Activity #2- Johanna Kelly

Johanna Kelly
Activity #2: Visiting a new Place
I was recommended to go visit Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Since I live in Manhattan, I must admit that I hardly ever leave the borough (unless it is completely necessary). I am so comfortable with everything that I have here in my neighborhood, which is the East Village in Lower East Side Manhattan that I even find it difficult to move around other parts of the borough. So I was advised to go to Brooklyn and visit a location called Greenpoint. The reason why I was advised to see this is place is because I love to eat Polish food and Greenpoint contains delectable food from Poland and other sorts of imported items. Since I am Polish, I found it very pleasant and comforting to traveling to Greenpoint.
As I arrived on Greenpoint Avenue, I felt as if I had stepped into a mini Poland. I spotted stores with Polish names. As I wandered on the streets, I overheard Polish words being spoken by the people. It immediately felt very homely for me because it reminded me of Poland. I was reminiscing as I walked down the streets observing my surroundings. It was very pleasant to see how people on the streets were interacting with each other in Polish. From the perspective of Jane Jacobs, she would point out that having people on the sidewalks is an important element of the city. She explains, “The point of both the testimonial banquet and the social life of city sidewalks is precisely that they are public. They bring together people who do not know each other in an intimate, private social fashion and in most cases do not care to know each other in that fashion” (Jacobs, 55). Thus, Jacobs would endorse the idea that the people standing on the sidewalk are a positive thing. Even though I did not know any of the people, I did feel as if it did bring me together to them. In addition, because I understood the language that they were speaking, I felt even more at home with them. Social contact on the sidewalks is something what creates some parts of neighborhoods in New York City.
As I walked through Greenpoint Avenue as an observant, I noticed how safe I felt in the neighborhood. This is another element of the city that Jane Jacobs touches upon. She explains how safety is a key element to a successful city. “The bedrock attribute of a successful city district is that a person must feel personally safe and secure on the street among all these strangers. He must not feel automatically menaced by them” (30). Thus, Jane Jacobs wants people to understand how having strangers standing on the sidewalk is not a harmful thing however, it is a positive feature of a city. A city is meant to contain different people on the street that are obviously strangers, however, do make the sidewalk feel homely and safe. As I was walking amongst the street, I felt the least amount of distress on a street.
As I walked on the street, I encountered a few Polish meat markets, grocery stores, and restaurants. It was very pleasant to see a bit of diversity. I remembered how much I appreciate New York City and its cultural diversity. I observed construction workers walking probably heading home from work. I could hear them in the background speaking in Polish throwing in a few curse words. In addition, I perceived women walking home with their hands full of grocery bags. So I presumed that they must have been walking home from work in a rush in order to cook dinner for their family. This made me also ponder about immigration and how New York City is made up of immigrants. This is why we are so diverse as a city. One of the fascinating things about urban life is that there is a mixture of people from all over the world. Jane Jacobs endorses this idea because she quotes in her book, “The benefits that cities offer to smallness are just as marked in retail trade, cultural facilities and entertainment” (146). Greenpoint contained all of these things. I spotted Polish restaurants, stores, supermarkets, bookstores, and also nightclubs such as “Exit” and “Europa.” It was so interesting to see how this own developed neighborhood was like a city of its own. Since I live in the East Village in Manhattan, it was very pleasant to see a change in neighborhoods. This activity also allowed me to revisit my roots of my Polish heritage.