Things I learnt from walking around New York City

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Manhattan, New York. This was not the first time I have been to Manhattan for work nor for vacation. Unlike my previous trips, where the visits were measured in days and sometimes hours; where agenda and itinerary were always rushed and tight. For this vacation, I had weeks to spend in the city, and I was determined to soak in and experience New York City differently.

I will spread my observations and musing over the next several articles, to reduce reader fatique and minimise indigestion :).

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1.???? Pedestrian crossing lights are merely advisory, not a law to obey.

This was the first thing that struck me when I was in Manhattan!

Here in Singapore, crossing the street at the pedestrian crossing is governed by the crossing lights. Even in the wee hours of the night, with no traffic on the road, it is not uncommon to find pedestrians waiting for the ‘green man’ before they cross. Perhaps us Singaporeans are too law abiding, or we think there are hidden cameras and sensors tracking us and our mobile phones that will instantly deducting the fines from our LifeSG credits.

In Manhattan, it seems like the crossing lights are advisory in nature. I noticed the busy locals, do not hesitate to cross the road, even in front of the oncoming traffic, so long as they can get across without getting hurt, most seems eager to risk personal safety for a minute less waiting.

Life must surely be a rush for them. They have no time to pause for the ‘green man’, nor to smell the flowers. Which is just as well, since Manhattan’s, sidewalks are mostly concrete, and there are no flowers nor vegetation.

?The presence of police officers did not make a difference at the street crossing.

Of course, I learnt from my observations and within two days, I was ‘localised’.

Walking the streets of New York, helps me to localise quickly.

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2.???? CBD is not the same CBD as we know it.

In Singapore and several other cities, CBD, is the acronym for ‘Central Business District’, the financial and commercial center of the city, the place with expensive apartments and high end shopping. Walking around New York, I noticed the presence of several CBD shops. However, CBD now stands for Cannabidiols, basically medical marijuana, which is considered a controlled substance in Singapore. Trafficking, possession, consumption (even outside of Singapore by Singaporeans and permanent residents) is illegal, even our Olympic gold medalist had first hand experience with this law.

?It is such a strange and big contrast, something illegal in Singapore, but sold as commodity in New York. This reminded me of the time when I visited upstate New York, and walked into Dick’s Sporting Goods Store, and on the open shelves, I could literally pick up and buy bullets and shot gun shells. Again, something totally illegal in one place, but a supermarket commodity in another.

?Well, my roots are in Singapore, it’s a package deal, I take the good, I take the bad, I take the restrictions, and I take the liberties, I will not trade the safety and security here, for the freedom of buying CBD and bullets off the supermarket shelves.

Walking the streets of New York, makes me appreciate where I came from.

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3.???? Matcha is the new bubble tea.

Almost 30 years ago, Starbucks arrived in Singapore. It created a big buzz, and elevated the whole coffee experience for an entire generation. Soon, it bifurcated the consumers, 50 cents coffee in the coffee shops were for old uncles in singlets and sandals, while $4.00 coffees in airconditioned cafes were for the white collar office workers. I am not a coffee drinker, and I was grateful I can still have a cup of ‘teh’ for 50 cents.

Fifteen years ago, bubble tea stormed the world, and when it came to Singapore, it elevated the cost of a cup of tea from 70 cents (in a local coffee shop) to $3.80 (in a bubble tea shop). There goes my cheap tea! Profit margins were so good, numerous bubble tea shops popped up in every corner. Notwithstanding the cost, long queues formed for the more popular bubble tea shops. Ironically, not only did we have to pay more, we have to wait longer for the drink too.

?As I walk around New York, I can’t help but notice the snaking queues in front of Matcha drink shops. In contrast, there was never a queue at any of the Starbuck shops. I like matcha, so I didn’t mind queuing. I believe matcha is the new bubble tea! They have fancy combinations and flavors, and enough viral Instagram and Tik Tok postings to create a new trend. I noticed 80% of the people queuing for matcha are ladies in the 20s. Strange. I predict it will be a matter of time before fancy matcha sweep the world. A cup of matcha was never 70 cents, I wonder how much it will be by the time, this craze comes to town.

Walking the streets of New York, reminded me that I used to have a cup of tea for only 70 cents, and now those days are gone.

4.???? The effort that goes behind making a movie is astounding.

