Remembering 9/11

I have to admit, I don't think about the events of Sept. 11, 2001 very often. I didn't lose anyone in the towers, I was in the 8th grade and didn't realize the magnitude of what had happened. I think my age group just missed it; that feeling people got when they were watching the World Trade Center fall. The feeling that today, right now, everything will change.

I am amazed at the strength of New Yorkers to adapt to the continuous change happening around them. I may not like their sports teams, but the pride, strength, and determination that New Yorkers exhibited on that day is remarkable.

This morning my journalism class toured the Tribute World Trade Center Vistitor Center and the site itself. Our tour guide was named John Henderson, who also works in the Graduate Enrollment Office at NYU. I hadn't been there since 2004, when I went on a trip with my high school. The area looks so different than I remember. It seems like so much construction is going on, but at the same time it's hard to imagine how it will look when it's completed.

I listened attentively to John, and was shocked by some of the information he supplied. But I was most moved by the galleries of the Tribute Center, especially the pictures of those who died that day.

Then we spoke with Manny Papir, who was Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's Deputy Chief of Staff on 9/11. Manny helped people evacuate and remembers a "loss of all senses, except for my sight." He had tunnel vision, only focusing on helping others, not truly the devastation that was going on around him.

I am still amazed at the unity and selflessness others showed that day. Although that day realized my worst fears about humankind, they also exceeded any amount of kindness towards others that I could have imagined. Since I wasn't in the city during 9/11, something Pete Hamill wrote in "Downtown," has really put into words what the experience meant to New Yorkers and to so many others across the country as well:

"More millions grieved for the world that existed on September 10th, knowing it was forever behind us. For a while, at least, all felt various degrees of fury. But nobody ran. We knew that at least we had lived once in that world before that fanatics changed it forever. With all its flaws, horrors, disappointments, cruelties, we would remember that lost world all our days and most of our nights." -Pete Hamill

Meeting Pete Hamill

"Don't ever look down on someone unless you are helping them up."- Pete Hamill's mother.

This week in class, the author Pete Hamill came to speak with us. Before he showed up (a bit late, as he was busy finishing his cheese danish), I was actually a little nervous. Hamill was a bit of a celebrity for our journalism class. We had all just finished his book, "Downtown" and talked a lot about the visit and the questions we would ask him. When he came into the classroom, he wasn't anything like I expected...except for the fact that he was wearing the same outfit as he is on the cover of "Downtown"!

When Hamill was speaking to us, I got the same feeling as I have speaking with my grandfather; he has a wealth of life experiences, and was full of interesting anecdotes, but he spoke slowly with no clear focus. We couldn't necessarily get him to talk about what we "wanted" him to talk about; but it was better that way. He was in his own world and we were along for the ride. I really enjoyed "Downtown" and recommend it to anyone who loves New York or who would like to learn more about it; it's a different perspective than a guidebook gives.

Hamill signed my book, (the first book I ever got signed by its author!) and did eventually answer our questions. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with his answer to my question. He mentioned in his book that he lives in Tribeca, so I asked him why he decided to move there, as he has lived at 14 other addresses in the city. He had a lot to say about nearly everything, but for my question, he merely said he liked Canal Street and so he enjoyed living close to it in Tribeca. I didn't get any interesting insight from Hamill about the neighborhood of Tribeca itself.

But I still really enjoyed listening to Hamill muse about New York City. In "Downtown," he puts into words all the reasons I love the city and why I feel so lucky to go to school and live here:

"The New Yorker learns to settle for glimpses. There are simply too many people to ever know them all, to unravel all of their secrets. Nobody in such a vast and various place can absorb everything. You know the people you love and the people with whom you work. The rest is glimpses. And on certain days, yes, you want to live forever."

Sean Basinski and the Street Vendor Project

Your morning coffee is a lot more complicated than you may have thought. Every day the same street vendor stands at the same cart on the same patch of sidewalk, like the most reliable and consistent friend in your life. But did you ever think about how your favorite vendor ended up there? Or if giving you your daily caffeine fix is as easy a process for him as it is for you?

Probably not. But Sean Basinski has put a lot of thought into it. The 36-year-old founder of the Street Vendor Project has devoted his career to helping street vendors fight against big businesses that are trying to push vendors out of whatever little space they have managed to hold onto.

In New York City, there are about 10,000 people who sell different types of goods on the street. The Street Vendor Project is an unofficial union that seeks to defend these people against “those with the power in New York City.” According to Sean Basinski, the power belongs to the big real estate and retail companies.

