Sweet hymns of old, a weary world rejoices...

Merry Christmas!

Rockefeller Christmas fun

Ollies reunited!

Last week I had the honor of having a guest. Molly came to visit and we ran amok in NYC. Well, actually it was too cold to really run amok, but we did the best we could. I showed her some sights, she showed herself some sights while I was at work, we ushered at Blue Man Group, attempted (and failed) to win tickets to Wicked and had our first taste of Ethiopian food, on recommendation of Molly's husband Matt who used to live in New York. Fun times!

Other than that, not much going on here, except I'm experiencing for the first time the world of corporate holiday parties. My goodness, there are so many! These things get expensive! Tonight is the last of three.

Oh, also I saw I am Legend, the movie we saw being filmed near Grand Central Station last spring ("You are able to hear gunshots. Do you not be alarmed – they are NOT REAL…"). I usually don't do scary movies but since I had vested interest in this one, I went with Erika, who promised she'd let me grab her arm during the scary part. The movie itself was ok, scary parts aside and plot holes aside, but the main appeal was the eerie scenes of almost every street imaginable in New York City deserted and overgrown. Creepy. It was also fun see our "our" scene, which was pretty pivotal. It was fun see the tipped taxi from another perspective and decipher Will Smith's shouting.

This is an interesting article about the blurring of government and non-profits. NYC has been using non-profits and private dollars a lot lately, to fund pilot programs like the Conditional Cash Transfer program. The pertinent question, I think, has occurred to me as I am learning more about how city government operates:

Government already contracts with charities to perform work formerly done by government, such as managing social service programs, making charities more like government. Now, as it turns to private donors for voluntary contributions, government is becoming more like charity.

Leaders argue nonprofit funds allow the city to spend money on neglected or experimental programs, but others question whether giving to the government is the most effective charitable cause.

It seems like the oftentimes confusing path of funds from private to public and back to private hands can't be terribly efficient, as there is a cost to each transaction - making the funds like a glass full of water that spills a little over the side every time someone passes it along. Nonetheless, it seems to be a trend, especially under Bloomberg's administration. It makes for some interesting partnerships. Anyway, just thought you might find that interesting.

Going home on Saturday for Christmas! Happy holidays to all.

Happy Hanukkah

Just to give you a little flavor of my neighbhorhood, I thought I should tell you that my neighbhorhood has a "Menorah Mobile" (so named by roomie Erika) that drives around the neighborhood blaring (and I mean blaring) what sounds vaguely like a cross between "Rockin around the Christmas Tree" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" played by a marching band, but is actually a song in Hebrew (although I'm guessing on the language), and has a "Happy Chanukkah" banner draped over the sides barely covering the painted "Rent Me. Call ***-****." It passes around the block a few times every night like the icecream man. Welcome to BROOKLYN!

Oh yes, semi on the same subject, the first night of our DC trip was the second day of Hanukkah, and the Jewish Fellows invited everyone to take part in lighting the Menorah. We congregated in Sarah's room as she lit the candles, and she and Bracha sang their song. Then, at our prompting, we made Etan tell us non-Jews the story of Hanukkah. It was fun. It reminded me, oddly, of being at a youth hostel in Argentina and watching Isrealis do the same thing. Traditions are pretty amazing - uniting across space and time.

Fellows take DC

After leaving at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, the Fellows made their way to our nation's capitol via charterbus and arrived early Wednesday afternoon. The goal of the trip (I think) is to introduce us to the ways in which city and national politics interact, especially for a city like New York City. The schedule was jam-packed with at least four seminars a day. Highlights included meeting with a former fellow who is now a senior education advisor for Senator Kennedy, a guy from Homeland Security (who pronounced certain key words, like "terrorist" with the exact same inflection and intonation as his boss, Mr. Bush...), and someone from the Department of Treasury. I was childishly excited to see all the national monuments, since I haven't been to DC since I was six, but sadly I didn't even get to see the front of the White House (I only caught a brief glimpse of a side garden from the Treasury Building. However, we did take an evening trip to the Lincoln Memorial. It had been snowing all day and it was absolutely beautiful. I didn't realize everything was all lined up like that - from the steps of Lincoln you can look straight out and see the Mall, the Washington Monument and the Capitol building, all glowing very white against the snow.Lincoln can be pretty formidable...
Fellows in front of the capitol building, in front of the Museum of the American Indian, our one cultural stop.
Other than the monuments, though, I wasn't all that impressed with DC as a city. It's so square and squat. Everyone told me that there was a law forbidding any building to be taller than the Washington Monument ("Or the capitol building. I can't remember..." was how the conversation usually went) but the internet says it's actually because of a 1910 law restricting a new building's height to be no more than 20 feet (6 m) greater than the width of the adjacent street. Either way, it makes for a streets that look like they're lined with giant air conditioners, or something...

