Madison Square Park has always been one of my favorite places in New York City toeat, socialize, and relax on a nice summer day before I moved to the city. Now that MadisonSquare Park is right next to Baruch, I am able to enjoy it on a daily basis, with the help of some Shake Shack. I believe that Madison Square Park is one of the best places to capture the social community of New York City and how well it represents the congregation of people throughout.
Today I visited Madison Square Park with Lewis Mumford’s theory in mind, the theory that the city is a symbol of collective unity and is subsequently theatrical and artistic in its own ways. As I stepped into the park, I noticed how many people were sitting, eating, and chatting with each other, although it was a rather cold and rainy day. I wondered who these people were, and why they would want to sit outside on such a cold day. I wondered who they were talking to, and what they were talking about. Just being able to watch these people go about their lives was, in away, a “collective drama” of its own. There is always something going on in Madison Square Park, whether its people talking, walking, reading, or just about anything else you can do outside in New York City. To me, this represents a “collective drama” because there is always something taking place.
I then began to observe a child trying to feed the birds, as he proceeded to be attacked by a few of them. I found this to be an excellent representation of the city as a “theater of social action.” I noticed how his father was shouting at him to stop, while he disobeyed. It was a comedy, something I would want to watch on television. In New York City, there are so many people interacting with each other, that you have no idea what the result will be. I found it so funny that the boy’s father was warning him to stop feeding the birds, until the boy was bombarded by over 10 birds at a time. New York City really is a “theater of social action” and a “significant collective drama” that anyone is able to observe and appreciate as they are passing by.
I really enjoyed your observations on the boy and his father in his small quest to play and be attacked by birds, despite his warnings not to. I feel as thought there are a lot of things that by fate occur in the streets and corners of NYC, and that’s probably why so many television shows and movies use NYC as their setting. For some reason, the city sparks something in us that is dramatic and unifying, and funny! I loved your blog because it was a very real observation and analysis of what NYC specifically is, and the things that happen here.
I really liked your use of pictures. I also really liked your example of the child interacting with the birds and how you related it to something that could be a scene in a tv show Its kinda weird to realize that events we see everyday could easily be part of a show we can watch on TV. Most TV shows portray fake events that are written up and acted out but those events can easily happen in our own real world