New York City - A Southerner's Perspective

SpawnOfVulcan · #1 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 5:32 PM**

So, during my Spring Break in March, I took a trip to New York City to visit with one of my close friends who is doing Teach for America in Brooklyn. One of my fellow grad students is from New Jersey, so we split the gas on the way there and back. I walked, roughly, 50 miles (around 10 a day) during the free time I had to myself and wound up coming back to Tuscaloosa with a bad case of shin splints in my left leg (running the length of the Brooklyn Bridge 4 times probably didn't help matters...).

It was easily the best Spring Break I'd ever had. Till I went to NYC, Los Angeles was the largest city I'd ever been to; needless to say, New York was completely different. Although, living so far away, New York had always seemed like this foreign universe that I myself would feel incredibly awkward and out of place in; I was surprised to find that the city was entirely normal (not underwhelming by any means) and I felt right at home.

As I said before, I spent my days walking countless miles, one day even walking from the midsection of Central Park all the way to the tip of Manhattan (I quickly found out that I walk as impatiently as a New Yorker). I also put around 100 miles on the subway, which was incredibly cheap, easy to use, and convenient despite its rough exterior. I've ridden plenty of train and subway systems, but nothing as comprehensive as New York's.

Aside from my movement throughout the city, I took tons of pictures, which is what this thread is for.

Any comments I have about a specific picture will appear ABOVE the image, btw. Additionally, I've tried to adjust the image sizes so that 1) the page doesn't take forever to load and 2) so that you can actually tell what you're looking at

Hope you enjoy!

Well, before arriving in New York, my friend and I stopped in DC for the night and went out for a night on the town.

The next day, she drove me to Philadelphia and dropped me off at Penn, where my friend was attending an info session about a grad program he's applying to. In Philadelphia, I made it a point to see the city hall and have a cheesesteak during the 2 hours I had in the city. Around 5:30PM, we boarded the Acela for The Big Apple. (I took these first two with my iPad, btw)

View of Manhattan from the Acela in New Jersey.

Some views of Manhattan, and the QBB, from the rooftop of my friend's apartment building in Queens.

A Queen from Queens by ALalto, on Flickr

On to Manhattan!

On my way to the High Line...

High Line time!

Interesting fact: the High Line lost out to Birmingham's Railroad Park for the Urban Land Institute's Urban Open Space Award.

Next stop, Greenwich Village.

And onward to Lower Manhattan.

Next day, on up to Columbia.

Time for Brooklyn.

Would not wanna have this guy's job....

On to Grand Central, for the third (and last) time during my trip.

My friend finally decided to show me Bryant Park; I'd ridden by it countless times on the 7 train, but I never got off to see it.

Some night shots from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Queensboro Plaza, the station I departed from each day.

On to Flushing.

And finally, my fellow grad student and I stop at Little River Canyon in NE Alabama before heading back to Tuscaloosa.

Well, that is all. I hope you all enjoyed at least some of it, and I pray it wasn't too long!

detroitmetro101 · #2 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 5:47 PM**

the queensboro bridge is my favorite bridge, in the world.

brickell · #3 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 7:18 PM**

Nice

STLgasm · #4 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 8:12 PM**

Beautiful photos!

ColDayMan · #5 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 8:48 PM**

You did it!

volguus zildrohar · #6 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 9:24 PM**

Glad you enjoyed!

mrnyc · #7 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 10:49 PM**

very good -- you sure got around!

franktko · #8 Posted **Apr 16, 2013, 11:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by detroitmetro101

the queensboro bridge is my favorite bridge, in the world.

It's a wonderful bridge and it doesn't have the recognition it deserves, with all the other famous bridges in NY...

SpawnOfVulcan · #9 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 1:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by franktko

It's a wonderful bridge and it doesn't have the recognition it deserves, with all the other famous bridges in NY...

I completely agree. My friend used to have the same view from his balcony as you can get from his rooftop. Recently, a new building has been under construction between his and the East River; now, all you can see is maybe the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

Yorkie · #10 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 3:49 AM**

A New Yorker in the making.....Impressive, nice tour...I can hook you up with some gay clutter too take back home with you..

Chicago103 · #11 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 10:25 AM**

Glad you had a good time on your first visit to NYC. You said you had been to Los Angeles before and found it quite different, not surprising but I am also wondering have you ever been to Chicago and how from your perspective is it similar or different from what you experienced in NYC? I guess what I am trying to get at is Chicago seen as less intimidating to a typical southerner than NYC or are both cities so different from the sunbelt that both are seen as super urban and different?

antoine-c · #12 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 11:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago103

Glad you had a good time on your first visit to NYC. You said you had been to Los Angeles before and found it quite different, not surprising but I am also wondering have you ever been to Chicago and how from your perspective is it similar or different from what you experienced in NYC? I guess what I am trying to get at is Chicago seen as less intimidating to a typical southerner than NYC or are both cities so different from the sunbelt that both are seen as super urban and different?