In other news, I am officially qualified for the New York Marathon after completing a pretty slow and painful 10K this morning (I haven't run for close to a month...). So excited. But now I have to stop just talking the talk and start running the run - 11 months to get into shape. I'm going to have to find a club or team to train with, I think, because I need some accountability.

You, me and a tree

The roomies at Rockefeller Center, with ice rink, a glowing Prometheus and of course, the infamous tree. It's a little blurry and I look a bit like a bank robber, but so it goes.

a small world, once again

So last night I decided it had been far too long since I'd done any dancing, so I decided to throw a good night's sleep to the wind and go to the monthly swing dance hosted by the NY Swing Dance Society. I'm on their mailing list, so I get reminders all the time, but for some reason or another I've never been. Anyway, I went, it was fun, I danced a lot (as usual, attracting middle-aged men for dance partners. But they're the ones who can dance really well, anyways...) AND I ran into Mike, who used to be a Swing Bum at Trinity. He just moved up here a few months ago, and of course is already dancing like crazy. It was fun to see a familar face, and he luckily introduced me to a few more dance partners, more my age...

I also met someone who, learning I was from Ohio, asked me if I played Euchre, then told me about a group that meets in a Manhattan lounge every Saturday to play. I probably wouldn't go, but for some reason I really like the idea of a Euchre club. I love New York!

Unfortunately with the true retreat of warm weather, we seem to have lost warm water in the apartment, and it is not pleasant. I'm not showering in cold water all winter. Seriously. That is not an idle threat.

I'm going to DC with the Fellows this Wednesday through the end of the week. I'll try to come back with good stories.

Until then,

Happy December!

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and well. My absense was caused by a convergence of many things: work, travel, holidays, sudden general aversion to the computer, etc., but I'm back in action. What has been happening these last few weeks?

Workwise, I had been working to put together an evening event to get Bronx shelter residents enrolled in bank accounts. I was VERY nervous about it all, since I was principle planner, but it seemed to go well. Attendance seemed low, by my accounts, but in general it was declared a success. I am happy to have it over with, but I also have three more to go (we're trying to do one event in each borough), so no rest for the weary. After the event, I went with some coworkers to a restaurant in Little Italy in the Bronx that supposedly has the best Italian food in the entire city, no mean feat. There was no menu; the waiter simply stood at the head of the table and told us what they were serving that day. The food came out heaping on steaming plates and the red wine flowed in abundance (in general, I mean, not necessarily for us...) with Italian Christmas carols as a backdrop. Mmm, my eggplant parmesan lived up to expectations!

Travelwise, I made it down to Texas the weekend of Veteran's Day for some warm and balmy fall weather. For Thanksgiving, I traveled with Ryan to his home in New Hampshire, then onward and upward to his relatives in Lowville, NY. Despite cold weather and much time spent on the road (Friday was the only day we didn't spend at least 4 hours in some type of vehicle), a good time was had by all, with great food and lots of Euchre. Many thanks to the Condons and Sunderhafts for hosting me. :-)

Citywise, I'm working hard not to let the recent descent into bitter cold keep me from enjoying life in NYC. The roomies and I ventured out tonight to see the Rockefeller tree and all the accompanying Christmas hoopla. It's not as awe-inspiring the second time around, but still fun, although a bit overwhelming. There were actually crowds of people lined up to get into the stores on Fifth Avenue like they were waiting to ride a roller coaster. Trying to get through the hoards of people on the sidewalk involved dodging families with bulging bags from FAO Schwartz and American Girls. I think I'll stick to weeknights to visit the holiday sites. (PS, most of the window displays were still cool, and also I can't help liking the light display at Saks Fifth Avenue that blasts "Carol of the Bells" all the way down the street...)

