Posts Tagged ‘new york’
Should I stay or should I go?
As Columbia students we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to study abroad. It is during this time of year that studying abroad is a common topic of conversation. The decision to go abroad has already been made for those going in the fall, but it is still in the works for those debating going in the spring, and it is reminisced about by those graduating.
Some people have known that they would be going abroad since the day they applied to Columbia, while some have no intentions of leaving this glorious city. However, for many students, making this decision is not an easy one. You don’t want to miss out, but you want to travel in a new place. This is the dilemma I face and think about more often as the decision nears. I want to go to London next spring and travel across Europe. I have never been to London before. But I love this campus and I want to go to Bacchanal. I also love my friends here, the classes, and the comfort of my family and boyfriend. But Europe… it’s so cool!
Things are looking up
Walking down Broadway last week in the midst of my midterms, I did something I don’t normally do: I looked up.
Maybe the stress made me feel like acting a little crazy. Maybe I needed to stretch my neck. Maybe I suddenly became curious about what the tops of the buildings in Morningside looked like.
I don’t remember my exact reason, but all of a sudden I was seized with the desire to know what was above Koronet… so I looked up.
Many Columbians lament the fact that they never leave Morningside, and I’m constantly hearing suggestions on how to “get out of the bubble” and take advantage of New York. I’ll be honest; sometimes this kind of talk only adds to my stress.How can I possibly take the time to go past 110th street when I have so much to do?
But last week my spontaneous upward glance changed my literal perspective of New York, which forced me to reexamine my relationship with the city where I go to school.
It all started with looking up.
Once I noticed the line of apartment buildings above Tea Magic, Westside Market, and Famiglia, I looked further down the street and took in how tall the buildings are just a few blocks down on 100th St. I watched the cars drive down Manhattan towards midtown traffic, and imagined them crossing the bridge into Brooklyn way way down at the end of Manhattan or merging onto the Westside Highway a little bit closer at 96th St.
New York, I love you
It’s late. You’re up. It’s officially spring break.
Unless you have Friday classes. Sucks to suck. Everyone else is leaving the city to go on epic adventures in Miami or Milan or Vermont.
While you’re stuck with the rando you asked to share a taxi with to JFK or you’re on the nine-hour flight to California, check out this list of songs about New York.
1. New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down — LCD Soundsystem
2. New York, New York — Frank Sinatra More »
Five places colder than New York
When I took a look at my weather app today, I died a little inside.
It’s a bone chilling 12˚F (-11˚C for you international students). I’m Canadian, which means I know what cold weather looks like, but even I nearly gave up on school today.
Then I remembered that there’s always someone else worse off. Here are five places that are way colder than New York.
Be thankful you’re here and not in:
1. Antarctica
Here’s the temperature from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Don’t you feel better now?
2. Mount Washington, New Hampshire
Check that out. If that doesn’t make you happy to brave the walk to Pupin or IAB, then take a look at… More »
Communities band together after Sandy
In today’s paper, Hallie Nell Swanson reports on St. Luke’s Hospital’s continuing work to help people affected by Sandy:
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital found itself hosting roughly 125 evacuated patients from downtown Bellevue and NYU hospitals after their generators failed during Sandy—an influx of patients it dealt with by implementing a 24-hour command center, adding makeshift bedrooms, and having many staff members not leave the hospital for four days. And two weeks after Sandy ripped through New York, the hospital is still caring for dozens of those evacuated patients as their facilities recover.
St. Luke’s and other hospitals across New York are still working overtime weeks after Sandy because four major hospitals in the city — NYU’s Langone Medical Center, Bellevue, the Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, and the VA Hospital on 23rd Street — remain unable to reopen. Hospitals that took in patients from other places in New York have had to take on extra work. St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in the Rockaways has incurred $3 million in unexpected expenses, and may be forced to close. As the city cleans up, the damage caused by Sandy continues to linger. More »
You’re not a real New Yorker!
In today’s paper, sports columnist David Fine defends (again) his decision to become a Giants fan after years of having supported the Dallas Cowboys:
Deciding to abandon the Dallas Cowboys was a difficult decision to make, but one made out of a rational desire to more fully ingrain myself in New York’s culture. Most of my critics seem willing to concede this point, but latch onto the fact that the team I picked happens to be Dallas’ archrival and the reigning Super Bowl champ.
The “critics” Fine refers to are a handful of people on Twitter, and though Fine summarizes the argument accurately, he omits an interesting part of the discussion: Is it possible for Fine, or anyone, to truly “become” a New Yorker?
The ringleader of the Twitter critics was CC alum and former Speccie Raphael Pope-Sussman, who has never missed an opportunity to remind people that he is from Brooklyn (Never. Ever.). He tweeted:
And:
Wrangling up a victory
With elections for seats in the United States House of Representatives coming up just a few months from now, senior Staff Writers Jillian Kumagai, Gina Lee, and Casey Tolan took on a series on Rep. Charlie Rangel’s race to win his title as the representative for New York’s 13th Congressional District.
The first part of the series ran in today’s paper, and tackled the transformations of both Rangel and New York during the past 41 years he has served as Congressman:
Over his 21 terms in office, Rangel has advocated a vast range of policies, among them cracking down on drug trafficking, promoting economic empowerment, and reinstating the military draft. His legislation created nine so-called “empowerment zones,” including the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that created jobs and assisted small businesses.
As the third-most-senior congressman, Rangel has been in a position that allows him to impact the district, the city, and even the entire country.
Why not chronicle Rangel’s history in a different way– maybe through his most quotable moments over the years?
1. His quick reaction to President Bush: “I really think that he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all; it shows that, in this great country, anybody can become president.”
2.”You can no longer raise money and support those people in Washington and say you’re not one of them. It’s like being half pregnant. Either you’re in or you’re out. More »
Let’s all take the day off tomorrow
Analysts expect over 117 million Americans to watch the Super Bowl tonight. My question is: What the hell is the other 61.9% of the population doing? Unless your answer is: tending a loved one’s death bed, robbing a pizza store because criminals latched a timed explosive around your chest, fighting off packs of wolves after your plane crashed in Alaska, or some combination of the three, then you should be parked in front of a TV from 6:30–10:00 tonight. (Juliette Binoche, Jesse Eisenberg, and Liam Neeson, you can get back to your other matters.)
But when we all have to wake up at 8 a.m. the next day, Columbia (and the rest of American schools and employers) make it difficult to fully enjoy the biggest day of our country’s national pastime. This is why CU should make the Monday after the Super Bowl a school holiday. More »
The blog must go on
It’s late. You’re up. Maybe you’re up? The semester is finally over, so you might be catching up on your sleep. Anyway, if you’re awake just out of habit, here’s the one eleven. This is going to be a short one because, like you, I am still far from New York enjoying the holiday with my family. Let’s get started. More »
UPDATED: Livetweeting Bloomberg’s news conference
Casey Tolan, Spec news deputy, is at Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference, awaiting the official announcement of Cornell’s victory in the mayor’s engineering campus competition. You can follow all the action by watching his tweets. The event is starting now. We will also be re-tweeting the action, so if you like your news passed through two Twitter accounts before it gets to you, check us out at @cu_spectator.
Not a tweeter? Not to worry: We’ll update this post with highlights after the event is over.
UPDATE: 4:13 p.m. The news conference is over, the last tweet has been tweeted, and here is what you need to know: More »