The lines of this song, an ode to New York written by Billy Joel, are playing on my mind as I wander the city’s streets. Owing to the current weather, they are taking turns with Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City” because … boy, it is hot - the height of summer, the height of the season.
The planes heading for JFK and Newark are full again, and, irrespective of inflation and the US dollar’s strength, New York City is definitely back among the most popular destinations for short breaks and city trips.
That being said, the streets are less crowded than they were in pre-pandemic times. The stress that seemed to be an inherent part of Manhattan is less obvious and it is almost as if the city that likes to claim to never sleep has discovered the virtues of slowness - keeping in mind that the measure by which said slowness is measured is obviously subjective.
Be this as it may, the leisureliness, paired with stunning weather and high temperatures, calls for a slow tour of the city, either on foot or a bicycle.
Concrete jungle steeped in colour
Discovering the city on foot allows you to consciously take in everything it has to offer. New York City is brimming with art; beyond its many museums and galleries you can find large-scale paintings adorning facades and entire streets steeped in vibrant colours, with the New York Department of Transport commissioning international artists to get creative and repurpose the tarmac as their canvas. The project, which was initiated twelve years ago, aims to not only make the streets safer but to increase the quality of life in this urban jungle. At the same time, its intent is to strengthen the community spirit and make art more accessible to the public.
The most current commissioned piece is “Ripples of Peace and Calm”, covering approximately 700 square metres on 14th Street to the south of Union Square. It has been created by Ji Yong Kim, a Brooklyn-based artist with roots in Korea. Drawing on his heritage, he incorporated giant lotus flowers and koi fish, with the former symbolising hope for better times to come after the pandemic. The latter, on the other hand, stands for the perseverance of the local Asian population, seeing as it has been faced with resurging waves of hostility caused by Corona.
Art in the public space with an educational mandate
In general, many of the artworks in the public space - be it on the ground or on vertical surfaces - deal with socio-political or current issues, with the artists taking advantage of the prominent and/or heavily frequented locations of their artworks. These days, graffiti have come to be recognised for what they are - art much more than mere vandalism - and the genre’s most renowned artists are frequently commissioned by various organisations or municipalities to spray their messages on the walls of buildings or the like.
In cooperation with the NYC mayoral office, the International Labour Organisation and various human rights organisations, the “Street Art for Mankind” collective, for example, aims to raise awareness for issues such as child trafficking and child labour. The locations of the so-called “Freedom Murals”, created by different artists, have been chosen deliberately and are all in proximity to the United Nations offices in Midtown Manhattan. The locations of not only these but other relevant graffiti in New York City and around the globe can be viewed in the “BehindTheWall” app. The digital assistant makes it easier to explore on one’s own initiative and comes with interactive displays offering background information.
There are other graffiti worth a tour, such as the vibrant works created by Brazilian artist Kobra. Most of them are scattered throughout Manhattan and deal with prominent figures of our more recent history, from Albert Einstein to Mother Teresa and Andy Warhol to Michael Jackson, while others have the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, 9/11 and other places and events of importance for New York City as their topic.
Circumnavigating Manhattan on two wheels
As most of these pieces are somewhat removed from each other it is a good idea to visit them on two wheels. Bikes have become a common feature of New York road traffic and digitisation has made it easy for tourists to find and access their own two-wheelers. Similar to many European metropolises, there are e-bike stations throughout the different boroughs, where bikes can be unlocked via an app, to be returned at any other station of choice. Signposted bike lanes lead from north to south and from east to west, crisscrossing the city on a network that has grown from 820 kilometres in 2006 to more than 2,000 kilometres today.
If you prefer to leave the city traffic behind and take a more leisurely pace, you can cycle through Central Park or along the Hudson River. The route along the river is the US’s most popular bike route and if you choose to keep going once you have reached the East River, you can circumnavigate Manhattan and enjoy views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, of Brooklyn with its various bridges, and of Manhattan’s street canyons along the way.
The Meatpacking District is particularly cyclist-friendly. With Google moving its headquarters here in 2005, and the Highline opening to the public just four years later, the neighbourhood has seen a real revival. Boutique hotels, fine-dining restaurants and high-end fashion boutiques followed suit and are now lining the cobbled streets that are reminiscent of Europe. These days, apart from the Highline - an abandoned railway line turned local recreational area - the Chelsea Market with its diverse culinary offerings is one of the area’s main tourist attractions ...
The full article has been published in the SeaZen 2022 autumn edition and can be listened to (in German) on:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1eqy8TbuqEL2oLDwqnInQ5?si=a22607ecf3db4284
