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Dirt Cheap NYC

Saturday, February 10th, 2007

Highly recommend for any young tightwad (like myself) traveling, living, studying in NYC…

“Dirt Cheap NYC”

Published by Shecky’s
Hangover Media, Inc.
$9.95

It may be a bit hard to find in bookstores, but Amazon.com has copies.

It includes tips for getting into shows and museums for free, finding cheap eats, drinks, and outdoor action in the city. You might find yourself occasionally confused, but you’ll definitely laugh out loud as you read. It may not be complete, but it’s a great start and cheap to boot.

A couple spots Jean Tang missed:

Unoppressive, Non-Imperialist Bargain Books on Carmine St where you can find classic novels, yoga guides and erotica all in the same place. They even have travelguides as cheap as $2.

Mahmoun’s Falafel on MacDougal St where you can get delicious, and arguably nutritious fastfood in a pita for $2.

Sexual Harassment Isn’t a Game

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

So walking down a street, it’s sunny day, a guy walking by says, “hey, beautiful,” with a genuine smile and keeps on walking. That’s alright, possibly annoying, but also possibly flattering. But that is a far cry from what I’m talking about.

I was walking home on and decided for the hell of it I’d run the last few blocks home. That’s when 4 guys in a blue Civic pulled up alongside me, one hanging his head out the window and started making comments that seemed to turn me into a form of entertainment. What they said, I don’t even remember, I blocked it out. Maybe what they were saying was harmless enough, but their approach was threatening.

I didn’t stop running while I pulled both hands from my pocket and flipped them off. That fed their sick game.

“Don’t run away!”

I ran behind a dumpster on the curb and paused, wondering if I should hide there and wait for them to pass, but they were caught by the traffic light, so I continued across the intersection. I was almost home when they pulled up alongside me and continued shouting things at me.

A boy and girl, probably high school age, were walking toward me. As soon as the car pulled up, the high school boy froze in place and listened. When they left, he said, “What an asshole!” The girl didn’t seem to notice.

I waited a bit before I went inside. Hopefully they did not see where I live.

So what does this mean to me… well, I’m sure you can tell it made me angry. It’s threatening, disrespectful, degrading, dehumanizing. To me it’s an attempt to make me inferior, a toy, property, to scare me, make me feel uneasy at home, a place where I should feel comfortable. Say it had progressed to rape, these actions would even have threatened my right to as a woman and a human being to choose who I sleep with, my right to personal safety. It makes me hate being a woman, because I become the target of abuse and don’t have the physical strength to do something about it. But I shouldn’t have to hate being a woman.

Four guys behind 2 tons of steel versus 5’2″ me on the sidewalk… how could that not be threatening? How could that not make me aggressive and angry?

And afterwards, I felt helpless. How can I protect myself against that? If they got out of the car or tried to pull me in, or run me down? How could people understand that, men? Am I blowing something out of proportion? Or do I have a right to feel the way I do?

I called my grandparents. My grandma could sympathize. My granddad said, “welcome to New York City.” But he told me ways to defend myself, he understood. My grandma told me to call the police. I asked her what good would it do? The guys were gone. It’s probably not considered a crime. But as I thought about it, I realized, if I didn’t, if women just let it go, let it happen, kept allowing themselves to be endangered like that, that can’t do any good either. if I didn’t at the very least say something, then those guys would win.

So I did call the police, and the police didn’t say I was crazy or why would I bother them about something so mundane. They said they’d send a patrol car to cruise around the area. I’m sure those guys are long gone; I’m sure there’s nothing the cops can do about it, so what good did that do? Well, at least it gave me a voice, and now I don’t feel helpless.

A Different World

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
Park Avenue. My new employer gave me the address of the apartment where I would be tutoring a Colombian student. 4:30. I was early, I leaned against the molded cement corner of a building and ate my granola bar. People ... [Continue reading this entry]

The longer mile

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
I desperately want to write, but have nothing to say and am too stressed at the moment to even have time to write or think of anything to write. I went for a run the other day. I ran to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Day Time Coney Island

Saturday, April 15th, 2006
Around 2:30 this afternoon, I left my room with the intention of going to the park to sit and read at the fountain.  But it hit me that today, 77 degrees, it was too beautiful even for Washington Square Park.  ... [Continue reading this entry]

Late Night Coney Island

Friday, March 31st, 2006
Yesterday I said goodbye to Claire, my grandmother's minister's daughter who I was playing host to for two days while she visited the city. She has quite a few travel stories of her own, which are far more exciting than ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Review of America’s “Dream School”

Monday, March 27th, 2006
So the university I attend, New York University, has been ranked America's number one dream college for the second year in a row by Princeton Review.  I suppose I would have to say I can see why.  For anyone ... [Continue reading this entry]

An Odoriferous City

Friday, March 10th, 2006

Spring has finally come, and with it warmer weather. I have finally been able to shed that extra blanket, that jacket sprinkled with road salt, and walk down the street in just a sweater, and pants of course. Not ... [Continue reading this entry]

Students Perform The Full Monty In Support Of New Orleans

Sunday, March 5th, 2006
Here is my first attempt at writing a newspaper article since the fifth grade. I submitted it to several editors and haven't heard back from any, so I will publish it here unless an editor decides to publish it, in ... [Continue reading this entry]

My Own Culture Shock and Travel Withdrawal

Monday, February 20th, 2006
I wrote this post back in January, left it sitting, stinking in my drafts box, and after a second read, I think I should post it.  It's how I felt when I first got back to the city (before that ... [Continue reading this entry]