Anyway, that's it!

How the Urban Fellows almost ended up in Sex and the City…

An adventure today:
Wednesday mornings are Urban Fellow seminar days, where we meet with a public figure or go on a field trip. This morning we took a tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, an example of public-private partnership to turn an old navy yard into a large-scale commercial and industrial space. Part of the trip involved taking a tour of Steiner Studios, a movie production company that is one of the tenants. We were supposed to meet one of the executives, take a tour of the largest sound stage outside of Hollywood, then move on. However, today they were filming a big scene from the upcoming Sex and the City movie (man, that thing is everywhere…) with LOTS of extras. When our little bus pulled up in front of the studios, someone was there to meet us and quickly asked us, "Are you here for friends and family?" Before anyone could really register what she said, she just turned around and said, "Follow me. We'll take you to hair and makeup and get you through wardrobe." So before anyone knew what was going on, we were herded into a big room filled with beautiful people in very fashionable outfits. At one end of the room stood a row of hair stylists and make-up artists; at the other end, a huge spread of Dunkin Donuts and coffee. We were instructed to have a seat, and our guide left us. At this point, our director starts to realize we're probably in the wrong place. While she's figuring things out, official-looking people keep wandering by our group, asking somewhat skeptically, "You guys have already been cleared by wardrobe??" Apparently our business attire wasn't making the grade… Anyway, eventually it was determined that we were, indeed, not the "friends and family" extras and we had indeed crashed this party with beautiful people, nice dresses and free pastries. Alas, sadly, we were herded back out and did not get to make our movie star debut…

However, coincidentally, we did get to see Mayor Bloomberg give a press conference about the opening of a navy yard historical center (and he got to make a cameo in Sex and the City, or so we heard...) That was pretty cool, although it was FREEZING COLD. And apparently, if you're a politician, you aren't allowed to wear coats. That's a silly rule.

Don't they look cold???
In other news, Sunday was the marathon, and it was a perfect day for running. My fellow Fellows Sarah and Lesley joined me at the finishline to hand out heat sheets (those tinfoil-ish blanket things) to the runners, and we welcomed fellow Fellow Dave as he crossed the finish in an amazingly fast 3:19. It was a lot of work, but worth it. For hours beforehand, we had to pull the perforated heat sheets off what looked like a giant roll of Saran Wrap, and stuff them in the fence for when the big rush. There were 40,000 of the things stuffed all up and down the road. we climbed in them piles of big shiny leaves, ostensibly to smush them down to make room for more. When the runners came through, we were supposed to throw our arms around them and wrap their shoulders, although during the peak traffic it basically devolved into people madly snatching them out of my arms as I ran back for more. What made it most exciting, though, was knowing next year I'll be seeing the view from the other side!!

Sarah, Holly, Dave (runner extraordinaire) and Lesley.

Trick or Treat

Soooooo, sorry I have one more piece of press. Well, I won't promise that, actually. But this op-ed piece from the NYTimes is interesting. I like that it says there are no easy answers, because that's the one thing I've come away with after this first month of work.

Last night was Halloween, and I bought some candy in case we were going to get trick-or-treaters. I'm not sure how that works in New York City with all the apartment buildings, and living in a convent last year certainly didn't give me any insight. Sadly, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters, but I went for a run in neighboring Park Slope and literally had to dodge whole sidewalks full of mini Spidermans and witches. Park Slope is known for its stroller-pushing population anyway, and they were out in full force! It was also cute to see parents and their little kids all sitting on steps of their brownstones waiting to hand out candy.

Oh yes, also this week I went to my first NYC literary event - a reading and book signing of the Storycorps book, Listening is an act of love. I know I've talked about Storycorps before: my friend Grant (whose blog, btw, is listed at right. He's spending a year in Sierra Leon teaching radio and journalism skills) worked there, and I went with two Mercy Center participants last year and made recordings. It's a great program, and at the reading they had people read their own stories that had been published, and there was a not a dry eye in the room. I even got suckered into buying a book, which I've been reading on the train, and thus get off to go to work a little teared up everyday. The book comes out for real on November 9, so look for it in bookstores. And turn to page 277 for Grant's name!

