First Visit

In 1609, most of Manhattan Island was covered with trees, lakes, and swamps. Mulberry Street, at the heart of modern-day Little Italy, was no exception. According to the map provided to us, there was literally nothing there at the time. The Dutch city of New Amsterdam eventually became New York, and boatloads of immigrants from Italy and other places mostly in Southern Europe would inundate the area. Before then, though, the Lenape Indians would use the land primarily for farming, as they did elsewhere. Kidney beans, for instance, were a major crop.

As can be seen in the picture above, the first part of Manhattan that was settled by Europeans was the lower tip, where the Financial District is today. However, Little Italy is located slightly further north, and nothing really existed there until years later.

Today, much of Little Italy is being eaten up by Chinatown. The largest industry in the area is tourism, by far. Not only can one find individuals from all over the world on Mulberry Street, but you can also discover amazing restaurants, shops, and even things like carnival games. The place has changed from a largely residential and impoverished area to one that is dominated by tourists and their money.

Expectations

After spending about ten days in Morocco doing service work, I have finally arrived in New York City for the Summer. I have a fantastic view of the city from my 6th floor window at 20th and 8th, which can be seen below:

My internship does not start until next week I believe; I am meeting up with my internship supervisor sometime this week to discuss specifics with her. I landed my internship at Fremantle Media, which is a London-based company that assists in the production of shows such as American Idol. Ironically enough, after applying for over twenty internships and not hearing back from any, I received an email from my now supervisor, who got my resume through a coworker of hers who went to Elon. Goes to show how connections can always help!

I have a lot of expectations for this summer, but also do not know what to expect in some regards. I have never lived in any city before, let alone the biggest one in America. I am thrilled to have the opportunity though, because I can figure out how much I like living in an urban setting before I actually go out into the real world when college is finished. I suppose I can break up my thoughts about the coming summer into two separate  categories.

The City:

New York is an incredible place that has had a tremendous impact on our nation and the world. I expect to get to know the city much very well, and to experience all the best of it. Already, I have had made some progress: last week, I didn’t even understand how to use the subway system, but I have now managed to take it by myself to several different places around Manhattan and even Queens. The street system seems very simple to me now, but I really was confused by it just a few days ago. In the coming weeks, I would like to learn more about the various districts and neighborhoods of the city and to become familiar with them.

Internship:

Since I am a communications major, it is important to me that I get some type of real-world experience in an internship that is at least somewhat related to what I would like to do in the future. I have never had one before, and so while I am nervous about the coming experience, I am looking forward to it as well. Sitting in a classroom can only teach me so much, and it is actually doing something for myself that I believe will teach me the most. I expect to learn more about what it is like to be in a professional work environment, which will help to prepare me greatly for a successful future.

Assignment 2 – 4/29

With so many different streets in New York City, it is extremely to pick one that I believe represents me well. However, if I had to choose one that I like best and I find meaningful, I would say that Mulberry Street in Manhattan fits the description. The photo below shows the area at the early part of the twentieth century.

Mulberry Street has historically been the center of New York’s Little Italy. A hundred years ago, the district covered much of lower Manhattan as millions of Italian immigrants arrived in the United States, most at New York’s Ellis Island. Over the years as immigration from Europe waned, Little Italy shrunk, and today Mulberry Street is pretty much all that is left of it. Chinatown has taken over much of what used to be Little Italy, as Chinese immigrants have settled throughout Manhattan in large numbers in recent decades.

Although a visitor to Little Italy today will likely encounter mainly tourists and not actual Italians, there are still some who live there. Some of the best restaurants and attractions in Manhattan are located in the area. Therefore, if one is looking for a cultural experience, a stroll down Mulberry Street will still provide one with a great afternoon.

I chose this street because I was adopted at a young age, and my birthmother was Italian. I have no idea what her name is or what she looks like, but I do know some background. In all likelihood, my ancestors arrived in this country at Ellis Island.  I am the only person in my entire family who has any Italian heritage, so I always love to visit Little Italy when I am in Manhattan to see what the culture is like and how Italian immigrants may have lived when first arriving in their new home. While I obviously have no personal connection to Italy, it is always satisfying to know more about my background, since very little information is available to me.

My grandmother grew up in New York City as a child of Irish immigrants, so even in my adoptive family, we do have connections to the area. I hope to visit Italy for the first time through Elon’s study abroad program in Florence next spring semester. While I am sure that such an experience would greatly outdo anything I can find in Little Italy, Mulberry Street still provides us with a window into the past, and is a place where millions of Americans can trace their roots to. While the area will likely continue to shrink, it was just recently declared a historical site, which will help it to be preserved.

http://www.littleitalynyc.com/

Assignment 1 – 4/23

Neighborhood: Battery Park City – see photo below

For this assignment, I went on the “Manhattan Street Corners” website and looked at photos from the Battery Park area. I already know a little bit about this area: it is artificial land that was created from dirt and other materials excavated during the construction of the nearby World Trade Center around 1971. It is home to the World Financial Center, which is a set of greenish-blue looking buildings with different shaped tops that are clearly visible on the New York skyline. Much of it was wrecked by falling debris in the 9/11 attacks, but has long sense been repaired.

While I already know that the area is full of office buildings, being located next to the Financial District and TriBeCa, it also seems from the photos like there are also some residential high rises and hotels throughout Battery Park as well. It is not uncommon for Manhattan to have residential and commercial buildings intermingled like that, but I do think that the financial district tends to be heavily commercialized, with few residents. I could be completely wrong about that though, as I have not looked up any data on that.

Battery Park City juts out into the Hudson River, and was obviously very well planned out. The photos indicate that there are a lot of parks there, with walking paths and marinas either directly in Battery Park or very close by. I chose this neighborhood because I though it was unique, having not existed just forty years ago. It also speaks to just how huge the World Trade Center was, if the excavated land to build it could create an entire new section of Manhattan Island. I am excited to learn more about New York in the coming weeks.

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