ponedeljek, 26.6.2006 09:07
Bonnie Kane: This is a story for my friends in Slovenia
and beyond, about a day in my life - a day of moving.
For an American, and particularly one that lives in New York City, moving is very common. It is actually common in all levels of society (even my parents in their late 70's are getting ready to move).
Maybe this is because the US is such a big place with different landscapes, weather, and economic systems, that your whole reality can be changed by moving.
In New York City (NYC), though, it is all about money. A crazy thing has been happening in NYC since the late 1990's. During this period, with the computer, web businesses, stock market, (which have since flattened out) alot of money came into a very broken and neglected city. The building permits were made easier, zoning changed - and a huge effort to build luxury apartments for millionaires began. Rents
and purchase prices of apartments and houses began to go insanely higher, forcing tremendous changes in the neighborhoods. This is still going on at an ever faster rate.
The world's rich come to New York City to live and play for both short and long periods. This continuing process creates a huge imbalance with the percentages of very wealthy, people who work for a living (me), and those who are totally down and out. (Secret of capitalism: you are free to earn, and you can also lose everything - there is no safety net).
So what does this mean? That housing is one of the most talked about subjects in NYC, and of the greatest concern and interest. It is very overpriced, even the old places, and getting and keeping a place to live is a very aggressive undertaking. Getting a good deal takes alot of skill. And people move.
Scott and I are musician/artists and we run an internet business selling vinyl records. We have alot of stuff, including 5000 records at all times. For many reasons, it took 2 weeks to move. some things were going to our new house and some things were going to a storage facility.
Now to my situation and my one day, the numbers go with the pictures:
001. My husband, Scott, and I were living in a neighborhood of Brooklyn called, Bushwick. Brooklyn is one of the five major areas (boroughs) of NYC. It is across the river from Manhattan. We had a 2nd floor loft apartment about 50 feet from the train tracks. The only windows for the apartment are outlined in red on the picture.
002. This is the view from inside the apartment. We were moving for many reasons, some happy, some sad. We were living in this apartment for 2 years and our lease for renting was over, and the price was going up. There is no security in this, and the owner can make the rent any price that he can get. During this time we actually managed by some miracle to buy a small cottage by the ocean (yes, NYC has an ocean, with beaches on the very edge of the city, but it is a hard drive to the central areas, and takes long by train).
003. Me, in my workspace, finishing up some stuff before taking everything apart.
004. Scott in his workspace, finishing up some stuff before taking everything apart.
005. Me, packing records, that will go to the post office, instead of moving them. Because of our business, which needs alot of space, and because of playing music, which means alot of late nights - we were trying to work out a way to manage both places - with roommates, renters, etc.
006 - 008. The streets where the building is - the red van in 007, 008 is my car. It is a 1993 Ford Aerostar. The doors need to be closed hard. I have a good relationship with old cars.
009 - 019. On this day, I went to the gym before moving stuff - and I took these pictures of the neighborhood. (In 017, you can see Manhattan in the distance - it is only about 3 miles away) This is a changing neighborhood. It was once cheap to live, with many broken places, poor people and very rough and violent - mostly black and spanish from many countries. Then the artists (me and many others) move in, because they can't afford where they used to live; then the neighborhood becomes cool, with interesting things, and the prices go up - it is just starting to happen in Bushwick. Well, when a neighborhood gets to this point of transition, social tension gets extreme. Because as some move in, others are getting priced out. This is the history of cities in the US. The sad reason that we decided to move, was because Scott got beat up coming home from band rehearsal. He was jumped by a bunch of teenage boys who were trying to be tough. It was a racial hate crime, nothing was stolen, and at least there was no more physical damage than a black eye and broken glasses - but it made Scott very upset and that was it - we were moving.
020. so back to the house now on our way to the storage place. this picture shows our weekly mailing - we can only go to the larger post offices with this. it will be mailed later.
021 - 023. the streets around where our new storage facility is - there are many rooms here of different sizes. we are renting one that is 10 feet x 10 feet. it will hold most of the things for our business, and some extra personal things.
024 - 026. Scott setting up the storage space. This was just the first day. It has alot more stuff in it now.
027. - 034. and now for the new house. It is about 11 miles from the center of Manhattan, (and about 3 miles from our storage space) - but because of lots of traffic and very bad roads that are always under construction, but never fixed - it takes about 45 minutes to drive there and the famous "A" train can take 2 hours. This is at the end of the "A" train line. It is only one block from the beach! It is small so it is hard to take good pictures of the inside - but it has 2 bedrooms, a good living room, kitchen, and bathroom with shower and tub. There is a little yard. It is great for normal people, but we are not normal and because of this record business we have too much stuff. It will take some time to work out. So here are pictures from the same day of the
house. It may not look like much from these pictures, but to own a single detached house in the NYC area is a big deal...to have one at the beach is even better. The area is being built up and going up in value - we will either always have a home with controlled costs, or if we sell in many years to retire somewhere else cheaper, we will have money for our old age - it is weird to think this way, but our government does not
take care of its own people.
035 - 041. these are some pictures of the neighborhood on a walk to the beach - it was a foggy day - but there is often beautiful weather, with beautiful light and skies. there is a 7 mile long boardwalk for walking or bicycles. you can go swimming, surfing, fishing in the ocean, and there is also a bay on the other side - the area is called Rockaway,
made famous by The Ramones (rock rock rockaway beach...). we recently saw dolphins around here. notice the contrast between old and new housing.
OK so that's all for my one day - I hope it is entertaining, and gives a view of New York that is not in the movies or travel books. Best wishes for all and I hope for more projects together in the future.
Bonnie Kane
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