crosstown tourism

I booked an apartment suite across town for five days and four nights but ended up staying a week. The lovely Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan is located at approximately the same numerical latitude as my apartment in Brooklyn, and is only a few miles away if you draw a straight line over the island and the east river.

Only about a half hour away by subway, depending on how the L train is running, with the right amount of fatigue from cold weather and being hungry for dinner, this commute mimics any longer cross-country or trans-national journey.

On twenty-third street and eighth avenue, the buildings are taller, there is more scaffolding than trees, the garbage out on the curb for pick up is of a totally different nature. Walking down twenty-second, I saw that a new bank was going in the corner storefront, under a newly built hotel, The Gem. The last christmas trees were being piled up outside, and about 4/5ths way down the block, although no laundramat is in sight, the scent of detergent and drying clothes overwhelms the sterile city air.

Inside, I say hello to the doormen: a new ritual in cursory courtesy that I will hesitantly get accustomed to. I ride the elevator which smells like someone's dinner, and walk into the hall which smells like the super's old cigarette smoke.

Life from five stories up is different. During this coldest weekend since February 2008, I looked down at the rush hour foot traffic to determine how many layers to put on. I felt the revelation of my Friday morning commute taking 20 minutes on the bus, instead of an hour on 3 trains. I arrived home at 5:20 that night, and spent the rest of the weekend watching intermittent snow falling on the tall buildings, scrutinizing how the way grocery stores are small in Brooklyn is totally different to the way they are small in Manhattan.

It takes more aggression and purpose to walk around in this part of town. Everyone unflinchingly trying to assert their belonging when you have a suspicion that most people just recently arrived.