Notes that were taken at Madison Square Park:
-See a person throwing money into the pond
-A group of people is circling the mini pond in order to go around
-family eating around a table at shake shack
-Men with suits are smoking next to a tree
-Man and woman are walking and holding hands
-Man begging for money with a homeless sign
-Many people are rushing somewhere and speedwalking
Walking, or shall I say running to school every day through Madison Square Park is a daily routine for me. Due to this familiarity, I have been sucked into not paying attention to my surroundings and the places which I am walking through on a daily basis. Yet, in class, when we’re discussing what a city and everyone was throwing in terms to try to define a city I was a little skeptical of the definition. So when I looked at Lewis Mumford’s definition I was still a little confused until I got up and went to Madison Square Park. I couldn’t see what a city was because it was too vast to define, but using this method of a microcosm of certain areas encompassing the idea of a city worked wonders for me. The idea of Madison square park being a theatre is very true. As long as the characteristic of a drama within that theatre. A person sees so many SCENES in the park going on at once that it’s kind of a small play and it’s all being DIRECTED by the geographic nexus of the park and the people passing by are the characters. For example, I saw people circling the mini pond because they had no choice if they wanted to get the other side. Furthermore, I see a man and woman holding hands-love, men with suits are smoking-friends/business, and people are speed walking because they need to get somewhere. These are all characteristics of a complex play occurring in a somewhat random motion. Lastly, he says it’s an economic organization which is shown in shake shack and the homeless man. This provides a small scale money circulation to occur, thereby, showing its self-sufficiency in a way. When leaving the park, I noticed that the whole park is encircled into some domain and as soon as you leave that you in the vast city which reminded me if when I suggested in class that a city needs some type of city to be defined as so. The awareness which was present during and after my trip to how everything in NYC is especially complex is something I am looking forward to seeing more of in the next weeks.
By: Alon Bezalel
It is interesting to see that you went to all of the parts of the park including the pond that you listed. I focused on one part. Also, I never thought about the homeless man and his self sufficiency. It really goes to show that sometimes the city makes us rush so much that we are in a bubble that blocks out every single other person. The city definitely is complex. Great post Alon!
I loved your perspective on how the natural setting and structure of the park directed the “scenes” of the people (aka actors). I would have never seen the park in this way and that now makes me question whether structures in any setting inherently “direct” us all and our lives/functions? Really cool outlook!
I agree with the fact that using the method of a microcosm to truly comprehend the concept of a city is genius. Madison Square Park is the perfect example of a social drama and your examples really bring that concept home. I’m so excited for you to start experiencing NYC by looking around, I think it’s so important to take advantage of the fact that we live in such an incredible city. Great work!