I was walking around the vicinity of Chelsea Market and stumbled on to a production filming a movie “Marty Supreme” starring Timothee Chalamet along Orchard Street. By the time I stumbled onto the scene, there were already about 50 curious onlookers crowding at the edge of the filming location. Like any other busy body Singaporean, I joined in too, and for the next hour or so, just stood there and waited for the action to unfold, hoping to catch a glimpse of the actress Gwyneth Paltrow too.

?The crew did two rehearsals and two separate takes of the scene. The film scene, from what I have noticed, was really short. It had Timothee, open the door, run out of the front of the building, look around a bit and then turn to his right and ran down the street (towards my direction), with a policeman (actor) chasing after him. Whole scene will probably take 10 seconds in the movie.

?But to set up the scene and transform the street to look like it was the 1950s, required a lot of back end work with extra actors, prop professionals, technical crew, artistic crew, garbage crew, and so many more. They set up the market scene; chop up the watermelon on display; arrange the apples; pile up the sacks of potatoes; set up the technical AV equipment, maneuver the vintage vehicles; clean up the streets after the filming; feed the crew, etc. etc. I believe there is at least another 80 to 100 production crew members there on site.

?All this just to film a 10 seconds scene.

Sometimes in the workplace, we think we are the star sales executive or business leader; and we are the one whose performance and success fed everybody in the team> We forget the many hundreds of people behind the scene that were working at their professional best, so that we can shine for that 10 second on stage to close the deal.

Walking the streets of New York, makes me appreciate the whole crew of people working together behind the scene, to make a good movie and the star, a star.

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5.???? The more often we walk the same path, the less we notice the things around us.

While in New York, I stayed in an apartment on 76th street at the Upper East Side, about a 15mins walk from the subway station. My first walk to the subway station felt very long, I had to cross many streets and avenue, many traffic lights, before getting to the subway entrance. I noticed the shops along the route, the convenience stores, the restaurants, the CDB shops; the pastry shops; the liquor stores; the jay walkers, the bus stops, the jogger in a t-shirt, the lady with the Marc Jacobs Tote Bag, old lady with the oversized coat, the cute pumpkin decorating the store front and the lovely flower in front the apartment building, and so much more. The entire scene and experience was new and fresh to me, and I was soaking up all the sensory impressions, on this long walk to the subway.

By the end of my weeks long stay, the walk to and from the subway, no long feels as long, in fact, the walk feels shorter and faster. But sadly, I don’t notice as much of the happenings along the route to the apartment. I had become a local, focused and intent on the destination, which was either the apartment or the subway; no longer was I attuned to the journey nor conscious of what appeared between these two destination points. It is true, when we are focused on the destination or target, the journey feels faster, we are in the zone, time passes quickly.

Walking the streets of New York, helps me realised that, when we focus only on the destination, we miss the journey and we miss the opportunity to pause, appreciate, and just smell the roses. The moment will just slip us by.

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6.???? Brooklyn Bridge is for tourist.

In the early Hollywood movies, almost every apartment in Brooklyn seems to have a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge is a beautiful and iconic structure and has been featured in movies like Saturday Night Fever, John Wick, Enchanted, Tarzan, Spiderman, and according to Google, in at least another 187 movies.?

With time on hand, I walk across Manhattan Bridge to Dumbo, and then back, from the Brooklyn Bridge. The walk along the Brooklyn Bridge was a pleasant experience, because the pedestrian walkway is above the traffic, instead of alongside the traffic, which was the case for most other bridges. This made the walk very much more quiet and pleasant.

Interestingly, from my observation, about 95% of the people on the 1.8 km long bridge are likely to be tourists. There were not many locals walking across the bridge. Other than some enterprising street vendors selling cups of cut fruit, practically everybody else are visitors and tourist to the city. It was quite evident, because, almost everyone on the bridge were taking photos and selfies, and they were not in a hurry to cross to the other side; they were immerse in the journey of walking along the bridge. In fact, the people on the bridge were friendly, helping to take pictures for other strangers, exchange nice words with one another. I spoke with more people along Brooklyn Bridge in that 45mins, than I did for the last 2 days combined.

Walking the streets of New York, I realized that locals tend to focus on getting to the destination (rushing to cross the road), while tourist focus on the journey (strolling along the bridge).

?Got me thinking … in this journey of life, are we living like locals or tourist? If life’s final destination is the ‘end of life’, then why are we in a hurry to get there? Should we not enjoy the journey like a tourist, smile to other tourist more often, take more selfies, stop to admire the bridge, speak and interact with fellow tourist on the journey.

I must learn to enjoy the journey and not solely focus on the destination.

Walking the streets of New York, makes me want to be more of a tourist in this life.