The marathon is drawing near and I'm so excited! And I love the way the whole city gets into it. The subway stations are plastered with a great ad campaign showing scenes from around the city with the slogan, "NYC is my running partner" and picturing various city dwellers in their daily lives handing out water to passing runners. I especially liked this one, with the Hasidic Jews, because that's who I see a lot of in my own neighborhood.

The heat is on

So I went to a running group on Monday night, and it turns out that one of the other runners was college roommates with my 12th grade English teacher's daughter. A stretch, I know, but see what I mean about New York not being that big a place? Oh, and speaking of running, I ran my 8th road race this morning in Central Park. One to go, and I'll be qualified for next year's marathon!

Erika, Maren and I went to the opera today. Or rather, we went to see an opera a converted bathhouse called the Lyceum in Brooklyn. We visited during the open house weekend earlier in October, and decided to check out an opera in an attempt to broaden our cultural horizons (and they had student discounts, which helps considerably in the broadening of cultural horizons). The show was Beethoven's Fidelio and it had the makings of any great performance: cross-dressers, love triangles, evil rulers and near-deaths, but overall, I don't think opera is for me. Oh and Saturday night, the roomies and I tried out Juniors, which is famously good Brooklyn cheesecake. We're doing our best to try out the Brooklyn landmark establishments.

By the way, the media storm about the intake policy has not died down. On the contrary, as last week there was a city council hearing about the issue. Here's one more article about the homeless prevention programs, from the Gotham Gazette. It blasts the department and it's programs, draws links between our programs and other programs that don't actually exist, and don't use named sources, but it is one point of view, and also gives you some more idea about what my department does. Sorry about the duluge of links in recent weeks. I'm just not used to being part of something that generates press, and I'm interested in all of it!

Tomororow, another workweek begins. Best of luck to us all.

Oh yeah, and they turned the heat on in the building. Guess it's officially cold...

Ups and downs

So the work on the new policy continues, and there have been several late nights. The NYTimes came out with an editorial today - here's what they have to say about the matter. On another end of the spectrum, here's what the NY Daily News had to say.

On a more positive note, however, I got to go observe the lease-signings for clients who are moving out into apartments. These clients have made their way through the shelter system and happily exiting. Here, everyone was happy and excited to move into a new place. I also got to talk with several clients, and I was very impressed with them and the amount of work they've done to get try and get back on their feet. I think I needed to see that end of things after a spending a week at the intake center.

In weekend update news, this weekend was abosolutely gorgeous! On Saturday Hana from Westerville/MIT came into town we got to do some touristing around. Today, I got a camera, which was terribly exciting, and I tested it out as Erika and I took a sunny walk through Central Park. Oddly enough, I ran into my boss in the middle of the woods in the Ramble. New York is not such a big place after all, I don't think.

The first picture taken with the new camera. I'm so excited to have one again. Location: City Hall Park.

Central Park, with fall leaves and spring-like weather.

The past few days have been super hectic. I worked Sunday evening and late on Monday and Tuesday at the intake center in the Bronx. DHS is working on implementing this new policy and for the first few days it was an all hands on deck kinda thing. Even new hands, like me, although I didn't have too much of a role. The first day I directed families through the intake process, and the rest of the days I helped keep track of reporting numbers. There is a lot of press surrounding this new policy because it's pretty controversial. I'm not even sure what I think about it, yet (and even if I did, I'm guessing it wouldn't be a great idea to post it…). I do know, though, that it was incredibly sad to see the amount of families coming through each night. From an office perspective, the phrase "homeless families" is one thing, but when you see all the kids with their backpacks on or in strollers – it really is heart-wrenching.

Craziness

So, DHS changed an intake policy and it has been pretty crazy the last few days. I literally just got home from work. We spent all evening at the intake center in the Bronx. Here's an update: (Because, ultimately, the NYTimes writes better than I do...)

