Published in The Mystician 84.7, Page 10.
This year, a group of students and I from Mystic Media were given the chance to visit New York City for a conference in late February. With the easternmost place in the United States I visited being Minneapolis, I jumped on the chance as soon as I could.
Although a winter storm came the day we were supposed to depart, our nervousness was alleviated when we were told it was still possible to fly out the next day.
It might sound strange to those who have visited, but I had a very fantasized image of NYC in my head. Because of the number of movies and TV shows that made this city their setting, this place felt fictional to me in nature. Part of me didn’t believe it even existed.
Upon arrival, I noticed the astounding differences between Bismarck and NYC that made them feel like two different worlds. The first thing I noticed driving into town were the flocks of pedestrians walking in every direction. Like the traffic on a highway, people were rushing around expecting others to get out of their way.
The second thing I noticed were the piles of garbage on almost every street corner. There was a lot more trash per square mile than any other city I previously visited. In the areas I stayed, the rotting smell of trash and the skunk-like smell of marijuana mixed together creating a unique scent that I’ve never experienced.
Looking up from the ground, the next thing I noticed were the vast number of tall buildings on every street. The tallest building in our area would be one of the smaller skyscrapers in New York City, with the Chrysler Building (1,046′), The Empire State Building (1,454′) and the One World Trade Center (1,792’) dominating the skyline. Our tallest building, The North Dakota State Capitol, in comparison, stands at 242′.
Along the lower levels of these skyscrapers were a series of billboards advertising the latest brand name products and services 24/7. The most common place to see these signs was Times Square. I saw advertisements for news outlets, musicals and multiple brands with the most iconic being the advertisement sign for Coca-Cola, which played non-stop on the main building of the plaza.
Along with advertisements, Times Square offered many shops and restaurants appealing to tourists. Because of this tourist-focused nature, it felt like the most crowded place I ever visited. Along with the restaurants and the stores were hustlers trying to get money by all means. Some tried to sell us tickets to bus tours and concerts. Some tried to sell us mixtapes. Some tried to take pictures with us while they wore costumes of popular characters, and then tried to sell the photo to us.
Among the leagues of civilians, the most common animal that is iconic to the entire city’s identity is the pigeon. Flying in groups or walking along the ground, they make themselves at home in this city feeding off the trash and tossed bread of the residents and tourists. While these groups fly about leaving a mess in their wake, there is a certain charm to this urban bird.
Before we left, we took a quick trip to Central Park. Compared to the small parks back home with playgrounds and picnic tables, this was of a completely different caliber. Inside its two and a half miles long and a half-mile wide border were lakes, a zoo and various landmarks.
The main landmark we visited was the “Strawberry Fields” memorial dedicated to John Lennon of The Beatles. A street performer was playing Beatles covers on a guitar while tourists took photos with the “IMAGINE” mosaic, named after one of Lennon’s most famous songs.
With centuries of culture and history, the city is no longer a fantasy but has become a reality filled with garbage, pigeons and people.
The more I think about this city, the more I'm impressed that 1.6 million people coexist on Manhattan, an island that’s less than 23 square miles. In comparison, Burleigh county has 1,668 square miles with only 100,000 people, making the population of Manhattansixteen times denser on only a small fraction of the size.
The variety of experiences in this city could last me a lifetime, and I barely scratched the surface of what this city holds.
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