ILLUSTRATIONS#2

TITLE
CONTENTS

ABSTRACT
EPIGRAPH
INTRODUCTION
METHOD
ILLUSTRATIONS

(1) Pleasures

(2) Opportunities

(7) Ambivalence
DISCUSSION
APPENDIX
REFERENCES

Write us.

ILLUSTRATIONS

(2) Opportunities

And if you make it there,

You'll make it anywhere;

It's up to you,

New York, New York.
.

-- Fred Ebb and John Kander (1977), "New York,

New York"

Pursuing an orientation implied by the concluding quotation in the last section, other informants placed their appreciative emphasis less on hedonic pleasures such as food and more on cultural opportunities such as the arts and entertainment. Such consumers valued New York City for its unlimited pop-culture events, concerts, museums, galleries, theaters, and other worthwhile experiences. They mentioned the City's constant flow of information, its intellectual challenges, its celebrity status, its global consciousness, and its commercial potential.

For example, one imaginative woman -- writing her response in the form of a poem -- found surprising but delightful humor in the architectural details represented by a gargoyle on the side of a building (PHOTO 2A):

New York is / A surprise every time you glance up. / Humor in the grotesque. / A continuity of old and new. / Humans trapped in a built environment / And, at the B-school, / Scheming people with books.

Another emphasized the multicultural diversity of Times Square at night and pushed his point-and-shoot cameras past their optical limits by trying rather unsuccessfully to take a picture in the dark(PHOTO 2B):

Image: Times Square by night. Representation: To me New York represents the cultural center of the world, where information converges in all sorts and types. Forming unique concepts, feeding from cultural diversity. The picture at night shows the way information flows through space as light; flashes and images light the night.

For another informant, satisfaction seemed to stem as much from the contemplation of the cultural opportunities (offered by institutions like the Cloisters or Lincoln Center) as from the actual participation in these potentially time-consuming distractions (from her demanding schoolwork)(PHOTO 2C):

The corner of 91st & Madison epitomizes what New York means to me. The street is filled with buses, taxis, private cars and delivery trucks. People are scurrying by with a child in one hand and a briefcase in the other (with a "Journal" under their arm). I stand there every morning to catch the bus to Columbia. However, I could go [to] the Cloisters or Lincoln Center. This is why I love this busy street, it reminds me of all the opportunities New York has to offer.

By contrast, another woman proclaimed the wonders of the New York theater scene from the vantage point of an habitué celebrating the merits of the discount ticket center at the TKTS booth in Duffy Square (PHOTO 2D):

I took pictures in Duffy Square which is located between Broadway and Seventh Ave., between 47th and 46th streets. The picture shows the statue of Father Duffy in the foreground ..., the Theater Development Fund's TKTS booth behind Father Duffy and the Giant Coca Cola sign behind the TKTS booth.

This scene contains so many icons of what New York means to me. I had forgotten that the TKTS booth was in Duffy Square. Most people, I believe, consider that location a part of Times Square. Times Square is New York to me. As a child, growing up in the Midwest, I spent each New Year's Eve watching the ball drop festivities in Times Square. I didn't know then that there were people who refer to Times Square as "the center of the world." It certainly seemed like the center to me.

Whether it was watching the ball drop or the stories my father would tell about living in New York as a young man, I knew I was destined to live in the city. This feeling was confirmed upon my first visit at age 16. I saw a lot of Broadway shows during that visit -- the perfect activity for an aspiring actress. When I moved to NYC at age 18, the TKTS booth became an important part of my life, allowing me to see shows I could not otherwise afford....

This scene really captures all that New York means to me. The bright lights of Broadway and Times Square, the opportunity to see the shows on Broadway....

Also stressing the role of a statue in her appreciation of New York, another informant focused on an aesthetic experience available closer to home(PHOTO 2E):

My picture shows the statue right next to St. John the Divine Church. This represents New York to me because I look at it outside my window and I walk by it every day on the way to school. It is a mythical statue with a centaur, a deer and a woman. The statue always transcends me [sic] to another universe and I love it because it actually allows me to escape New York to a destination of my choice. This statue represents my freedom, my imagination and my dreams. It always uplifts my spirits, and clears my mind.

And -- speaking of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine -- one more informant developed the meaning of that essentially medieval edifice by virtue of its symbolic connections with the nature of our contemporary life in the Big City(PHOTO 2F):

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The cliché[that] all great things come to the city (or something like that) seems to fit very well with my impression of the cathedral.

