The B&T Runner’s Love Letter to NYC
I decided at some point last year that I would move from the place I had called home for a little more than 6 years. It wasn’t an easy decision for a variety of reasons. As a runner, one of the primary things I enjoyed was a routine ranging from a friendly landlord who wouldn’t raise my rent to my standard route around Astoria Park. I had been there long enough that I had become a part of the neighborhood. The guys at the corner bodega recognized me and would greet me with a smile and roar “Eh, papa!” whenever I went into to pick up a six-pack. The old Korean couple at the cleaners, who enjoyed hiking and their son went to Johns Hopkins like my brother, would always ask how my morning run had gone when I was dropping off my clothes. And of course, all the runners in the park that had nodded smiled or grunted in my direction during those early mornings at every possible temperature. But I saw that it was time for a change.
New York City has this way of overwhelming you and grinding you down. There are moments when the world in this place can feel gigantic and moments when it can feel like a shoebox. Time can feel like it is crawling along and then suddenly it is flying by faster than ever. But New York can also manage to inspire you because somehow there is this equilibrium of feeling tough and vulnerable all at the same time. I grew up here so maybe that is why I accept the difficult times so easily and embrace the beautiful moments. In many ways, the New Yorker’s life parallels the life of a runner. I think that may be why people in this City love running so much because it isn’t always easy and fun but man it can be brilliant when it goes right here.
I moved from Astoria to Greenpoint, which for anyone with any regional knowledge is not that dramatic. The distance is not that far in terms of geography but that is never relevant for New Yorkers nowadays. Distance is measured by perception and subway access. I have heard of LA described as a bunch of little cities spread over a large distance. New York is different in that there are towns, neighborhoods, enclaves slammed in so close together. Running helps you realize that and the first couple of weeks in North Brooklyn helped remind me of that.
For my first real long run as a Brooklyn resident, I ran from my new home in Greenpoint over the Pulaski Bridge through Long Island City and essentially back to the border of Astoria, my old home (a lot this route overlaps the New York City Marathon). That felt familiar but new and it took an adjustment when I hit the Astoria Houses and realized I had to turn to back to Brooklyn to get home. On another day, I ran in in the opposite direction, into North Brooklyn along the same East River but this time past the Williamsburg Bridge towards the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Greenpoint quickly turns into Williamsburg and you can tell the difference now. On a regular walk on these same streets, I kind of feel like a tourist, like someone who doesn’t yet belong. No friendly greetings at the bookstore or the corner bodega. But during a run, I kind of feel like I am speeding up my relationship with this place. I am tentatively finding new streets to run down and seeing new faces but the benefit of running is you can always look like you belong because anyone else running is not looking at you that carefully. And the other part is you get to notice things in the quiet of the morning. I like to try to spot different storefronts or monuments that will help guide me because I am atrocious with directions and as I discovered during my trail runs in Oregon last year, I easily get lost.
This City has changed during my 38 years living here, some people would argue that it has changed for the better and some would say it has changed for the worse. I am of the position that it has changed but the measure and quality of the change are always in the hands of the people who reside in this City. Politicians will try to point a concrete and stone as what dictates what is great about a place but they are wrong. Greenpoint, Astoria, LIC and North Brooklyn are examples of how external forces are trying to change the canvas of New York. Where I live now was once a purely industrial corner of the City, mostly factories, warehouses and empty lots sitting on the East River. Those are being replaced by new high rise buildings and attempt to change New York in all the ways Jane Jacobs warned against. They are right but I think runners help make restore some of that original grit that New York is known for. It helps that the North Brooklyn waterfront hasn’t been completely changed. There are still patches of those ugly lots filled with rows of trucks or heavy equipment and random buildings covered in graffiti. Not every corner is pretty and fresh.
What I see is a place that forces you to understand the people around you because all the other stuff is just distractions. I go to sleep now, bathed in the lights of the City skyline and I wake up to a view of the ripples on the East River that dissolve and reappear each time the East River Ferry or a garbage boat rips through. As good as that view may be, the best views I get are when I out bouncing along the streets in my sneakers because regardless of how new I am to this place, it all fees familiar in the way only a runner can understand.
For anyone visiting, Central Park and Manhattan are lovely but please, please try to run a little in the outer boroughs if you want to get a real feel for this place, I am not objective, but Brooklyn and Queens are where it’s at when you want to see New York.
