New York City at night... and poverty and homelessness

Sometimes the photos can speak for themselves.












The rain and the lights and the people. This is a bright, brassy city even in the rain.






Everywhere we walked in the city through the night, on any night, it felt safe and comfortable. After an off-Broadway show it was easy to walk and take the subway to our next destination, which might be home or to a late night meal.

There is another side to NYC that we didn't really see. Perhaps if we had spent more time, or had stayed in a different neighbourhood, we would have seen some of the poverty and homelessness that plagues this great city. We know about American cities and their homeless; they must be here somewhere. And they are.



In New York there are about 54,000 sheltered homeless people. About 22,000 are children. These folk can be measured because they spend nights in municipal shelters. There are many thousands more living rough, sleeping in parks, subway stations and the narrow streets of the CBD. No one knows the number of people living on the streets. We do know from the measured homeless that about 53% are African Americans and 33% Latino, sightly disproportionate with the general population.




We also know that poverty is a serious issue here, though walking around doesn't give that impression. This city appears to be all that one would expect from the richest city in the richest country on Earth. However, according to the federal government 21% of all New York residents fall below the official poverty threshold. For those 65 years and older, almost 20% are below the poverty line. In this great city, fully 33% of all families headed by a single mother live in poverty.

Manhattan has the dubious distinction of having the biggest income gap of any city in the US. The mean income of the lowest fifth of the population is $9635. The top fifth of residents has a mean income of $389,000 while the richest 5% showed an income of just under $800,000.



This is a beautiful city, full of wonder at every turn. And if the numbers for New York City trouble you, please recall that 20% of all families in BC now live below the official poverty line, and homelessness in Vancouver has increased by 350% in the past three years alone. Numbers, just numbers. Or...

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Signs of the times in NYC

Well of course, they never saw it coming, but what does this have to do as an ad for storage rental? And is it coming again? Will having a storage locker really help?

Thomas Jefferson said this in 1787. Actually he quoted it in Latin as part of one of those long-winded speeches of his about that democracy thing he was always going on and on about. This sign appears in Brooklyn.

Two from the Upper East Side. What happens if you don't smoke on 2nd Ave? And whatever you do, don't sit down on your way.

Maybe sitting, or otherwise lounging around, might be okay here. Apparently not standing.

We could always go for stand-up. New York City is full of these comedy clubs. This one sounds good. I think it might have a Russian theme. Odd entrance for a night club though. Even Russian.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014. 

New York's Central Park

Central Park in Manhattan. One of the pre-eminent urban parks in all the world. Thirty-five million visitors come to Central Park every year to enjoy its 315 ha. It is about 4 km in length and 800 m wide. In comparison, Vancouver's Stanley Park was created in 1888 and is 405 ha in size. About eight million visitors come to Vancouver's urban park annually.

Established with some sort of vision in 1857, Central Park has struggled through the years. The first struggle came when 1600 people living in the area, mainly poor Irish-Americans and poor but free African-Americans, were displaced from their neighbourhoods in order to create the park in the first place. Theirs were neighbourhoods with names like Seneca, Harsenville and The Piggery District. That might discount the fact that in the beginning years of European settlement in the area that became NYC, First Nations people had to be displaced too, though that was probably seen as an ending rather than a beginning.

In any event. Central Park went through some problems, largely with political corruption, often from the Democratic Party machine, and later, in the 1960s and 70s with sheer neglect and crime. Still, it was always a place for New Yorkers to come to relax and enjoy some peace within their city. Beginning in the 1980s Central Park's image and management changed significantly and today the park is central to the city, and it is clean, safe and tranquil.








In summer there are free concerts in the park featuring jazz, opera and more. While we visited on several days over the course of our visit we saw buskers performing jazz, hip hop and opera. This young woman performed brilliantly for about eighty and was ever so grateful for the applause she received for her operatic performance.


















Central Park is also home to Strawberry Fields, which is across from the Dakota building on the Upper West Side. The foot path memorial is simple beyond words which is all the more appropriate for just another Liverpudlian immigrant to New York, even though Nixon tried to send him away.

















And we all shine on. Like the moon and the stars and the sun. And Central Park.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Le Moulin a Cafe on the Upper East Side

Le Moulin a Cafe is located on the Upper East Side. It is simple and inviting and a good place for coffee.

Independent and singular in its operation, Le Moulin a Cafe opened in 2011. It a combination bistro-cafe-bakery and it also sells a small variety of products imported from France.



According to an article in the Times, most of the patrons during the day are French expats, many with children attending the nearby Lycee Francais. The cafe is an interesting place, crowded and noisy when we were there on le weekend. The young woman taking our coffee order had the look of Paris and a French accent, while the young man calling out that our drinks were ready was most assuredly from the Bronx or Queens. It might seem a bit of Paris, but this is still very much New York.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

New York City from the top of the Rock

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 buildings covering 8.9 ha in Midtown Manhattan. Begun in 1930 it includes the GE Building (at left), NBC studios and offices, Radio City Music Hall and much more.










In 1932 Mexican artist and socialist Diego Rivera (his patron was Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.) was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to create a colour fresco for the 100 square metre wall in the lobby at 30 Rock. This coming after attempts to secure the commissioning of either Matisse or Picasso. In any event, Rivera's Man at the Crossroads became somewhat controversial as it contained Moscow May Day scenes and an obvious portrait of Lenin. After much argument between artist and employer and a refusal by Rivera to replace the offending figures with something more anonymous, the artist was sent packing. Fully paid of course. His mural was papered over while unsuccessful attempts were made to move it to a more accommodating venue. About a year later Rivera's mural was destroyed and in its place a larger piece by Josep Maria Sert, named American Progress, was commissioned and is what we see today.

Rivera recreated his work in Mexico City where it was renamed Man, Controller of the Universe. The composition is similar to the original with some additions. Leon Trotsky, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels appear in the new version as does John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Mr. Rockefeller, a lifelong abstainer from most things fun, is pictured drinking in a nightclub with a woman, a dish of syphilis bacteria appearing above their heads. The Rockefeller family was not amused.




The Lower Plaza features an ice rink where the Rangers play when Madison Square Gardens is booked with a rock concert or boat show. Workers were removing the ice the day we visited.












Views from the Top of the Rock are impressive and it's well worth going through the security screening. "Backpacks, cell phones and cameras" seemed a constant refrain from our security agents, friendly enough but insistent all the same. Good thing they didn't mention Swiss Army knives, corkscrews or Q-Tips.

Looking south to Downtown.

Looking west to New Jersey.

And north towards Central Park.

The Upper West Side.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.