Yesterday's news after the policy was announced.
A report made tonight after it went into effect.

More later, when it's not so late!

Open House New York

Photos courtesy of Erika:

At the top of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch at Grand Army Plaza. That's the library in the background. Eastern Parkway, my street, veers off to the left. The ceiling of this amazing Jewish Temple in Manhattan. It was built in 1929.
One of the balcony wings in an Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. That's me at the end checking out the first stained glass windows made in the US. Erika was motioning for me to get out of her frame, but I thought it was an "I'm fine, just gonna sit here for a bit - you keep looking" wave...
The Empire State Building last night in the fog.

Celebrity Sighting #2

So, you might have been wondering if I got lost on my way to work the first day and never found my way back, but never fear, I'm back. And excited, I had the day off today (Thank you, government job...). To celebrate, last night Erika and I went to Upright Citizens Brigade, which is the stand-up comedy show the MVC girls frequently frequented last year. We were sitting in line as usual when I looked up and saw Will Arnett (GOB from Arrested Development) walk right past us on the sidewalk and into the building (he's married to Amy Poehler, who usually hosts the show). I don't usually get too excited about celebrities, but woohoo this made my night. Mostly because I love Arrested Development. Well, completely because I love Arrested Development. But anyway...

As for my work assignment, I have spent the week doing a lot of reading and researching, and trying to get up to speed on the programs in my department. So far I've learned a lot about financial education and financial tools for people with low income. I even went to a conference at NYU on "Reaching the Unbanked." ("Unbanked," is one of the worst invented descriptions I have ever heard...). I also got to tag along to some meetings with the presidents of some large non-profits in the city. It's been really interesting, but I still haven't gotten a handle on what exactly I'm going to be doing. I think I'll find out more next week.

To catch you up on the fun things, if you're so interested. Last weekend Ryan visited and we spent the weekend enjoying the city. It is nice to be able to do things like, say, eat out, without having to worry about staying under $100 for the entire month. We also checked out the farmers market in Grand Army Plaza, and I got some New York apples that tasted like fall itself. Yum. Next week I'm getting cider. That's the one good thing about being back in a place that actually has fall...

This weekend was Open House New York, which is the program that opens up a lot of private spaces in the city that are usually closed. They give tours and talks at each of the sites. Erika and I climbed to the top of the arch at Grand Army Plaza (pictured below in the Sept. 20 post) and we saw the inside of several very cool churches and Jewish temples. We also went to a former bathhouse that this guy turned into a theater and arts performance space and coffee shop. We mostly stuck to Brooklyn - there is so much to explore in this borough that I didn't know about last year. Pictures from Erika's camera will follow soon, I hope.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Tomorrow starts a short week of work and the return of fall weather, so they tell me. Have a great one,

Woohoo!

So, after a suspenseful wait, I found out I will be working at the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in Prevention. One of my top choices! Yay! I'll let you know more as I find out what I'll be doing, but these are some of the programs I think I will be working on.

PS I just checked out our website and this was recently posted - all the Fellows on the steps of City Hall after our orientation tour. Don't we look like grown-ups? Sorta...

Off to bed to rest up for the first day of real work!

The big day

Tomorrow is the big day! We're presenting our scavenger hunt findings and then...da dum, placements! I'm nervous...

Momentous occasions

So, two momentous occasions have passed by, unmarked. The first, payday! I officially recieved my first check from the great city of New York. That was an exciting moment, and one that came none too soon. The second occasion: the end of interviews! In all, including group, follow ups and individuals, I did 38 interviews. Holy moly. The scariness of ranking my placement choices is over as well, as I turned in my list on Monday. I did a lot of second-guessing, but in the end you just have to turn it in and let it go. We find out our placements on Thursday.

Speaking of interviews, the article I posted last week about Ayn Rand came in handy shortly thereafter. In an interview the next day, I was asked, "What three people, living or dead, past or present, fictional or real, would you choose to have dinner with and why?" Whew, what a question to answer on the spur of the moment! I chose 1. One of my great-grandparents on my dad's side, because the family tree gets pretty shaky pretty quickly, and I would like to know more about where they came from and who they were. Then, since I had just read that article, I invited Ayn Rand and was able to talk intelligently with the interviewers about her life and books. They, incidently, had also read the article, and it turns out one of the interviewers greatly admired her. Point for me! Lastly, I invited Sr. Mary Galeone, my supervisor from last year, because she has the ability to communicate with all different walks of people. I don't need my dinner party to have lots of awkward silences, which I think would be the case with my great-grandfather, Ayn Rand and me sitting around the table...