The cathedral's historical role was central and multifaceted in the community of the middle ages. Not only was the role of religion dominant and so the cathedral was often utilized for this purpose, but, as the largest indoor facility in town, it served as a grange hall, market or bazaar facility, refuge from inclement weather, etc. In the middle ages the cathedral exerted the magnetic force and served the many purposes that New York City now does here in America.

Contrasting with those just mentioned, who found satisfaction by immersing themselves in the cultural life of the City, others took pleasure in regarding its splendors with detachment from afar. Thus, one woman expressed special enthusiasm for the spectacular skyline of New York when seen from the heights of a park near her home in Hoboken, New Jersey(PHOTO 2G):

I live in Hoboken, New Jersey -- a small town full of young professionals located across the Hudson River. The pictures I have taken truly represent my idea and perception of New York as I have spent many hours doing homework at a park located on the top of a hill along the Hudson with a spectacular view of the New York City skyline. Additionally, it is this amazing 3-D view of New York that greets everyone that visits Hoboken as they enter the small city (town). While the city appears so overpowering and overwhelming when I'm there, it appears significantly smaller and much more beautiful when looking at it from afar.

Unfortunately, this woman's photographs of the "amazing 3-D view" were not as "spectacular" stereographically as she had intended because she shot her photos at such a great distance from the panorama of interest. However, another informant from New Jersey took his stereograph of the New York skyline from sea level and emphasized the commercial significance of the water traffic along the Hudson River (PHOTO 2H):

My photo(s) is (are) of the New York Skyline from the New Jersey side of the Hudson. The photo represents two things. First, because I grew up in the suburbs (Long Island), New York City was always an important place that was just a little bit in the distance. Second, New York City was to me (and still is) an important commercial center, so the NY waterway ferry in the foreground stands for the river traffic that was so crucial to NY's development.

Speaking of New York as a "commercial center," another informant viewed New York as a land of opportunity where aspiring artists or entertainers come to pursue their ambitions(PHOTO 2I):

Sony Studio B -- the second largest studio in the New York Sony recording facility, located in midtown. This is the situation most aspiring pop stars dream of: a chance to prove to the label they have the prerequisite qualities. During this session, the Boston alternative band Standing on Earth is mastering a three-song demo. This demo will become the centerpiece of a package that will allow Sony to decide whether they are interested in picking up SOE for a full record deal. For dreamers and pragmatists alike, this is representative of the New York experience: it's the opportunity to realize one's ambitions that draws so many to this city.

Finally, one eloquent informant summed up many of these celebratory impulses by reference to a local cultural icon found at Rockefeller Center near Fifth Avenue at 50th Street (PHOTO 2J). Specifically, he developed a detailed metaphor suggested by a statue of Prometheus, the Greek god of fire, who in his view symbolizes the City's "creativity, energy, capital, and brain power":

America in the late 20th Century represents the pinnacle of human consumption -- a nation drenched in consumer images, slogans, and services. The physical center of our driving ethos is New York City, a small island that nevertheless plays a huge role in producing our consumptive output, commercial and cultural.

And of all Manhattan neighborhoods, midtown best defines our astonishing metropolis. Running from 34th to 59th Street, midtown hosts a dazzling concentration of publishing, advertising, broadcasting, entertainment, cultural, financial, and consulting activity, not to mention some of the best known buildings, restaurants and shops in the world.

If midtown best defines the New York of today, what best defines midtown?... I would argue that Rockefeller Center best epitomizes midtown. As a multi-acre plot in the heart of midtown, complete with an underground network of tunnels, Rockefeller Center is a self-sustaining mini-city, a jewel box of talent, glamour, and consumptive icons. From Radio City Music Hall to NBC studios, from Time Inc. to Simon & Schuster, from the Rainbow Room to the ice rink, Rockefeller Center hosts a cornucopia of brand names and consumer delights. In a city of great activity, Rockefeller Center has perhaps the greatest concentration of activity and talent in the world -- an Art Deco beehive that produces more honey than any other.

In addition, [at] Rockefeller Center stands a dramatic, golden statue of Prometheus, Greek god of fire. Just as Prometheus brought fire to man and thereby advanced human society, New York brings to the world the highest levels of creativity, energy, capital, and brain power, thus advancing our civilization ever and ever upward. Thus, my stereographic photo of Prometheus and surrounding Rockefeller Center skyscrapers not only best defines what New York means to me, but is a metaphor for what the city means to the world.