May 8, 2009
•
April 14, 2009

Hello class,

This is my version of the video project. I hope you enjoy it. This is a first draft so I’m sure it will be better. But this is how I visualize it.

•
March 13, 2009

Reverse-Engineered Narrative

The New York City Subway has always been used as an icon to identify the city. It is one of the most efficient subway in the world, as it’s also one of the dirtiest, oldest, and noisy train on earth. It conglomerates people of different social status, cultures and traditions. It is very common to see a man sitting down wearing an impeccable suit and reading his Wall Street Journal, and next to him a construction worker, reading the New York Post and holding his tools and his lunch bag. Both men can be drinking a coffee and eating a doughnut or a bagel.

I’m sure there is a lot written about stories inside the train: love stories, sex stories, robberies, accidents, fights, etc. But, how about the outside of the train station?
What do we know about it? Do you know what kind of building there is on the train station you live at? How about just one stop before or after? Do you still know how it looks?

One day I decided to take pictures of the outside of different train stations, starting in the North Bronx and ending on Lower Manhattan. I chose the number 5 train.

•
I started on Pelham Parkway, all the way up on the North section of the Bronx, it is a beautiful place surrounded by The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx Zoo, and a very long parkway that goes all the way to City Island. The majority of the community in Pelham Parkway is Albanian and Hispanic. The train station has just been renovated to make tourists feel comfortable and safe.

I started on Pelham Parkway, all the way up on the North section of the Bronx, it is a beautiful place surrounded by The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx Zoo, and a very long parkway that goes all the way to City Island. The majority of the community in Pelham Parkway is Albanian and Hispanic. The train station has just been renovated to make tourists feel comfortable and safe.

•
I got off on 180St. I wanted to feel the experience of being at a train station where you can also find a police precinct. The outside is not attractive at all. There is Bronx River Parkway on one side, the MTA repair shop on the other and some huge factories.When I was taking my pictures one police officer approached me and asked me if everything was fine. He asked me if I was doing a news article about it and I told him that this was for a school project. I offered him to show my ID but the officer told me it wasn’t necessary. I took some other pictures and went back to the train to continue my journey.

I got off on 180St. I wanted to feel the experience of being at a train station where you can also find a police precinct. The outside is not attractive at all. There is Bronx River Parkway on one side, the MTA repair shop on the other and some huge factories.
When I was taking my pictures one police officer approached me and asked me if everything was fine. He asked me if I was doing a news article about it and I told him that this was for a school project. I offered him to show my ID but the officer told me it wasn’t necessary. I took some other pictures and went back to the train to continue my journey.

•
149 St and Third Avenue is the first stop on the number 5 train that is really underground as the rest are on the outside. I was impressed to see that the Third Ave of the South Bronx, doesn’t look at all like the Third Avenue of Manhattan. The Bronx version of the 3rd Ave. has some 99cents stores, Electronics stores offering ‘layaway’ programs, the NYSOL with a lot of people going in and out, and fast food restaurants. It is obvious that marketing on this section of the Big Apple is targeted to lower income families.

149 St and Third Avenue is the first stop on the number 5 train that is really underground as the rest are on the outside. I was impressed to see that the Third Ave of the South Bronx, doesn’t look at all like the Third Avenue of Manhattan. The Bronx version of the 3rd Ave. has some 99cents stores, Electronics stores offering ‘layaway’ programs, the NYSOL with a lot of people going in and out, and fast food restaurants. It is obvious that marketing on this section of the Big Apple is targeted to lower income families.

