Words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom


Written on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 4:48 PM

I am sitting at a bar called Ward III in TriBeCa enjoying a delicious drink called a Tortuga. Huge brick-exposed wall, twelve dollar cocktails that are delicious, wood, and dim lighting. The waitress looks like one of the women from Robert Palmer's video, "Simply Irresistible." Pinky and I used to love watching that video. Life, you could say is pretty damn good. Getting out of the apartment was tough this morning... It is literally one-hundred degrees out and the bottoms of my feet were aching from all the walking I did the day before. Yesterday, I had big plans for the day. I was going to work out at the YMCA (which I just joined), explore a neighborhood, grocery shop, and meet Galin in the evening. Val had jury duty right near Trader Joe's so we grabbed a falafel. I was lamenting to her that I was disappointed in myself for not having checked out a neighborhood. She explained, "Annie going to the grocery store in New York is having done something." She helped me forgive myself... Something I'm actively working on and getting much better at. But man, my principal was right. Jinny said to me, "New York is great but everything is a process. When you leave in the morning, you have to plan and prepare for the entire day." She is right. But nonetheless, I am falling in love with this place. Another person once said to me, "New York is like a bad relationship. Every time you are ready to get out, you get roses and you are swept off your feet again." I can relate. I had a helluva time getting home on that G train last night. Redirected. Transfer. Transfer. Train switch. Bah! But it's kind of fun for me to complain over "my line." Two quick highlights to reflect on...

Last night, Galin and I went to Prospect Park to watch "West Side Story." I ask you, why have I never seen this before? I LOVED IT! I Amozoned the soundtrack today. Funny, racially conscious and provocative for the time, awesome dance, contagious music. Galin and I enjoyed it with our packed picnic among 1,500 other people. Even though I was disappointed having not grown up with the movie, it was a brilliant way to enjoy it for the first time.

Today in TriBeCa I visited the African Burial Ground. Wow! Worth checking out. 419 skeletal remains were found in this plot alone. This area served as an unofficial African burial ground during the 18th and 19th centuries because enslaved blacks were not allowed to have proper burials. In the late 19th century, and on, most of the burial sites were built upon. There was, however, an area that was not destroyed because it was a parking lot. The foundation wasn't dug deep enough to destroy the graves. In the early nineties a federal building was being built in this space. A reporter who knew his ancestors had been buried there was asking lots of questions. The general manager contractor of the area told this reporter he had not found any remains; but a brave worker pulled the reporter aside and told him the truth. The reporter leaked the story that the contractors were digging up hundreds of remains and protests began. The people spoke and they won in this case. A museum and an outdoor space were designated to commemorate some of our first New Yorkers - who were brought here in shackles. The museum inside is managed by the National Park Service and is great. But what was most moving to me was the outdoor monument. Wow! The amount of thought the architect put into each aspect of the monument is inspiring. It is something that not only honors New York heritage, but also African and Caribbean heritage. More recently there have been journal entries that have been found of people who had built upon this land earlier (Duane Reade). People knew they were building on the remains of former enslaved people and said nothing. There are also stories of Columbia students digging graves to study these corpses. You can find out more at:

My cocktail is done. And I am off to navigate back to Val's for some grilling. Tell me what you are all up to.