To The Three Boroughs

I am back in New York and have lived in 3 boroughs in the past month, and I may as well use it as an excuse to make Jake happy and write something here. Though each neighborhood I lived in isn't necessarily indicative of the entire borough, I think some generalizing could work here. So here are my thoughts:

Jackson Heights, Queens - Definitely the sleepiest of the three. I got lost trying to find the subway on the first day, which lost points for the whole borough. What is the deal with the numbered roads and avenues and streets all intersecting? And the numbers go up to down? I don't know, but i don't like it. I think the big selling point of this neighborhood is it has great Indian food. I don't like Indian food. Minus two. No place to get out of the house and read (ie. coffee shop, community garden, etc.). Minus three. Plus one for the people I was staying with, who were good company and fed me dinner almost every night. They also taught their cat tricks like fetch and shake, which was very amusing. Overall score: -2.

Lower East Side, Manhattan - Okay, so because I used to live here I settled in quite comfortably. Perhaps too comfortably, according to my brother. Good places to get out and read: Tompkins square park, plenty of coffee places (Roasting Plant on Orchard for the best coffee, though not ideal for sitting around for long periods of time), Bagel Zone, Sugar Sweet Sunshine (cupcakes). Plus I could get my tofu cream cheese at Russ and Daughter's. Annoying drunk bridge and tunnelers on weekends, annoying drunk new yorkers on weekdays, generally too loud at night/early morning, shish kabob guy who yells every night at like 3am. Cold as ice American Apparel employees always around. Also, for some reason the guy who lives on the benches outside American Apparel makes me uncomfortable now. I don't know why, he's perfectly nice, it's just sometimes I don't want to say "hi," but I have to or else i'm being rude and he will call me on it. Generally when I walk by him I'm either tired or in a hurry, and I rarely feel like talking to anyone really, even if it's just a quick nod and hello.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn (billed as Prospect Heights on Craigslist. It's not.) - I guess I'm a Brooklyn person. I like the wider streets with less foot traffic, and the occasional tree and nice looking brownstones but with more activity going on than in Queens. Lots of families and people hanging out on their stoops, which reminds me of summer, one of my favorite things. Plus for lots of bargain stores (I got a towel today for 5 bucks. I don't even know how much towels normally cost, and it's a weird orange color, but still, I needed one and that seems cheap.) Minus for the fried chicken place on every corner, for the selfish reason that when I'm hungry and walk by one I sort of wish I ate meat because it would be convenient and it smells pretty good, but then I feel grossed out. Minus for some disturbing conversations on the street including this one woman today saying "so i hit her. just in time for the case worker to come...such an inconvenience." Plus for the big room I have, and plus for my nice-seeming roommates. Minus for always being the only white person on the street because I don't like standing out in a crowd. Minus also for the 1 to 3 comments per block (assuming people are on it, and I am totally not exaggerating) I receive based on the fact that I'm a girl. As previously mentioned I don't generally like unsolicited attention and fake pleasantries. Maybe it's partially my fault for always making eye contact with people, but one time I got yelled at for not making eye contact (this was a long time ago, in San Francisco I think) and now I just do it automatically. This didn't annoy me at first but now it does because, though the comments aren't menacing, they do (in my opinion) have something to do with demonstrating a power imbalance. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Overall, still my preferred neighborhood. If you have a place in the Bronx or whatever the fifth borough is (Staten Island? Is it Staten Island?), I need a place to live from the 27th to the 1st....