Incidently, if the dinner was held at the apartment, we would have a table to sit around. Maren, Erika and I took the free shuttle bus to Ikea in New Jersey last Saturday to get a dining room table and chairs. I've never been to Ikea, so that experience was fun, but getting our dining room set home on the shuttle bus and subway was a nightmare. Each time I move something in New York I think it is the worst experience ever, but each time it is trumped by the next. It took us almost five hours to get home, and my arms are still sore! Moral of the story: I am never moving ANYTHING ever again.

This week, the Fellows have been divided into teams for a Scavenger Hunt across the five boroughs. So, just when we thought we were done running around the city, we begin anew. Today was fun though, I got to see parts of the Bronx I had never been to, even after working there for a whole year. On the way home, I had my first real celebrity spotting. They were filming the Sex and the City movie at a Starbucks near Astor Place; you could see Sarah Jessica Parker through the window and she also stepped out for a second with what I think was her kid. I'm not sure if it counts as a real celebrity spotting if they are actually filming, but still, it's the closest I've got so I'm going to count it.

That's all for now,

Work, play and sleep

A photo tour. I finally busted out Ryan's old digital camara that he graciously lent me after the untimely demise of my own. It may weigh ten pounds, but it gets the job done! :-) Here's a quick photo tour of my life thus far...

This is the municipal building, where I work for the time being. Our office is on the 24th floor and has an amazing view. You can't really see the statue at the top, but it is a woman holding a five-point crown (representing the five boroughs) called 'Civic Fame.' I think it's the second largest statue in the city. Sometime I'll get a good picture, but today I was on the way to interview and had to run...
The view from the office!
Back in the hood: The Brooklyn Museum of Art. This is only two blocks from our apartment!
The main Brooklyn Library. Only four blocks away!
Grand Army Plaza. This is the other side of the plaza from the library, and in between is the entrance to Prospect Park. This monument I think is to comemorate the Civil War, but for some reason there is a bust of JFK too. I should find out what's up with that... On Saturdays, there is a farmer's market in the plaza, but I haven't gotten a chance to go yet.
The front entrance to my apartment building. It's called the 'Mille Plaza'...that's how you can tell it's a classy place...

Run the Rock, and other adventures

Saturday morning I participated in a road race, or sorts. I did the Nike Run the Rock event, which involves running 69 flights of stairs to the top of the Rockefeller Center. It sounds nuts, I know, but it was so much fun! I've never done a stair race before, so I was extremely nervous. I was afraid everyone would be super-serious and in shape, neither of which I am at the moment.It wasn't really at all like I expected; I traveled upward at more like a fast, steady walk. Most of the other people I talked with were doing it for the first time. They started us off in heats of about 15 people. It was strange to be lined up at a starting line and facing a wall of stairs right in front of you. I didn't stop for water at the halfway point, so I ended up completely alone for the second half of the climb. Despite being in a closed stairwell, I still had the absurd thought that maybe I had wandered off course...

It took me 13 minutes and 23 seconds to make it to the top, and the view as you stopped onto the observation was worth every second of it! Finishing to the Empire State building staring at you and a bird's eye view of Central Park was definitely one of a kind. I felt like I had conquered the entire city in just 13 minutes. Also, the post-race party was sponsored by the Rainbow Room, the really fancy restaurant on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center. Apparently they are known for greeting their guests with Bellinis (some sort of drink. I'd never heard of it before, but it was explained to me by a woman who worked in the Rockefeller Center who decided to do the race...). For us, they modified the ritual with a guy in a tux handing out water bottles as you crossed the finish line, and later, Gatorade served in champagne glasses. There was also a huge spread of fresh fruit, bagels, pastries and jelly beans (not sure about the significance of the jelly beans...). It was lots of fun, although I didn't know a single other person. It would have been nice to share the view and moment with someone else, but I made a few new friends.

