Many people have seen the pop culture film The Devil Wears Prada. I have seen the movie and many other similar movies that are set in New York City, and they have all inspired many visions of the city. I’ve always pictured this beautiful magnificent place. I pictured women like Anne Hathaway about to walk around every corner, looking like a million bucks. I pictured towering buildings, gorgeous streets, and rich people moving at the speed of light. I’ve also read dozens of books where the plot is set in New York. The books inspired images of people hanging out in coffee shops, listening to Jeff Buckley, and awesome clubs pulsing music that reaches the surrounding blocks.I wasn’t naive to believe that I wouldn’t see the bad parts of Manhattan (the primary location of our trip). I actually expected the bad things. I thought it would be similar to how it is in Atlanta. I new there would be the grimy places, but I expected them to be separated from the “good looking” parts of the city. I actually was sort of looking forward to seeing the monstrous rats I’ve heard so much about (I saw none). It is interesting to think about the way we can project our own images on a place.
The city was definitely not what my pop culture filled mind thought it would be. It was dirty. Everywhere. Even Times Square. Times Square is where the musical scene or the romantic kiss takes place in the movies. It’s beautiful with bright, shining lights. It’s suppose to be magical. In actually, it is just a really bright place that is very very dirty. There are tons of vendors on the street and other people using different gimmicks to make some quick cash, with trash littered around them. Also, New York is always portrayed as this place where all cultures come together. It’s the “melting pot” of America. However, what I found when I would enter neighborhoods that really represented the influx of where immigrants settled was the disheartening reality of gentrification. Places were immigrants and blacks made a home for themselves decades ago are becoming nonexistent. I walked into Little Italy and out of it in less than 20 minutes. New York is known to be the home of so many different nationalities, ethnicities, and races, but yet the city is driving minorities out so they can put up more stores and billboards.
When I realized that my dream of going to New York was coming true I prepared for my eyes to be opened to truths that I hadn’t known to acknowledge. Before the trip, the global class helped me understand that I really needed to be flexible and open-minded, tools that proved useful as soon as I landed. I know from the discussions that the class had that the New York I thought I knew and the real New York would be entirely different things. I’m actually glad that my previous notions of New York have been destroyed. If you sit in contentment with false notions then changes can never be made. Now that I have been made aware of the conditions in New York, If I get the chance, I can actively participate in trying to change these things to make the city a better place for everyone.