Basinski’s brainchild seeks to open up blocked off streets to vendors, obtain more permits and licenses, reduce the price of vending fines, and educate vendors on their rights, and the intricacies and loopholes of the rules they live with everyday.

According to Basinski, many vendors are male immigrants, who support families and pay taxes. It is nearly impossible to obtain a required merchandising license, because there are so few available. According to the street vending rules and regulations available on nyc.gov, the city’s website, “Unfortunately, with a legislative cap of only 853 licenses, and a waiting list of thousands, the chance of obtaining a license at this time is unlikely.” A cap of only 853 licenses makes it next to impossible for the other 9,000 people to obtain the needed paperwork. Vendors who sell merchandise are swiftly arrested if they lack a license and given fines that can add up to $1000, an amount they simply cannot afford.

Basinski believes street vendors are essential to the city. They are part of the “fabric of different communities” that make up New York. Without our street vendors, our sidewalks will look different, sound different, even smell and taste different. New York is a great fusion of people from all social classes, ethnicities, and backgrounds. If street vendors continue to be pushed off our sidewalks, New York may become a lot less of an interesting place.

Street Vendor Aspasia Kathehis

I pass Aspasia Kathehis on every stroll around Tribeca that I take when I am looking for things to blog about. After learning about the Street Vendor Project, I started noticing vendors everywhere around the city. I decided to speak with Kathehis and find out her story.

Kathehis stands on the same stretch of sidewalk every afternoon in front of the Citigroup building on Greenwich Street. From this spot, she makes cheeseburgers, lamb gyros, and cheese steaks for her customers. A 53-year-old woman who emigrated 30 years ago from her native Greece, she struggles somewhat with to express herself in English, because she says, “I never had English schooling.”

Kathehis is patient and warm to her customers. Small in stature, with olive skin and deep brown hair, she offers a small smile while cooking. Kathehis takes time to wrap her sandwiches meticulously, as if she is swaddling a small child in its blanket. Surrounded by louder, more outgoing men on the same city sidewalk, Kathehis says business hasn’t been very good. But she is still quite pleased with the spot she works at daily. Right down the street from a playground teeming with public school children and a view around the corner of the Hudson River, Kathethis thinks the area is, “beautiful, but very different from my home.”

Kathethis says she doesn’t miss Greece too much. She traveled back there in July when her father died, but says that these days “everyone” is in New York: her family, her friends, and her job. She never had a career in Greece, so she is quite proud to be making money herself to help out her husband. Her daughter and two sons are in their 30s and have moved away from her Queens apartment to take advantage of the opportunities the United States offers. So every day, she stands there making the same food for the same few businessmen and neighborhood regulars. But don’t feel sorry for her, because as she says, still smiling, “somebody has to feed the neighborhood and I like doing it.”

Tribeca News

There is a lot of discord among the residents of Tribeca. The differences between the influx of families and lovers of the night life and the rapidly growing population are causing a lot of conflict in such a small area. Tribeca is a part of Community Board #1 on Chambers Street located at City Hall. The neighborhood of Tribeca has its own committee to discuss events and other issues particular to the area.

On the agenda for the month of October is everything from discussing rezoning issues in North Tribeca, to approving applications for Liquor Licenses.

At the Community Board, there is a lot of talk about school overcrowding. The New York Sun reports that many of the most coveted New York Public Schools don’t have enough space to fit the families who want their children to attend them. Tribeca’s P.S. 234 on Greenwich Street is one of the most well regarded public schools in the city, but there isn’t enough space to fit the high demand.

More and more families are pouring into Tribeca and a lot of the new-minded parents are disillusioned with the old allure of private schools. As of now, two new school buildings are slated for construction but the Department of Education is working on addressing what will be still more requests for public school space.

Meanwhile, The Alexico Group, developers of the $650 million project at 56 Leonard St., at the corner of Church Street, released renderings of their long-anticipated designs. The building is 800 feet high and is stacked and jagged. It looks like the game of Jenga. Community Board #1 is complaining that the building is totally out of scale compared to the surrounding area’s buildings.

In food and business related news, The Food Emporium on Greenwich Street, nearby Morgan’s Market on Hudson Street and Bazzini at Greenwich and Jay, all neighborhood institutions, have been missing many of their regular customers in recent months due to the Whole Foods down the block. Small business owners are complaining that business has dropped by 25 percent and some of the sellers at the Tribeca Greenmarket, said that they are considering moving to the Union Square Greenmarket if business starts deteriorating.

