Trip 5: Day 2 (Williamsburg & Hell's Kitchen)

New York City is not on Route 6. In fact, Route 6 runs approximately 30 miles north of the city limit in Bronx; just a bit farther than it sits from the Chicago city line as it passes that city. But, I'm here, I'm on a Route 6-oriented trip, so I feel I should talk about it.

NYPD security camera

I'm staying in Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen is also called "Midtown West" and "Clinton," but Hell's Kitchen no longer needs re-branding, as it is no longer the run-down, dangerous ghetto epitomized in "Taxi Driver." Like the rest of Manhattan, the undesirables have been pushed out in favor of over-priced restaurants, condos and a general police state. Don't believe me? Look at about 10' above you at any time and see how many "New York Police Security Camera" signs you see on lightposts. Then look how many idle police officers you see. "To Protect and Serve" has become "To Protect and Serve the Tourists." Cleaning up Times Square in the 90's was just the beginning: they've moved on to the entire island and will not stop until all poor people are pulled out of site from the tourist.

But I digress in a drunken rant... I'm really here to drunkenly rant about food. Specifically, the terrible experience I had this evening with Kashkaval, masquerading as a tapas place on the north side of Hell's Kitchen. I walked the 14 blocks to it, starving by that point (I sufficed with a $1 slice of pizza), and ending up being so despondent with the result, that I desperately seeked out other nearby establishments that would redeem the neighborhood. Luckily, I found one, Betti Bar, located above the Hourglass Tavern on 45th Street. It featured a sincerely friendly bartender, a quaint bar and some decent happy hour specials (until 10pm). After that, it was on to Beer Culture and Heartland.

"Heartland" may not elicit any responses from those who are unfamiliar with Manhattan, but for those who are, I simply stopped by for one beer to go to an NYC brewery, just because I have yet to visit one. Brooklyn is too pretentious, Bronx is too far, and the others have unreasonable schedules. Heartland is another misnomer: their beers have names reminiscent of the Midwest (like the "Cornhusker"), for which the place is named, but there's nothing about the beer that evokes the region. In fact, the "Indiana Pale Ale," their IPA, was just awful. Living in Indiana for several years, I know that the state, if anything, does beer very well. I mean, New Albanian, Three Floyd's, Upland, Flat 12... They're all fantastic breweries that just do not distribute wildly. And they do not deserve to be associated with this sort of beer.

If you've been reading thus far, you can begin reading again, as I'm done with my rant.

Williamsburg Bridge from the Brooklyn side

Today was spent mostly walking, but also on the subway. I worked myself over to Williamsburg, just as a way to experience Brooklyn, where I had not really visited. I had heard stories of this "hipster heaven" and - oh, boy - I certainly found it. Pretentious cheese shop? You've got it! Fair trade coffee shop filled with 20-somethings, all on Mac books? There it is! Mexican food truck with toned-down Mexican food? Parked in front of you! Yes, rich hipster heaven is Williamsburg. It's safe but filled with enough non-white people to speak to the hipsters' white shame. I walked all over the neighborhood, starting in South Williamsburg, on Broadway, and working north to the high-rise condos at the North Williamsburg East River ferry landing.


The ferry cannot necessarily be seen as a form of integrated public transportation, mainly because you cannot use your MetroCard on it. MetroCard is the NYC transportation agency's (Metro) fare card, reloadable at subway stations and usable on subways, buses and PATH trains in NYC, among others. It's not usable on LIRR, Metro-North or NJ Transit trains or buses, which sort of puts New York behind San Francisco in terms of transit integration (the Bay Area introduced their "Clipper Card" in 2010 to officially unite a number of different transit agencies, which previously had incompatible fare structures and transit cards). However, one can purchase monthly passes for the ferry. The ferry goes to one of two landings in Manhattan: "Midtown" (34th Street) and "Downtown" (Pier 11, near Wall Street). Getting on in Brooklyn, one cannot transfer to another Brooklyn landing, as I had original intended. Your ticket is taken upon boarding, so you must either stay on until you reach Manhattan, or pay a separate $4 fare to re-board. That was unfortunate and caused me to simply take the ferry back to Midtown, where I walked back to the hotel via Bryant Park (to drink coffee).

I must admit that I'm very much enjoying my hotel room here. Choice Hotels, which I know for its Rodeway Inn in Hurricane, Utah and Comfort Suites at Indianapolis Airport (both awful properties) owns the Distrikt, and it seems they're making a solid effort to try and win over people in my demographic.

Bryant Park looking west

Speaking of which, I was stopped by a Nature Conservancy paid volunteer close to Times Square. I feel like I'm probably the worst possible person to be stopped by that poor girl, just because I'm well aware of their organization and its actions, and already have solidly formed opinions on it (they own quite a bit of land near Tucson, and have shown themselves to be - in my opinion - somewhat fascist on access to that land, as well as a bit too macro political for my tastes). I was asked for a donation, but diverted it into several questions that she could not answer. This is what happens in New York. I assume that, by where they were positioning themselves, that they were looking for the ignorant American tourist, or maybe even the environmentally-conscious, American-loving European tourist. Or may whomever will talk to them. These young people are just trying to make money though, just like servers at a restaurant, so I feel bad taking their money-lusting engagement and turning into self-aware doubt. "My manager may know that." That's not an answer, but I already know the answer.

And thus I finish up with the most self-indulgent city with a self-indulgent rant of sorts. Honestly, I'm kind of done with this city. It's been 10 years since I've been here and, from what I've seen, I could easily go another 10 years without coming back. This is just not for me. Of the large American cities, I would much prefer San Francisco, Chicago or even Los Angeles over New York. I may try to leave earlier tomorrow so that I can escape to Philadelphia which, again, I actually prefer over this city. At least, in Philly, you're not expected to answer a certain way.

Bryant Park looking south toward
40th Street

And, by that, I specifically mean how I think this police state has affected the culture here. We've given up on identity and focused on compliance and complacency. Whatever actions and culture best facilitate a head-down, self-absorbed ignorance of the country's core issues seem to be globally accepted here. I mean, say what you want about LA and its racial and socio-economic divide, if you visit Santa Monica, then you'll see the striking poverty and outright national abandonment of groups head-on, as they're laying in front of you, attempting to eek out survival in a warmer climate. In New York, the proverbial hose has been turned upon those groups, leaving just a wet, washed-out rectangle of pavement, vaguely smelling of urine and garbage. New York has been left to only those poor who can play nice, and fit into our box of civility.

If you don't believe me on my rant about sanitized New York City, check out this web page about "Taxi Driver" filming locations, then and now: http://www.scoutingny.com/new-york-youve-changed-taxi-driver-part-1/