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.
