New York City: skyscrapers, taxis, tourists, Times Square, smog, trash, homeless people, traffic, delis. This is a fairly accurate stereotype of Manhattan, especially along any of the major avenues. On this particular day, I found myself walking down 7th Avenue to my History of Design class downtown, and this sensory rush was giving me a migraine. I hit the classic orange hand crosswalk light, and made a left down a side street to head towards the 12th Street building.
I quickly found myself relieved of the migraine. The cars and sounds and people were left behind me as I walked down 13th Street towards 6th Avenue. Trees were planted alongside the sidewalk and next to doorways, with black cast-iron grates artfully allowing the roots space in the pavement. The skyscrapers were replaced with older buildings, surely skyscrapers in their day but now simply aged, vintage-like residences and local businesses. The red and brown bricks had a
certain indescribable warmth, something that the newer buildings lacked. Beautiful Art Noveau-like fences and doorways lined the block.Then I was on 6th Avenue, and the stereotypes re-ensued.
While I find myself highly inspired by the modernity of New York, I also enjoy looking to the past. The vintage quality of older sections of the city possesses an authenticity that the newer parts
have yet to earn.