On Sunday I went to Coney Island with some of my fellow Fellows. The Fellows divide into an interesting mix of people who are new to New York City, people who have lived in New York City but haven't gone to all the classic NYC hotspots, and people from the city who are NYC experts. I think that will make outings fun, because some people are new and others know what they're doing. I, of course, fall somewhere in between. Luckily, this group is almost as frugal (although not quite) as my volunteers, so I think my free and dirt cheap experiences from last year will be useful. Anyway, we met at the boardwalk, ate a lot of fried food and hotdogs, stuck our toes in the water and even rode the ferris wheel! Which was genuinely scary, by the way. Anyway, fun outing and it was nice to see everyone in normal clothes. Business attire is still no fun...

The WonderWheel at Coney Island. Apparently it was built in 1920 and was declared an official NYC landmark in the 1980s.

Atlas Shrugged

This was an interesting article in the NYTimes about Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Also interesting: NYTimes online has a link to post articles on your blog.

Sept. 11

Today was Sept. 11 and since I work in lower Manhattan, there were reminders everywhere. My entire building took two moments of silence this morning, and in them, you could hear strains of bagpipes floating up 24 floors from the Police Plaza outside.

Rememberances aside, life bustled on as usual in the city. I had four interviews today (one of which involved dodging through a block-long protest of 9-11 conspiracy theorists to avoid being late) and so far, I've gotten excited about 5 or so of the positions. We have one more day of group interviews, then start the individuals and follow-ups, which should be more intense, since they'll just be one-on-one. We've been inundated with information about city functions and programs. I think I'm very impressed with the Bloomberg administration, although of course I've only heard from its proponents. It seems like he has taken on some of the city's most pressing issues and is making real efforts to combat things like homelessness, poverty, small business development and other such issues. Of course, my roommate Erika, who is a teaching fellow at a school in Brooklyn, sees the downside of his take on education, so there are two sides to every story, I suppose.

Oh, and speaking of interesting things happening on the way to interviews, this made half of us miss almost a complete interview. And we didn't even get to see or ride the cool train. Too bad...

Oh and one more thing: today we got a huge rainstorm and I got to watch it roll in from the 24th floor. It was raining so hard that first the river disappeared, the the far tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, and eventually the whole bridge was enveloped by sheets of pouring and rain and it looked like the world outside the plaza had completely disappeared. It was weird, but beautiful, and watching rain come from the sky and and continue to fall 24 more stories was a dizzying experience.

Anyway, sorry to wax poetic about the weather. Now, it's time for bed once again. Buenas noches,

Weekend in review

I'd say the first day of interviews went well. My very first one of the day was one my first choice positions, and remained so after the interview. Unfortunately, over 2/3 of the Fellows attended as well, so I'm sure many of them are just as excited. Luckily we have a billion more days of interviews left. It was tough to get from one to another on time, since the appointments were half an hour apart, most of the supervisors ran over their time allotment, and none of us really knew where we were going. By the end of this, I will know lower Manhattan like the back of my hand, however. It's a nice introduction to a part of the city I didn't spend much time in last year. There's no better way to get to know an area than walking it (and getting lost in it...and found again.)

My first full weekend here has been pretty productive. On Friday night, Maren, Erika and I ate at an Indian restaurant in our neighborhood. It felt weird to be sitting in a restaurant like a normal person with the two of them, since we are so used to being volunteers with no disposable income. It was fun! Mm, and tasty... That's one of the things I am looking forward to about not being a volunteer. I'm certainly not going to go crazy or anything, but New York is famous for good cuisine and hopefully I can take advantage of that from time to time. Sunday night I met Naomi, a friend from Westerville, at a restaurant in Park Slope (our affluent and brown-stoned western neighbor) for crepes, and it was also tasty.