This is a universal problem in New York City…Sadly, a popular Tribeca club, the Knitting Factory is moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in January. Jared Hoffman, the club’s owner, says he is tired of being looked at as the bad guy by Leonard Street residents, who have been complaining about noise, garbage and loitering outside the club for years. Tribeca is becoming more popular and more and more people are looking to change Tribeca into a quieter, more residential neighborhood. It remains to be seen if they will succeed, but they are off to a good start.

In the way of exciting events, until October11th, SCRAWL, an artistic exhibition will display political, biblical, sexual and psychological statements collected from NYC streets and subways over last 25 years at 291 Church St. apexart.org. And, you can always take a daily held Tribute WTC 9/11 tour of Ground Zero for Free that encompasses some of the heart and spirit of the neighborhood and New York as a whole.

Tribeca Stats

Tribeca is a rapidly developing part of the city. The name “Tribeca” stands for “TRIangle BElow CAnal Street.” It stretches from Canal Street south to Vesey Street and from Broadway all the way west to the Hudson River.

The community is growing swiftly. The population of the Tribeca area is about 25,000. The area and the name Tribeca was established in the 1960s. Today, the old warehouses and factories have been converted to lofts and restaurants.

Most of the population in Tribeca is white and well-off. 84 percent of the employment in the area is labeled as white collar, and 82 percent of the population is Caucasian. 30 to 40 percent of the children attend private schools, such as the Washington Market School. But there is also a public school in Tribeca: P.S. 234 on Greenwich St. and it is considered one of the best in the city. Duane Park has a playground where the kids gather after school.

In the way of education, Tribeca also boasts the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, the New York Film Academy, New York Law School and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The New York Academy of Art of Franklin St. was established by artists like Andy Warhol, and there is even a Trapeze School of New York on West Street!

Tribeca is full of awesome restaurants and clubs for those looking to have a night out on the town. Famous and often name-dropped places include: Nobu, Chanterelle, Chef Daniel Bouley’s Bakery, The Knitting Factory Club, and Church Lounge in the regal Tribeca Grand Hotel. Shopping is to die for: contemporary designer Issey Miyake has his flagship store on West Broadway, and for architecture buffs, the installations inside the store are designer by the renowned Frank Gehry.

One of the best known film festivals of the city is none other than the Tribeca Film Festival. Founded by actor Robert De Niro, the festival takes place every year towards the end of April, beginning of May. Star sightings are endless: celebs from around the globe come to catch screenings of more than 250 movies. Politically, Tribeca is a hot spot for Democrats, buoyed by the huge celebrity presence.

Great, so that’s a rundown of the neighborhood of Tribeca. Now that you all know a little bit about it, I hope you are even more inspired to take a little walking tour and see what the place has to offer. Maybe you’ll discover even more things about this multifaceted enclave in the city.

Welcome!

New York seems like such a big place sometimes, which is why here; I am concentrating on one of the coolest neighborhoods in Manhattan: Tribeca. Tribeca used to be an underrated part of New York. Tribeca is really a creative, up-and-coming part of the city with the most delicious restaurants, hippest bars and artistic fashions.

On the other hand, more and more families that are looking to lead the downtown lifestyle and send their kids to the great public schools are also moving into the area. There is a diverse combination of people in Tribeca that lends an interesting push-and-pull to the neighborhood unique from other parts of New York.

My name is Kelsey Paine and I am very excited to share with all of you the new, interesting and scintillating people, places and all the other bits and pieces I uncover about Tribeca. I am in my third year at New York University, studying journalism and cultural anthropology. These two areas of study teach me to love getting to know new places: restaurants, museums, record stores, boutiques, antique shops, especially in New York City. Since I was little I have loved turning the pages of music, fashion, or art magazines and Tribeca is full of culture and magazine-worthy material. Tribeca is the perfect place to continue cultivating my eye for the culturally interesting.

New York is one of the most thrilling places in the world; there is an endless supply of cool places to discover. That’s why I have created this blog. I am thrilled to share new places, people and experiences with all of you.

I hope throughout the course of my posts, I inspire you to visit Tribeca if you haven’t, dig a little deeper if you already have and maybe just even love this part of the city a little bit more, if you already do. Thanks for joining me and enjoy!