6 posts tagged “nyc”

"A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy."

Wasn't that the description of Long Island in some movie a while back?  Ugh!

It's definitely a cultural wasteland of strip malls, big box retailers and bland chain restaurants. Not to mention ugly cookie cutter houses, bad drainage and poor land use planning.

Guess where we went yesterday?

What should have been a pleasant day out for Salomé and I became a reminder of everything I hate about suburbia as we drove out to the father-in-law's place in Bethpage so the kids could hang in the pool while we caught a movie. Instead, torrential downpours pushed them indoors to McDonald's (they didn't mind) while we wandered the many unsigned streets of eastern Nassau County trying to find a movie theater that Yahoo! Maps told us was to the right when it was actually to the left. It took a while to find our backup theater using my cell phone and Verizon Maps, but a wrong turn and the stupidest parking lot design ever for a relatively new movie theater meant strike two, and having wasted an hour driving in circles in the rain, we decided to just eat instead.

Only problem was finding somewhere that wasn't fast food, an Irish pub, or strip mall Italian, which proved impossible -- oddly, out of the seven Chinese restaurants we passed, all but two were out of business and one was take-out only -- and we ended up at Chili's.

Yes, Chili's.

I. Hate. Long. Island.

Cherry pickers

A rare relaxing weekend that included a trip upstate for an afternoon of cherry picking at Lawrence Farms Orchards on Saturday, and a walk to the local branch of the NY Public Library today, an impressive facility smack in the middle of a neighborhood dealing with gang problems. Gotta love NYC, no?

No?

Ah, shaddup! :-P

Me, Self-Portrait

New York City: It's more than just a city, it's a state of mind.

Not the most original thought, but over the years, I've come to appreciate/realize that you don't have to be a native New Yorker to be a New Yorker. Some transplants come here already more of a New Yorker than many of those who've spent their entire lives here; others come with wild illusions and assumptions that are quickly dispelled, and they either adjust to reality or skip town a year or two later with complaints about how tough it is to live here. Some natives, on the other hand, can't wait to get the hell out of dodge from the minute they take their first subway ride.

IMO, being a New Yorker is about being able to live in the moment; to appreciate the now while keeping a wary but unobsessive eye out for the later. It's about appreciating craving diversity in every aspect of your life and not settling for less.

Unless you're a millionaire, New York may not be a terribly friendly place, but it's not an adversarial one, either, except perhaps for the truly weak of heart. I'd say it's neutral, aloof, even; but tameable, for sure. And for those willing to make the effort, there's no more rewarding place I can think of to live. I've moved away a number of times -- from just over the River in New Jersey, to as far away as Virginia, Florida and Tennessee -- but no matter how much I thought I had left for good, I've always found my way back.

You ask me what I am without specifying ethnicity or nationality, and I'll say a New Yorker. Not American, or half-Black, half-Puerto Rican, but a New Yorker; for better or worse, good times and bad, and proud of it.

It's a random thought that popped into my head in reference to a couple of things I've been thinking about recently, including the most recent version of Plan: World Domination, in a "think globally, act locally" kind of way. 

More later, as I continue to think it through and assemble my army. Stay tuned...

The Good News: According to standards, India's early intervention and ABA therapy over the past two years have resulted in remarkable improvements in her speech and sociability, and she is ready to move on to a less restrictive environment for Kindergarten in the fall. Effectively, she is no longer considered autistic.

The Bad News: According to standards, India's early intervention and ABA therapy over the past two years have resulted in remarkable improvements in her speech and sociability, and she is ready to move on to a less restrictive environment for Kindergarten in the fall. Effectively, she is now being considered a tempermental kid with a speech delay who needs more structure than a traditional classroom offers, but might not qualify for the only special ed program that actually meets her needs because she's not considered autistic anymore.

Special Education Funding

The Problem: If India doesn't get accepted into the NEST program (which is looking less and less likely with each meeting and evaluation, the most recent of which saw her scoring 4 points below the "mild autism" range that would have kept her in the running), she's looking at a CTT setting* in a regular public school. In theory, it's a great idea, but as is often the case here in NYC, the execution leaves a little something to be desired as overcrowded classes are the norm and the thought of her in a classroom with 30 other kids, even with two teachers, is a bit worrisome. It's the kind of thing that is overly dependent on the teachers involved, and while I've always believed that a good teacher and attentive parents can overcome many (not all) systemic deficiencies in a school, it's a real crapshoot here as most good teachers tend to flee the City after a few years for more money and better resources in the surrounding suburbs.

