I wrote most of this ~ 3 weeks prior to leaving New York. "Here," then, refers to NYC.
There are two ways to parse that.
Before moving here, I thought HELLUVA town. Hells yeah.
Moving here? a HELL of a town.
Now – it’s both. Everything is both. Everything is
ambivalence.
I bike to work – felt like a legit NYC commuter today,
messenger bag and all. Door-to-door, to bustling Long Island City and the DOHMH* with the secure bike room. Used my ID three times to get into the most secure building I've ever entered, belonging there. I rode under the
BQE, across the Pulaski Bridge, right into Queensborough plaza.
*Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
That felt like the boldest part, first time. I used to
commute to school, from my old apartment/old schedule. But that’s all in
Brooklyn. Now, crossing the bridge. Crossing boroughs. And as I cross the bridge,
to my left, across the East River, is midtown Manhattan. One of these days I’ll
pull over to take a picture. It’s a narrow, two-way path, up up and over, with
pedestrians and bikers--all commuters, at that hour. So I watch, crane a
little. It’s beautiful. I don’t go to work before sunrise, anymore, and I go home before sunset. At this
time of year.
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| Dawn at the DOHMH, before going to Riker's Island jail to do Hep C education |