Saturday morning, I resumed the road race streak to complete number six of the required nine to qualify for the 2008 marathon. Getting closer! I spent the rest of the day doing things in the neighbhorhood: I walked to the main Brooklyn library (which is huge and majestic and only five blocks from my apartment!) to get a card (I'm now a card carrying member of all five boroughs...), bought a router (internet in my room, coming soon!), went to the hardware store, and finished setting up my room (there was no time during the week; I was sooooo tired after each day). So there you have it. Nothing terribly exciting, but I'm excited nonetheless. Oh, and we managed to get a couch! A dingy couch we found on Craigslist from a sketchy Argentine named 'Fabio,' but a couch nonetheless. We paid $60 for the thing, plus delivery, so the price was right, and it can always be spruced up with a cover. Our living room is finally becoming a common room, with a TV stand, coffee table, kitchen table (sort of - we're using a plastic 'garden table' and wheel in our desk chairs when we want to eat a meal together...) and some lamps. We're well on our way...

Btw, I'm still basically camara-less although I am dying to put up pictures of the neighbhorhood, so hopefully I can get something figured out soon. Photos make life much more interesting.

And our internet is up and running! This this rambling post with many parenthesi. But now, bedtime! Big day with five more group interviews tomorrow.

Have a good one,

So, the last two days have been much more interesting than the first, although we continued to sit through our fair share of strange lectures, such as what larceny is and how not to commit it, what not to bring through security (they confiscate at least one pair of handcuffs a week...) and how to sign up for 401ks. We've also had some interesting info sessions on things like the city charter and the structure of NYC government. Oh, and today we got to take a tour of City Hall! That was exciting. We got to see the 'bullpen' where the mayor works (he shares his office with his entire staff, and shares a cubicle in the middle of things), although I felt like a third-grader on a field trip, and the "Blue Room" where the televised press conferences are held. We even briefly shared the plaza in front of the City Hall with the mayor as he posed for a picture with some people in hardhats.

BTW, working in politics is not going to be good for me with the whole problem recognizing people thing. I have a feeling I'm going to end up embarrassing myself when I don't recognize someone I should...

Anyway, we had to read the list of over 60 potential placements and pick out at least our top 20. For those placements with many interested Fellows, they schedule group interviews, which seem to be more like info sessions, and then some Fellows will follow up if they are still interested. Tomorrow starts the group interview process, which I think will be a good way to ease into the interviews. It seems we will all be running around like crazy from interview to interview. Unfortunately, I can't say too much about the potential positions, but there are some that sound really cool. I was at least somewhat interested in about half of them, but narrowed my list down to 23. Of those, there are about 5 that I am super excited about. Part of the point of the program is to get a lot of interview experience and exposure to the different city agencies and people, so they encourage us to do as many as we can. To start things off, I have three tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will leave you with some fun facts I've learned about New York City in the past few days:

• In the 1840s, herds of pigs roamed Wall Street to consume debris as part of the city's early sanitation efforts
• Speaking of Wall Street, it is so named because it was built in place of the original Dutch wall, built for protection, that was torn down to allow northern expansion
  
• NYC has 12,75o miles of sidewalk (enough to stretch halfway around the world) and 6,400 miles of streets
  

Day One

I'm a suit and briefcase during subway rush hour - weird. Spent the day filling out a ton of paperwork, learning how to do timesheets, getting finger printed, etc. The view from the 24th floor office is amazing - lower Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge. Fellow Fellows seem nice - went out to lunch with a few, and we ate in the park by City Hall. Most exciting part of the day: getting the packet of potential placements! 1.5 inches thick though, I'd better get reading!

And we're back

I'm back! I officially moved into my new apartment yesterday, with the very generous help of my parents who drove a full minivan all the way from Ohio (and more, but that's a long story). The apartment is starting to look great, (although my room is still a disaster) but more importantly, it seems to have passed the parental approval test. More details to come, but I don't have internet yet so it might be a few days. My program starts Tuesday so wish me luck!

Happy Labor Day; enjoy the long weekend.

For those worried about safety

New York City is the safest big city in the U.S.

A change of address

After much thought, I have moved from Xanga to Blogspot, because Google is much prettier without a whole lot of effort. Hope you like the new look (and can remember the new address - nyminutes.blogspot.com). More to come in September...

For those who missed it, chronicles of my last year as MVC in NYC can be found at www.xanga.com/newyorkminutes.