exacerbates my tendency to stress myself out. I am naturally a fast talking, multi-tasker who needs to be constantly busy and living here only pushes me to do more faster, instead of slowing down every once and awhile. Finally, I don’t like that Artichoke Pizza hasn’t made a gluten-free slice yet. Artichoke is a right of passage for Hunter students who live at Brookdale and my Celiac Disease prevents me from partaking. Other than that I love living in the city and I am proud to call New York my home.
My Transit Experience
Because I didn’t grow up in the city, I didn’t grow up riding the subway. So when I moved to Manhattan I paid a lot of attention to the people I saw on the subway. Because really, New York City subways are a pretty accurate sample of the city as a whole. You get to see every data point on the spectrum, and who you see depends on where you’re going. I also know that we see a lot of not so great things on the subway. Things that make us sad, angry, or guilty of our indifference. But I pride myself on being optimistic. I am the self-proclaimed queen of silver linings. So sometimes I take note of the things I see on the subway that make me happy. That give me faith in the world and the goodness of people. So here’s not one, but a few of my favorite subway experiences.
1 Train, northbound. Sunday 10:15am. Little girl handing out birthday invitations to everyone on the train. She’s turning 6, her party is in Central Park, and she insisted to her mother that everyone gets to be included.
6 Train, southbound. Tuesday, 7:00 pm. A young man gets on the train in a suit carrying a bouquet of flowers. As he gets on he says into his phone, “I gotta go man, I’m finally gonna tell her how I feel. I’ll let you know how it goes after.
S Train, to Times Square. Saturday 12:50pm. A gay couple holds their small child, completely enamored with her. Nothing remarkable about the couple, but the two other mother on the train watch they trio and their mutual understanding was palpable. I could almost hear the love and well wishes being sent from the mom’s to this small family.
