I did such a "New York" thing

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As I was unsuccessfully getting people to talk to me for my issue piece, I resorted to sitting in Starbucks and bothering people who were enjoying a cup of coffee to get quotes. People in coffee houses like to talk. This particular Starbucks was crowded because the weather was lousy and there weren't many tables to sit at. About twenty minutes into my experiment, a gorgeous woman who looked like a model approached me and asked if she could sit at my table. I had an extra chair and no one was sitting with me, so I decided to share my table. I used the opportunity to ask if she would answer a few questions for me. She turned out to be the nicest one that I spoke with and I ended up giving her my contact information because she may have some connections for me in fashion journalism. Tweet This

For the fashion conscious...

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and for those who have a love affair with all things concerning fashion, check out http://ny.racked.com/.
This blog covers what's going on in retail all over New York City and even breaks down news by neighborhood. Get updates about your favorite stores and breaking news about sample sales, special in-store events, products to drool over, store reviews and cool places to check out. A special "Street Scene" section is devoted to fashionality found on the bodies of New Yorkers around the city. You can vote on what you like and what you think looks horrendous, and even get some ideas for your own outfits. This blog is perfect for keeping up on what's going on in the retail-dense areas of the city such as SoHo. Tweet This

Time warp: An extensive presentation about firefighting in New York

One of my friends has a thing for men in uniform. She’s met some hot firefighter friends throughout the years, so I decided to check out the New York City Fire Museum this afternoon, hoping to meet some of my own eye candy.

The Fire Department City of New York (FDNY) is the largest fire department in the United States and has been around since 1648. As a journalist, it’s important to have an understanding of this organization’s connection with the city. The Museum preserves materials from the history of firefighting in New York. It is located in a renovated 1904 firehouse at 278 Spring Street, between Hudson and Varick Streets in SoHo.

I was surprised when I walked into an empty museum, apart from the three couples there besides myself and a few of the Museum’s staff coming in and out.

You first walk into a small, hokey gift shop with FDNY T-shirts, toys and coffee mugs. There is also a wooden box for a $5 suggested donation (but you don't have to pay if you don't want to.) Guided tours, led by members of the FDNY’s Education unit, are available to groups with a minimum of 10 individuals.

The experience does get better as you wander through two floors of pretty remarkable collections, including a tribute to 9/11.

There is a large, main room on the first floor with fire-related artifacts from the late 18th century to the present. You can find several large engines in this room, including a horse-drawn buggy that was used before fire trucks to reach fires.



A hour-long video gives you an idea of what it is like to be a firefighter. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but I still got the impression that members of the FDNY are devoted to their jobs.

I was interested in seeing the September 11 Memorial after visiting the Tribute WTC Visitor Center with my journalism class. The Museum’s two-room exhibit focuses on the firefighters that lost their lives on 9/11. There is a wall of tiles with pictures of each of the 343 fallen members of the FDNY. Visitors can watch a computer presentation of some unbelievable photos from that day, view glass cases filled with remains, such as a piece of one of the planes, a camera that was left behind, a firefighter’s lost helmet. The Museum collected patches from firefighters who came from all over the country to help with relief efforts, which are displayed on two huge boards.



The second floor contains more artifacts from different time periods– helmets, uniform parts, parade hats, tools, hand pumped fire engines and early fire apparatus.

The third floor loft is a space that can be rented out for parties and special events.

Something you should note: The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It is closed on Mondays and major holidays.

The Museum also runs a fire safety education program to teach participants how to prevent fires and what to do should one occur. For more information, check out the Museum’s website:
http://www.nycfiremuseum.org/ Tweet This

The Gunther building in SoHo between Broome and Greene Streets is an example of one of the many cast-iron buildings in the neighborhood. It is more than 135 years old and functions as a co-op apartment building.



Chalk-graffiti on the side of a storefront in SoHo that made me smile. "Orange, you glad I didn't say banana?"



I took this photo on Prince Street and Greene. I thought it was really cool and caught my attention as I walked by. I want to learn more about graffiti and investigate more displays of it in SoHo. Tweet This

10/10/10

I just came across a book that I had to put together during my junior year of high school. One of the assignments was to write diary entries about anything that you wanted. Upon reading them, I found a few that were from the first time I came to New York City and toured NYU.
For my sixteenth birthday, my mom took me to New York, a place that I had been begging her to take a trip to. I literally got the chills reading what I wrote. I was SO beyond excited to be in the city and convinced that I was going to attend NYU. "I feel like a child going to Disneyland for the first time." Kind of cliche, but I just think of how excited I was. Another weird thing is that I wrote a bit about ground zero (this is in 2006) and my journalism class just toured the tribute center down there.
My mom and I got stuck in Atlanta because our plane was delayed and had to switch planes. We stayed at the most disgusting hotel I have ever set foot in, compliments of the airline. We didn't have our bags, only our carry-on shit. I had brought a blanket on the plane that I ended up wrapping myself in to sleep because I was so scared of catching a horrible disease by sleeping on the beds. We called the front desk to bring up toiletries for us and this woman comes to our room with literally three teeth and could not speak correctly for her life.
I found this around the same time that I starting writing in that book. I was also a junior then and I'm a junior now...weird coincidence?
I even wrote about the revolving doors that are in just about every building and how cool I thought it was to walk through them...now I'm terrified of getting stuck in one, and how obsessed with Bobst I was, I cannot study there–things change.
But I'm glad that I came across this because I've been so over school lately (self-diagnosed with junioritis). It has given me a taste of the past when I didn't take certain aspects of the city and this school for granted.
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