As we’re nearing the end of our 1 month stay here in New York, it’s really great to see how much we’ve done while here. We’ve managed to devote time to work, squeeze in some time for meetings, see what the Big Apple has to offer and experience what it’s like to be living here, not merely as a tourist per se.
Today was another day packed with work, but it wasn’t just an ordinary day - it was the first day it really snowed while we were here in New York. So we decided to put our work on hold for a few minutes and go out and enjoy it. After all, we don’t know when in our trip we’ll get to see the next snow.
Any of you who have grown up on a diet of American gangster movies have probably heard of the Manhattan neighborhood called Hell’s Kitchen. This neighborhood has been featured in movies from State of Grace to Sleepers and was once the home of notorious Irish American gangs. Those days are long past though, and today it just looks like a slightly more run-down neighborhood with signs that construction is going on and it is getting a facelift.
There is also a small flea market held in this neighborhood every Saturday and Sunday and today we went down to see if there was anything interesting. Walking the short distance from Broadway to Hell’s Kitchen, I wondered if I would still see the 1920s buildings that once housed gangsters such as Owney Madden. Most of those buildings seem to be long gone, although there are occasional signs of aging buildings that probably wouldn’t have been out of place a century ago.
This part of town has a more gritty look
Some buildings that have seen better days
The flea market didn’t seem to have much going on. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe we were a bit late (got there around 2ish), but whatever the reason it seems that there were fewer stalls than buildings which had seen the last century through. The few stalls that were there, sold everything from second-hand boots to glassware and trinkets.
Once back in Jersey City, we had our first snowfall since Chicago. It didn’t last long, but it was nice to see it finally snowed after all the cold.
Last night Grace was up trading and monitoring the markets and didn’t get much sleep, so today we decided to stay closer to home and wander around Jersey City. We didn’t get too far and ended up spending most our time in Newport Mall and a few supermarkets around there.But what could be more American than hanging out in a mall, in the country where even a movie - albeit a comedy - called “Mall Rats” was made. Oh yes, one other thing more American would be fast food, and that’s something I decided to skip out on today. I had completely od’d on it over the past weeks since we’ve been here as we’ve been rushing around seeing places without much time for a proper meal, so today I decided to go for Asian fast food
Now, if we were on a holiday, such a mundane day would be considered sacrilege to our spirit of exploration, but this is not a holiday, it’s a lifestyle. We must get our work done wherever we are, and sometimes we must take a holiday from our holiday to get that work done