•
125 St. and Lexington was my next stop. This is the Spanish Harlem, a little bit upgraded than South Bronx but still it was not the New York that most people see in the movies. This was once ‘The’ Puerto Rican section of New York, but nowadays the Mexican community has taken center stage from 125St., all the way down to 100St. My visit to this train station, was the most “unusual” moments of my life, that I will never forget. I took about 6 pictures of different angles of the station without giving any importance to the people around. At some point three big and angry man approached me and asked me why I was taking pictures of them. These guys made a circle with me in the center, the circle started to be close every second and my heart was beating like I was running a marathon. I explained to them that I was taking pictures of the train station, not to them. My explanations did not convince them and I turned on my camera to show them the pictures. I almost fainted when I scrolled down the pictures and these guys were in 3 of them. I offered my apologies, excused my self and walked as fast as I could to escape from such an uncomfortable situation.

125 St. and Lexington was my next stop. This is the Spanish Harlem, a little bit upgraded than South Bronx but still it was not the New York that most people see in the movies. This was once ‘The’ Puerto Rican section of New York, but nowadays the Mexican community has taken center stage from 125St., all the way down to 100St. My visit to this train station, was the most “unusual” moments of my life, that I will never forget. I took about 6 pictures of different angles of the station without giving any importance to the people around. At some point three big and angry man approached me and asked me why I was taking pictures of them. These guys made a circle with me in the center, the circle started to be close every second and my heart was beating like I was running a marathon. I explained to them that I was taking pictures of the train station, not to them. My explanations did not convince them and I turned on my camera to show them the pictures. I almost fainted when I scrolled down the pictures and these guys were in 3 of them. I offered my apologies, excused my self and walked as fast as I could to escape from such an uncomfortable situation.

•
The next stop was Grand Central. This is the New York of the movies, the New York from tourism guides. For the first time, I saw tourists taking pictures. And no, nobody felt offended by seeing a flash next to them, even if they were not part of the picture. The outside was just as beautiful as the inside: fancy places and restaurants, Banana Republic, the Hyatt Hotel, the Chrysler Building not too far away, the MetLife Building and the famous Madison Avenue on the other side. I also saw a just married couple taking pictures around. I took them some pictures directly in front of them and they didn’t mind.

The next stop was Grand Central. This is the New York of the movies, the New York from tourism guides. For the first time, I saw tourists taking pictures. And no, nobody felt offended by seeing a flash next to them, even if they were not part of the picture. The outside was just as beautiful as the inside: fancy places and restaurants, Banana Republic, the Hyatt Hotel, the Chrysler Building not too far away, the MetLife Building and the famous Madison Avenue on the other side. I also saw a just married couple taking pictures around. I took them some pictures directly in front of them and they didn’t mind.

•
Union Square was next. I love this station. It makes me feel good, happy, young, with energy, sometimes I come just to see people walking by, tourist buying stuff from the street vendors or teenagers playing Skateboarders. You have the University Place nearby, the Virgin Mega Store, Movie theaters, Nightclubs, etc. This is the place to meet with friends.

Union Square was next. I love this station. It makes me feel good, happy, young, with energy, sometimes I come just to see people walking by, tourist buying stuff from the street vendors or teenagers playing Skateboarders. You have the University Place nearby, the Virgin Mega Store, Movie theaters, Nightclubs, etc. This is the place to meet with friends.

•
City Hall, this is where the mayor is.  When you go out, all you can see is huge old buildings, clean green places and the Brooklyn Bridge far away. For some reason this train stop made me feel claustrophobic. It was Sunday around 4pm and during the 15 minutes I was there, I just saw 10 people. If you don’t know the names of the buildings you don’t know what they mean, or who works in there. I remember seen one of them in ‘Law and Order’, I know one is City Hall, but the others were just old buildings with no meaning for me.

City Hall, this is where the mayor is.  When you go out, all you can see is huge old buildings, clean green places and the Brooklyn Bridge far away. For some reason this train stop made me feel claustrophobic. It was Sunday around 4pm and during the 15 minutes I was there, I just saw 10 people. If you don’t know the names of the buildings you don’t know what they mean, or who works in there. I remember seen one of them in ‘Law and Order’, I know one is City Hall, but the others were just old buildings with no meaning for me.

•