Neighborhood Envy: Anywhere But Flatbush

As I grow more accustomed to my surroundings, I’m starting to lose the ‘neighborhood envy’ I found around almost every corner when I first arrived in New York.

It used to be that when I’d first visit a new neighborhood I’d immediately want to live there. The bars would be better, the corner stores would be better and, most certainly, the inhabitants. I wanted to be anywhere but Flatbush.

I must be settling in now, though, getting a better grasp on where I can get to easily and, in the grand scheme of New York, quickly, because I find myself feeling – if not ‘at home’ – at least comfortable – dare I say ‘content’ in Flatbush.

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Feeling the New in New York

People warned me this would happen. Chills. Fever. Night terrors. Well, maybe not all that, but living in New York is hard.

It’s not just New York though. It’s the “New” in New York. Not knowing people. (And not really getting to know them either because I work in an office with two other people.) Not knowing where to go for things I need. (Case in point, I spent a bunch of time this morning fruitlessly searching for a Fed Ex, which I never did find…) And not knowing where to go for things I want. (The game and a beer. That’s not so much to ask.)

It’s culture shock. Exacerbated by having moved on a shoestring to one of the most expensive cities in the US, into a job that pays a starting arts salary. The cards are stacked against me.

Make friends. Get out of the house and explore. Go for runs to keep the good juices flowing. The cure is as simple as it’s ever been, in any new city and any new job. And maybe that’s why it feels like such a daunting tas to undertake. When the answer is mysterious it’s easier to write off why you can’t carry an action through. But when it’s so well documented and you still run into the same troubles, inot succeeding to cure yourself is even more frustrating.

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New Jitters

Tomorrow is the first day of my new job and I’ve got jitters like I’m a Kindergartener getting ready for the first day of school. My new boss feels encouraging and warm, two things I wouldn’t have guessed, seeing as he’s born and bred a New Yorker. I anticipate this will change once I’m in the heat of things, but really appreciate the feeling that’s calming my nerves a bit before I begin. I don’t begin until noon tomorrow, which will give me plenty of time to stress in the morning, but also an extra couple of hours of sleep (though I’m rolling my alarm earlier and earlier to get ready) and a nice long run.

Standing in line for the bus this afternoon I realized there are more and more things about New York that excite me. The ability to make riskier fashion choices is one of them, as is the opportunity to make new friends, which at first wasn’t terribly exciting at all. Having my groceries delivered is also a delightful novelty. They should arrive between 10 and 11:30 tonight, around the same time I do… to my new home.

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Now I Live in New York

“I miss Boston,” I lament with a childish pout as we descent upon the city in the dark. It’s Rachel and I in her Corolla, and we’ve spent two of the past four days hauling and lugging all of my possessions to Brooklyn, my new home. We’re now back in Boston and I intend to spend the next four days acting as if I’m on vacation while the reality that I no longer live here sets in. I’m half-way gone and I already miss the city so much.

To be fair, there are a few things that excite me about living in New York. The perpetual stench and the blackness the creeps beneath my flip flops and never seems to get cleaned off my feet aren’t on the list… But the list does exist:

Since I don’t know the city well there are often moments where I come out of a turn in the never-ending freeway system and am surprised and delighted to look out and see the Statue of Liberty flagging me down over the water. New York must know I like the ocean and they sent Lady Liberty to welcome me. (Or maybe just to persuade me not to take flight before giving the place a shot.)

There are new things to explore in any new city and New York is no different. I’ve started a list in my phone of things I’d like to check out and have been debating a weekly blog entry so that by the end of the year I’m assured to have seen 52 different “attractions”. So far I have the Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn and something called the High Line, which is an old elevated rail system that (I think) never got off the ground (no pun intended) and has been turned into a park system of sorts. Thanks to NPR for that tip.

Then there’s the art. The art makes me giddy and also makes me wish I had a higher paying job so I could afford all the shows that I know will tease me day in and day out. I need a second job, regardless, and have applied (twice now) to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Downtown Brooklyn in the hopes of making some extra money while getting to see some cool shows for free. The guy who’ll be employing me – also in BK (See, I’m picking up on the lingo.) – has some “good connections” there, and I’ve asked him to help me by putting in a good word.

The plethora of places to eat and drink in the five boroughs is overwhelming, which means I’ve got more than enough places to explore by way of my palate. My neighborhood is a little scarce on places to eat and drink, but if I can muster the courage I may find some good Caribbean gems in the mix, and neighboring area have more to offer, I think. The problem, however, is one I just mentioned: New York is overwhelming.

“Think of the city in terms of boroughs,” people say. When I know it’s all out there and it all exists, though, I can’t help but want to experience it all, and where do I begin?

