This NY Love & Hate Relationship

I made my way, early this afternoon, to Manhattan to indulge in a facial at FineLiving New York, purchased weeks earlier from Lifebooker Loot. Enthused to redeem my deal and have my face soothed from winter's harsh effects -- especially at a place so focused on a holistic, all-natural approach -- I tried to block the cold from seeping into my thoughts and my fingertips as I briskly walked along 14th St. Then, literally out of nowhere, right by Union Square, a man kicked my leg, suddenly appeared by my side, glared at me and growled, "Don't you EVER walk up behind me like that again!"

Completely taken aback, my heart pounding from the realization that I had so suddenly and quickly been mildly accosted and assaulted, I literally froze. I saw the man cross the street and disappear. My instinct was to dial 911. After an aggravatingly long talk with the operator -- "You're where exactly? It happened where? You want to meet the police, where?" -- I stood in the exact spot where the man had so quickly appeared and then evaporated, waiting for police officers to show up. Then I saw a man with a "Union Square" work-related jacket, and I asked him if he had seen what had just happened. I wasn't hurt from the incident at all, but I was -- and am -- more shaken up from it than I had expected to be. He seemed mildly concerned for me but said he hadn't seen anything. There obviously were witnesses -- streams of people were walking all around me -- when the incident happened, but in characteristic New York fashion, not a single person stopped to offer their sympathy, ask if I was okay or offer to be a witness.

The only descriptors I have for the man are vague: he was black, about my height, of unidentifiable age, and wearing a leather jacket. How infuriatingly, maddeningly stereotypical. I realized that I should have opened up my phone and snapped a picture of him with it, if I would've even had time for that. At this point, my plan to stay relatively immune to the cold before I reached my destination had proven unsuccessful, and police were still nowhere to be seen, so I simply continued my walk, trying -- unsuccessfully -- to recompose myself.

Finally, once at my ayurvedic spa, I managed to fully calm down and sink into facial-inspired bliss maybe 10 or 20 minutes into the treatment. Poor, disempowered, possibly mentally ill and/or drug-addled man, and heck if I was going to let someone as desperate and angry as him make me not feel safe or become angry and vengeful because of one ignorant, angry act. And so I made myself forget about him for awhile and relax into my little afternoon pampering session.

Ironically enough, when I returned home, I found in my mailbox the newest issue of New York Magazine: "Reasons to Love New York". The last reason given, Reason #59, "Our Most Notable Recent Exile Can't Stop Thinking About Us," quotes author Jonathan Lethem. Here is an excerpt of what Lethem had to say: "I love and hate, disgorge and devour, exalt and revile my old-and-always home just as fiercely and the same way each time I've fled, only to find it stalking me around my mental corner."

Sigh. New York.

My Current TOP 10 Favorite Free Things in NYC (SUMMER Edition!)

I have greatly depleted my funds in the past few months, as I work in education and have been traveling in Peru for most of the summer. So, I've been more money-conscious and looking out for the free/cheap way of life recently! Below is my current Top 10 List. Enjoy!

10) Using my neighbors' wi-fi networks. Free internet from the comfort of my home. All the better to read up on the latest cultural and news events, job hunt and update my blog! Alternatively, I enjoy hanging at the free wi-fi cafes in Williamsburg.

9) Myopenbar.com - free drinks, free events, free mingling, free people-watching! - There are seven open bars listed in NYC for tonight alone!

8) Museums. And galleries. Many are free or low-cost, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History, which both offer a suggested donation. See a more comprehensive list here.

7) Art gallery openings, such as this one. (Leo Kesting) Free art and complimentary drinks, maybe even snacks too! Also good for people-watching.

6) PARKs - especially the free events, such as Hudson River Park's RiverFlicks and RiverRocks. Tonight they are screening Sex and the City, and tomorrow Yeasayer and Amazing Baby are playing. Both are at Pier 54 (located at the West Side Highway and 14th St). See here for the full Hudson River Park events calendar. They even have free yoga!! Also see New York Magazine's list of free and cheap movies. (Lots of parks offer free film screenings!)

5) Speaking of yoga, I really need to go back to Yoga to the People, which offers free yoga classes every day, throughout the day. (Classes are by donation, and mat rental is $10 if you need one.) They now not only are in the East Village but also offer classes at studios on 27th St. and 38 St. (See directions here.)

4) Even more convenient exercise, and an animal-bonding time, is volunteer dog walking with BARC (Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition) Shelter. They need volunteers from 9-12 pm and 5-8 pm every day. It's a great excuse to stroll around McCarren Park! You also get to meet and play with some lovely pooches in need and maybe some interesting doggie-lovers in the beighborhood as well! (See volunteer info here.) They also need volunteers for the cat loft!

3) The GBH and Shaw Promotion parties. I am still an addict for NYC nightlife. Many events are free or cheap with RSVP (or if you simply know the party promoters' names or get to know the doormen). A lot of large acts play and/or DJ at these parties, and they have fantastic indie dance parties at swank, and not-so-swank, venues around the city.

2) The beach. See the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for a list of beaches.

1) And, I must admit, my favorite free activity: riding my bike around NYC! Just too convenient -- it's a great form of exercise, active commuting and sightseeing. And check it out: NYC is having its fair share of bike share demos -- maybe bike share in the city will one day become widespread here! And downtown Manhattan is offering free bike rentals, through September: http://www.downtownny.com/bikearound.

So who said living in NYC has to be expensive? Or that you need lots of money to enjoy the city?

See also NY Mag's "78 Days of Fun: The best concerts, outdoor events, and culture happenings of summer 2009."

"Happy-Go-Lucky": Movie on Pursuit of Happiness

I saw Mike Leigh's movie Happy-Go-Lucky last night. A British film by the director of Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake, it is, as director Leigh calls it in an interview with The Star, an "anti-miserabilist" film. That sums it up succinctly: the film is about a cute, diminutive cheerful woman, "Poppy," who manages to stay keenly optimistic despite the woes and unfriendliness she encounters in her life.


An English film, it was just recently released in the US and has received astounding reviews and substantial acclaim already. Besides its sentimentality and optimism in a markedly cynical and difficult time, what is striking about the film is its really jarring, realistic quality. Though I found the film slow at times (at a full two hours, it was on the longer side), I found myself forgetting that the film is fictional and the characters are, indeed, simply characters. In an interview with New York Magazine, Mike Leigh elaborates that Sally Hawkins, the actress who plays Poppy, was intended to be at the center of the film before he had worked out the plot details. It is Leigh's unconventional directorial process, wherein he determines the actors before the roles, and the actors improvise and work out the nuances of their characters and their lives, that gives the film its highly realistic, personable quality.

A review of Happy-Go-Lucky in New York Magazine by David Edelstein describes Poppy's outlook as much more than mere whimsy, but rather a deep "design for living"; and I would agree with this reviewer. It encourages us to go out and seek our inner-Poppy. The film is testimony that it is possible, even with unsettling and discouraging circumstances, to maintain a positive outlook in life.

See the official movie site here.