Eunbyoul Cho

Activity 6 Eunbyoul Cho

1.In my neighborhood there was only few places which was open lately. Most of buses near my house which were Q12 and Q13, there were all 24 hour transit. I found 24 hour laundromat and right next to that laundromat there were 24 hour deli too. However while I was walking around my neighborhood, I figure it would be for the "the typical divorced or battered woman currenlty seeks housing, emplyoment, and child care simulataneously" will not live near my neighborhood(Hayden 145).It is becuase clinic or medical office were only open until 6 p.m. which was the longest and for pharmacy there were open until 8 p.m. Also, the daily care center were only open until 6 p.m. which for people who finishes work after 6 or 8 p.m. will have hard time living in my neighborhood.
2.In my neighborhood there is "PC bang" which is a place where you pay and use the computer. Mostly there were males, especially tennager boys and adults. It was hard to see women in the PC bang. I think it is because of most of people were playing games with their friend which means that they are playing altogether. However it was hard to find women in the PC bang becuase I guess near my neighborhood, including me,women don't play games with other. On the other hand, the "bbang-goop-neun-ma-eul" which is korean bakery, there were mostly girls. They were eating bread, drinking coffee, and talking to each other. The PC bang and bakery is right in front of each other it just that they are in other side of block but there were "division" between "male" and "women" place.
3. It was hard for me to find the queer/gay individuals claiming spaces for themselves but during our class someone mention that flushing library's b level was used to be the place because it is dark. So I went to that place but now it doesn't seem queer/gay space because it was bright and I think library changed there b level in someway. It was hard for me to find out queer/gay spaces.
4. I googled "gay map of new york" and went http://newyork.gaycities.com/bars/ . There are mostly bars located in downtown in Manhattan.
5. Near my house there is Kissena Park. I went there and saw many people talking, running, fishing, or dating. I think kissing is "private" activitiy but there were teenager couple kissing in the park. Not only that they didn't care about children in front of them. I think that is seriously engaging "private" acticity in public were all the people are around them

Teresa Mira: Activity # 8.2 Trip to Central Park

For the second trip, we went to Central Park. I certainly didn’t know my way around having only been to the park a total of 3 times, I did however know where the Balto statue was, a favorite of mine since I was a kid because I loved the movie. The only other landmark I know is the Imagine circle on the west side, unfortunately we didn’t have time to go all the way over there. In our walk through the park, however we did see many different parts of the park I had never seen. We passed by the Great Lawn where there are usually in good weather many people playing and lounging. We then went by the Chess and Checkers House, which I didn’t even know existed. It was very cool, set up higher than the path and provides entertainment for those who wish to participate. Then we saw the ice skating rink, which I am now waiting until next winter to go to, as I have never been there before. We also walked through the zoo area. It was very cool to see all of this in Central Park as I had never seen it before. As we walked through, I was also noticing aspects of our discussion and reading on plazas and how it applies to the park as well. There are benches and areas designated to sit on, however if you go on a nice day those seem to be the least used places. Often people seem to sit on the large rocks or the grass. This experience was a really great opportunity to explore Central Park and to spend time with my classmates.

Teresa Mira: Activity # 8.1 Trip to Roosevelt Island

For our first trip, the other group took us to see Roosevelt Island. After having grown up on Long Island, the only parts of the city I know are Times Square, Union Square and the small areas around Hunter and Brookdale, so I have never been on Roosevelt Island. Matt acted as a wonderful tour guide and showed us around giving us a lot of interesting information. We walked along a path by the river where along the path were some prime seating that reminded me of seating that would be good for a plaza. They were wide steps and a large bench that looked over the water to the city. We then continued to walk around the island and went into this little amphitheater that was a part of an apartment complex. This area is similar to the way we discussed private and public space. This area was a private space but had a public kind of appeal with a path leading to it from the sidewalk and a lot of seating. As we walked around the island, I noticed a lot of Jane Jacobs’s ideas were utilized in this small area. Roosevelt Island is certainly pedestrian friendly; it has a lot of walking and biking space. It also favors this and public transportation with the trolley that goes around the island as well as the F train and the Tram leading to the island. Overall, the experience was very nice and I really like the walk around Roosevelt Island.

