A few weeks ago I had the chance to visit one of my favorite places in the world: New York City. I visit quite often and I was there as recently as September of 2014. Prior to that my experiences in the city were solely in Midtown and its been fun to explore other burroughs and other parts of Manhattan. Last time I stayed in a little apartment in Sunset Park in Brooklyn and I decided it might be fun to stay in different neighborhoods each time I came to the city.
On this particular trip I stayed in East Harlem and I was a bit intimidated because I had never spent any time anywhere near where I was staying. I had no idea what to expect but within an hour of arriving I had fallen in love. The area was so beautiful and alive and, like most of New York City, it was rich with history. I'll admit to you now that I romanticize New York City and I know that I'm doing it and I know I come off as naive. I know its not all Jack Kerouac and Lou Reed.
That said, let's move on to the pictures I took one morning when I dragged my friend Antonia to the Columbia campus and the surrounding area to visit places that were important to Jack Kerouac and his friends when they lived in the Morningside Heights area.
We paused for a moment to do our best Humans of New York impression. What do you think?
We walked alongside Morningside Park on our way to 116th. I got overly excited here and didn't take any pictures. My thought process was a little more "What a beautiful park! With history!" rather than "This would make a great blog post!" which I regret a little bit even though I shouldn't.
"This is where Lucien Carr came with Jack after he (Lucien) killed David Kammerer and Jack stood and watched him dispose of the evidence!" I said, causing some strange looks from passersby. The story of this murder was told in the film Kill Your Darlings and I learned about it prior to that in an English class I took about Kerouac and Beat Culture. The stories Jack and his friends lived are almost as interesting as the ones they wrote.
The first thing we did when we arrived at the Columbia campus was sit down and enjoy the atmosphere. The Creative Writing MA at Columbia is a fever dream for me and while it probably won't ever happen I occasionally think about what it would be like to attend a school with such a legacy. My cousin went to Columbia. Kerouac went to Columbia. Ginsberg went to Columbia. Rider Strong went to Columbia. Amazing.
Next we walked towards some of the dorms. This is Wallach Hall, or Livingston Hall, as it would have been called when Kerouac and his friends were attending the school. Kerouac lived next door to this building in Hartley Hall and wrote about how happy he was when he got to move to Livingston. The buildings are attached and aesthetically similar so I'm not sure what his reasoning was. I think I read that he didn't have to share a room in Livingston so he was happy there. Kerouac and I have a lot in common that way.
Earlier in the week my friend and I had gone to the High Line which is in Chelsea. This is the view from the park which is actually an elevated railway track which hadnt been in use for a while so it was converted into a beautiful park with a great view. Above you can see an example of that view.
The High Line park is near a tavern called the White Horse. Jack Kerouac spent time here and apparently lived in the area. I spend a lot of time sitting alone in the White Horse tavern, sullenly drinking Guiness and writing. I feel like that makes me annoying so I hate to admit it but its true. I think I'm hoping to absorb some genius energy left by all the great writers who passed through there. I know greatness is about originality and forging your own path but I can't help it. It comforts me to be there.
This time I didn't take any pictures at the White Horse because I was there on New Years Eve. That's a story I don't think I'll ever publish but I'll say that its an excellent place to be on New Years Eve and the people who work there are really nice.
We walked through Central Park as the sun set over Manhattan on 2014 and as we walked and walked I felt for the first time in my life that this was the end of a definite chapter in my life. 2014 seems like it was a successful year for everyone and it was spectacular for me. I kicked it off by filming a Youtube video with Courtney Love and then I got to watch some of my good friends also film videos with her for the series of Q & A videos she did with fans. There were ups and downs, victories and losses, love and pain and its all culminted in a walk through Manhattan in the freezing New York winter.
I began 2015 at the White Horse tavern and wove through the streets making my way to East Harlem and eventually ended up in bed eating tacos which is a quality way to begin or end anything. I feel, for the first time, that I am truly satisfied and even though I have a long way to go before I'll be at a point where I feel like I've fulfilled my destiny, I feel satisified that I've made the most of my life this far.
And that's a feeling I'm blessed to have.