There’s also a rather hefty list of things that I dislike about New York. A lot of these are not ‘negatives’ per se, but just ‘differents’ that will take some time to get used to. For example, my apartment doesn’t have a dishwasher or in-unit (or in-building even) laundry, which are two things I got lazily accustomed to living in Boston. My building smells funny and my apartment has mice. (I’ve already seen one.) There are no “healthy” grocery stores within convenient walking distance from my apartment or my train station. Everything seems to cost twice as much. It takes forever to get anywhere, people don’t smile or make eye contact or exchange little pleasantries out in public. And New Yorkers like the Yankees. It’s admittedly a lot to get used to.

All that being said, I guess I’m a New Yorker now, and I’ve decided I’ll root for the Mets if I have to pick a local team.

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New Job, New York, New Love

Did I mention I’m moving to New York City? I’m long overdue to write a blog and, at this point, there’s so much to say I’m not sure where to begin. So, I’ll begin with New York.

I couldn’t go through with Carnegie Mellon. I couldn’t stomach the idea of all that debt and I wasn’t sure I’d turn out any better on the other side because of it. I made it as far as flying out there and putting a deposit on an apartment near campus (a deposit which was refunded to me) but I couldn’t sign on the dotted line. Thank god.

Instead, I gently pushed the job prospect in Brooklyn until the look in his eye said he was totally into me (in a professional, artistic sense, of course) and he formally offered me the job. The job being a second assistant, or associate, in a very small international performing arts presenting and producing organization called ArKtype. The final, but still very loosely defined offer, is 5-6 hours/day, five days/week, somewhere between 10 am and 6 pm. Tommy, the man I’ll be working for and with, has promised I’ll learn everything here that I possibly could at grad school, and I more or less believe him. I’ll be sorting out the logistics of touring shows (hotels, airfare and processing paperwork for visas, which I’m oddly excited about) and will probably even do some scouting and evaluating of new work.

I’m not sure yet how much of my monthly living expenses this job is going to be able to meet, but I know I’m going to need a second means of revenue. I don’t begrudge nannying like I used to, and, as much as I’d like to end up in a box office a couple evenings during the week, I imagine I’ll end up back playing with babies. And that’s ok.

As if starting this new job (which I’ll do just after Labor Day) and moving to New York wasn’t enough on my plate, I’m also in the early (read: terrifyingly overwhelming and confusing) stages of founding my own theatre company that will present international artists similar to the way ArKtype does, and producing its inaugural production.

“Evet” means “Yes” in Turkish, and EVET Arts Presents is something I’ve been hatching since Dekeyser & Friends sent me to Turkey and encouraged me to follow my dreams. Appropriately enough, a 5,000 Euro no-interest loan awarded to me by Dekeyser & Friends is what’s getting this behemoth off the ground. I’ve had my proposal for EVET’s inaugural production accepted by Kickstarter, a crowd-funding site on the web, and I’m working to put a video together that will accurately describe the project and seduce enough strangers to donate that I can insure no financial harm to myself by taking the D&F loan. The video in itself is an undertaking and I’m lucky to have friends who are helping me with it, and others that are willing to hold my hand as I walk through this very confusing and intimidating process. (Lots more) details on EVET and its state of funding to come in future months.

The last bit of seismic-shift-in-the-functioning-of-my-life news is that I’m formally dating someone. And he’s in Chicago. And I’m very happy.

Rudi and I met last November and went on a large handful of dates before I decided that, as much fun as I had with him, there was something missing. He graciously agreed that it was possible to remain friends (lots of guys are in it on their terms, and if they can’t have you that way, they don’t want any part of you at all) and we stayed in touch over the following months while I was in Boston and then Turkey. When I returned from Turkey in June, it was Rudi who put me in touch with Jonathan Miller of ArtsEmerson, who, in turn, gave me the name of Tommy Kriegsmann in New York City. We hit the bar after my meeting with Jonathan to celebrate a step in the right direction and that put us back in touch. This past summer we saw more and more of each other until I realized that whatever was missing last fall, was there now.

Rudi is beginning his MBA at Northwestern this fall, and will be there for the next two years. He has a number of very close friends in New York City and Boston, including his sister in Manhattan, all of whom I’ve met a number of times and I now consider close acquaintances, if not actual friends, in my new home. He’s masterful at making connections like that, and is a loyal friend, so I think that our goal of seeing each other once a month is going to work out. I don’t know how long distance is going to work otherwise, or if I’ll have the stomach for it in the end, but I care about Rudi (and feel cared about by him) enough that I’m willing to take this shot. I may or may not email him the link to this blog. I’m not sure if he reads Hannah In Motion.

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