Judyta Banach Activity # 8

Our second trip was based on visiting Central Park. We started out trip by 69 Str. on the East side of the park. The central point of our trip was to enjoy a beautiful afternoon and observe the surroundings of the land.
Central Park was created in 1859 to provide attractive settings for working class New Yorkers. Today, it attracts not only people living in New York, but also tourists who want to take a walk in a famous piece of land located at the heart of the city. Even though the park looks natural, many parts of it, is a created landscape.
Because of the incoming spring the greenery of the park is amazing. The trees are blossoming and flowers are “waking up” after a dark winter season. An interesting thing that I learned during the trip was that the park serves as an oasis for the migrating birds. At the beginning of the trip we all took a walk in a Mall and Literary section of the park. None of us knew why this part of the park was called like this so after doing some research of my own I found out that this is a very famous part of the Central Park. The Mall Promenade is surrounded by tall trees and by statues of famous literary people like Shakespeare. When we got to the end of this section, the trees in the Mall walk looked like guardians because of the branches that come together at the top of the trees. Central Park consists of many small bridges that are all designed in different ways, so no two are alike. Our next stop was Chess and Checkers House, where we got a map of the park, which helped us to locate many other places. The Chess House consists of tables inside as well as outside and it was built in 1952. From there we went to see a famous Wollman’s ice –skating rink. Because of the warm days, the rink was melted and unused, but as I learned, during the summer it is used for other purposes. On our way back we passed by one of the Ponds and the park’s small zoo. The zoo area was the gathering place of mostly children and tourists. Some activities that we noticed during our trip were carriage horses, pedicabs, and children climbing the rocks.



Even thought, I moved to New York eight years ago, I have been in Central Park few times. This trip allowed me to explore the park and to learn its history, as well as to connect with my classmates.

Judyta Banach Activity#7 Plaza Observation

I decided to observe Paley Park on a beautiful afternoon. The plaza had small, round tables with chairs as well as concrete seats around it. It was surrounded by big walls that were covered with greenery. Also, around every tree there were pots with yellow tulips that brighten up the place. Although there was no direct sun light in the plaza, the place was still crowded. Because the plaza is located between Madison and 5th Ave, it was mostly occupied by “white-collar” profession people who ate their lunch and enjoyed their short break from work. Once 12 o’clock hit, there were less table available, and the plaza got really crowded. There were also some tourists who were taking a lot of pictures. At the beginning, when there were less people in the Paley Park, those who came in tended to seat far away from others, but once there were less seating available, it didn’t bother them that they were surrounded by others. The one thing that I observed with a relationship with William H. Whyte observations, was that majority of people passing by either stopped and took a seat at the Paley Park, or just looked at it from the outside.
The main attraction of the plaza was a waterfall located at the end of the place, where lots of people sat in front of it to enjoy the sounds of the nature. The waterfall was so loud that if one sat in the middle of the plaza, the car noises were barely heard. This factor makes the place more interesting because even if people stay there for a short period of time, they are being able to relax more. The only place that in my opinion could be used differently was water itself. Although the waterfall makes the place unique, there is no direct contact with the water, where people could for example put their feet in it. The Paley Park didn’t have any surveillance mechanisms, but it was monitored by people that maintained the park to be clean and nice. One of them even asked the girl who threw her cigarette at the ground to pick it up and put it into marked bins.
Even though the plaza was very crowded, I felt very relax and comfortable sitting around all those people because they all minded their own business. Now that I know of places like this, I will visit them more often, especially during warm days.

Teresa Mira: Activity # 7: Chase Manhattan Plaza Observation

I went to Chase Manhattan Plaza downtown and observed the plaza. Unfortunately, I was only able to go on a day that was cold, windy and slightly rainy so there weren’t many people around. The plaza seemed to have been mostly occupied by tourists taking pictures and walking around. There was also, what seemed to be a high school class on a trip taking a group picture. In terms of sitting space, there are a number of large benches scattered about the plaza. They seemed to serve their purpose with event the unpleasant weather, there were still a few people sitting down for short periods of time. There were also a few food venders around drew people over even in the bad weather, especially being around noon it was lunch time for many of the people who work in the area. They didn’t seem to stay long, probably because of the weather and their desire to stay dry and warm. There were a bunch of workers and police around that seemed to patrol the area, but this also seemed to derive from the construction going on close to the plaza. They didn’t seem to bother anyone or give any type of direction but they were still walking around the area. The two statues that are there also drew people into the plaza. Tourists took pictures in front of them and then decided to sit for a while. While there I imagined that, it would be much busier and full of people on a nicer day. It wasn’t so bad that day except for the wind, every big gust seemed to cause people to get up and leave.