Like mostly here, I love super urban cities. I visited both Chicago and New York City. Fell in love with the two. Maybe the cities (including Paris

) where I had the best time.
Chicago is quite impressive and very diversified. Less disproportionated and irrational than NYC. I'm French and I definitely found that Chicago breathes American culture more than NYC (due to the number of tourists whitout a doubt).
High skyscrapers are present in both cities giving you the same "canyon" feeling by walking in the streets.
What I've felt (as a foreigner): Chicago has not the crazy mood which represents NYC. Architecture is as diversified and awesome in Chicago as in NYC. Chicago river is better integrated in the city. There is no big landmarks worldwide known in Chicago (except Millemium, Sears and Hancock and Magnificient) compared to NYC has (Liberty, Times Square, Central Park): I think that's the biggest difference between the 2 cities.
In the matter of sports teams... I prefer let you make your own opinion

In conclusion, I think there is a gap between the sizes of the cities and landmarks worldwide known. But you can find the same atmosphere in the streets and such a beautiful architectural diversity.
Chicago is a must see as well

SpawnOfVulcan · #13 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 2:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yorkie

A New Yorker in the making.....Impressive, nice tour...I can hook you up with some gay clutter too take back home with you..

Hahaha, too bad I'm no longer up there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago103

Glad you had a good time on your first visit to NYC. You said you had been to Los Angeles before and found it quite different, not surprising but I am also wondering have you ever been to Chicago and how from your perspective is it similar or different from what you experienced in NYC? I guess what I am trying to get at is Chicago seen as less intimidating to a typical southerner than NYC or are both cities so different from the sunbelt that both are seen as super urban and different?

I've not yet been to Chicago. I'll put it this way, I guess... before visiting New York, I was less intimidated by Chicago than NYC. To me, I think that has more to do with the difference in population than anything. I was definitely intimidated by New York on the way up there, very nervous about how I was going to do by myself as far as getting around and not looking like an oblivious tourist.

To the typical Southerner, I think those cities do seem really, really different. For the typical, insulated Southerner (not being one, I can only guess), I'd say it's the "legend" of the cities. Kind of like the cities are so much larger than life that there's no way the city could possibly be anything like what we have down here. The degree to which that is true is entirely open to interpretation; personally, however, I didn't see the cities (LA and NYC) as being so different.

That being said, I think it's important to note that the varying lifestyles of a Southerner is probably a huge factor. If you're a person living in the middle of urban Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Nashville, etc... NYC, Chicago, and LA probably don't seem so foreign. The way my grandfather put it, where he grew up in Gadsden, AL (which at that time wasn't all that small of a city for the South) back in the 1920s and 30s, "New York was just somewhere you heard about." Even traveling the 50 miles to Birmingham, back then, was seen as a grand adventure that I would probably compare to visiting DC.

I must say, though, I could see myself living in New York. LA? Nope.

simms3_redux · #14 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 3:04 PM**

Awesome thread! As another southerner (well...FL then Atlanta for 6+ years) I was always overwhelmed more by NYC than Chicago. Having spent much time in Chicago due to family, I have no qualms about saying that Manhattan makes the Windy City seem a bit like a farm town in comparison

(love both cities differently, both are much larger than SF!)

fflint · #15 Posted **Apr 17, 2013, 11:52 PM**

Nice photos

jcchii · #16 Posted **Apr 18, 2013, 1:47 AM**

good shots. WTC looking great.
giving yourself shin splints from walking is a sign of dedication

for what it's worth (not much)
I just had my southern friend (atl) in chicago this week. One of his major impressions from the crime, warehouses, lower level streets, brooding skyscrapers and rain was that it looked like a place where "the joker could actually be real"

not sure that's good

TimCity2000 · #17 Posted **Apr 18, 2013, 3:48 AM**

great photos! glad you enjoyed your visit.

SpawnOfVulcan · #18 Posted **Apr 18, 2013, 3:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcchii

good shots. WTC looking great.
giving yourself shin splints from walking is a sign of dedication

for what it's worth (not much)
I just had my southern friend (atl) in chicago this week. One of his major impressions from the crime, warehouses, lower level streets, brooding skyscrapers and rain was that it looked like a place where "the joker could actually be real"

not sure that's good

Haha, not sure it is....

Coming from someone (myself) who has spent all but a year and a half living in Alabama, I only felt the "get the eff outta here" somewhere between Chinatown and the part of Manhattan due east of Union Square closer to the East River (things got a bit TOO quiet). I could be pulling that outta my a** though, there were days that I walked so much I couldn't remember where I'd been.

Btw, 2 and a half weeks later, my left leg has finally stopped hurting. Still gotta rest, though...

Kingofthehill · #19 Posted **Apr 18, 2013, 4:07 AM**

if nothing else, queensboro/lic has some amazing, amazing views of manhattan!

SpawnOfVulcan · #20 Posted **Apr 18, 2013, 4:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

if nothing else, queensboro/lic has some amazing, amazing views of manhattan!

It really does. I'm planning on finding some way to frame the better pictures I took of the QBB and Midtown for my friend since he was so upset about losing his view (not kidding, he was quite upset).

I would usually force him to get off the 7 at Vernon - Jackson so I could get some beer at a deli and the views from down lic were amazing even at street-level.