Because she still hasn't been assigned a school by the CSE yet, and the June 15th deadline has passed, we still have a shot at getting a Nickerson letter which would require the DoE to cover the costs of a private school setting that meets her needs, finding such a program will be difficult since most are either too restrictive and/or autism-specific.

Right this minute, though, we're sitting in limbo, and it's a little difficult to focus on the good news aspect of all this when the bad news looms on the horizon, threatening to blot it out completely. Nevertheless, it's what I'm clinging to, because as cyncial as I tend to be about a lot of most things, when it comes to my kids, there's always going to be a silver lining.

* Random Side Note: PS 75 is where I went to school for 4th-6th grade. If we could find a place in that neighborhood, I'd move in a second!

John Barleycorn

In an effort to streamline the "Hey, let's go have a drink tonight!" process, I've created the Spontaneous Drinking Network(TM), a group of friends' cell phone numbers in my address book to whom I can send a text message whenever I'm in the mood for a drink with others who have demonstrated the ability to handle their liquor with aplomb, with the time and location where I intend to do battle with Mr. John Barleycorn and would like them to accompany me.

ie: SDN: Trailer Park Lounge, 271 W 23rd St @ 6pm

Like the Bat Signal, this alert could come at anytime, but unlike the Bat Signal, it is relatively non-binding. If they can make it, cool, I'll see them there; if not, I'll see them next time. Either way, I'm getting my drink on, because some days are just like that.

All of my best drinking friends are spread out across the City, especially since several of us have changed jobs recently, and I'd like to desegregate my "work" friends and my "poetry" friends as I don't see the latter nearly often enough these days, and I don't want my usual "out of sight, out of mind" thing to happen with the former now that they're technically no longer "work" friends, just friends I happened to meet at past jobs. Text messaging is a much simpler method than the usual 57 emails back and forth to see who can hang out and where everyone wants to go and next thing you know, you're at the default place with the lousy beer selection and no jukebox!

In fact, now that I think about it, some liquor company totally needs to give me an endorsement deal, a la the "Wazzup?!" guys for this.

FIT

One of the many appealing aspects about the new job is the significantly shorter commute, cutting at least 20 minutes off my old tip-of-Manhattan adventures on a good day; as much as 40 minutes when things really get bogged down (aka, a typical day!).  I can now leave home as late as 8:15am and still walk into the office at 9am on the dot.  It's great for bad weather days, too, because, if I choose, I can be above-ground for a combined ONE BLOCK now that I can take the D-train, which is mere steps from my front door, and switch to the 1-train, which leaves me 2/3rds of a block from the office.

The food selection is a million times better; much more diverse, both culinarily (is that a word?) and financially. Better shopping, too, with Herald Square and Whole Foods both in walking distance, and Midtown Comics close enough to not require an extended lunch.

The office is on the same floor as a non-profit poetry organization I've worked with in the past, and in the midst of FIT's campus, so the energy is noticeably lighter than the tourist and suit-heavy crowd downtown, perhaps best evidenced by the many skateboarders and the handwritten sign posted in one of the dorm windows: "I know we're hot! Please don't look in our window!"

Going home is a little sketchier than it used to be, as I'll never get a seat and am likely to miss an occasional train due to overcrowding, but that's a more than acceptable trade-off in light of everything else.

The office itself is laid-back and casual, which is good considering the first few days have been a whirlwind of activity as I try to digest everything, establish some integrated organizational systems (I do handle now what three people used to) and make the adjustment from being responsible for only one slice of the pie to being responsible for the whole pie.  It's akin to being a player/coach/assistant GM in a lot of ways, but it works for the control freak in me who plays best with others when I'm calling the shots.

Some jobs, you get an immediate gut feeling for whether or not it was a good move, and this one, so far, feels like the best move I've made since taking a pay cut to work for Poets & Writers so many years ago. Except, thankfully, without the pay cut this time!