Judyta Banach Activity#6

1. Dolores Hayden in her article “What would a non-sexist city be like?” talks about building a community that would be easily accessible for men and women. She argues that even thought more women started to work, they are still expected to do their job when it comes to family matters, and a lot of times their neighborhoods don’t provide them with good social services.


This activity allowed me to pay closer attention to what kind of services my neighborhood provides to working parents. People with out kids, like me, don’t really think about these issues until they become parents. Although there are really few social services in my community, I found some that are available for people that work late or for parents. One of them is a dental office, where I used to work. The last appointment that people can make is at 7:30 P.M. and most patients ask for that hour. Another place that I noticed where laundry centers. Most of them are open until 9pm and there is even one that is open 24 hours 7 days a week. Because most of the landlords don’t provide an apartment with a washing machine, Laundromats that are open late are very helpful for people with kids.

2.





Most of the “male spaces” located in my neighborhood are not exactly only used my man, but one is able to see a male dominance in them. One place is a barber shop owned by a Russian man, where mostly older men get their hair cuts. It is located in the main street of my neighborhood which is Fresh Pond Rd. In my opinion it is a typical men place because barber shops are designed for them. There are few men that will go to a hair salon where women are gossiping. Another places that looked dominated my men were local bars. The one particular one is not only occupied by men, but also by men from the same country, which is Albania. This place is located on one of the side street, but very closely to main road, where the life is pumping day and night. The bar has been open for almost four years and every time I passed by it, I have never seen a women in there. These men also like to hang out outside of the bar and whistle at every girl passing by.
Locating “women spaces” was the easiest tusk because they are most visible. One of the obvious one is a nail salon, where I have been going for the past five or six years. As most of them, this one is also owned by very nice Chinese woman. Even thought men more and more go to have their nails done, this particular one have been occupied by women only. The only time I saw a man in there, was when the salon offered massages. Another place are hair salons that are located on the main street. Over a past few years the neighborhood became very much occupied by Polish people, and the hair salons are mostly owned by Polish women. An interesting thing that I observed is that these salons are always busy, while the ones owned by other nationalities not so much.




3. Some of the places that queer individuals claim in the city are parks, gay bars, and recently subways. Since gay are being accepted by more and more people, and since gay started to fight for their rights more, one is able to observe gay presence almost everywhere. I have lived in my neighborhood for the past eight years, and I have never seen gays or lesbians. The only place around my neighborhood, where I was able to see how queer individuals claim their spaces was the train. In my opinion they show the affection to one another in public spaces, to make other people understand that they are just like them, but with a different sex orientation.

4. An interesting factor that I saw on “the gay map of New York” is that most of the places available for gay are located in the city. In my opinion, the reason behind this is that people in the city are more open to seeing queer individuals, while those who live in the suburbs or in smaller communities tend to have more conservative point of view. Also there are a lot of tourists in Manhattan from all over the world, who are in New York temporarily and this makes it easier for gays and lesbians to show their affection to each other.
The places for gays and lesbians that the map had it, where bars, hotels, clubs and even cruise parties. On of the cruise parties is located near times Sq. and it holds private sex parties. The hotels that were on the map were mostly located very close to all the hung out areas. Most of those places are located on the west side where the city life is pumping day and night.


5. There are three major places around my neighborhood where I was able to see individuals engaging in private activities in public space. One of them is a sidewalk near subway station, where there is also a bus terminal. The bus drivers like to occupied the whole sidewalk, in the very busy part of the whole street. They usually just gossip or eat a quick lunch. In my opinion they hang out in there on their lunch brake because they like to observe the main street. Inside of the terminal there are benches put outside where only handful of people working for MTA enjoy their lunch sitting. Another place that opened not long ago is a Hookah Bar. It is a space occupied only by teenagers, but in my opinion it wasn’t only designed for them. That is one of few places in the neighborhood where teenagers are being able to meet together, and that is probably the reason why this place became “owned” by them. The third place is a park located near my house, which used by different people on different time of the day. The park is divided into three parts: a playground, a big soccer and baseball field, and a basketball court. Around noon while all the kids and teenagers are in school, there is a big crowd of mothers and nannies with toddlers. Later during the day the same playground is used by teenagers who make out, and engage in their own activities. After school the park is mostly occupied by teenagers, who play basketball or soccer.