Neighbours

New York New York, the great big melting pot - yeah right. If any of you guys from the NY/NJ area get to walking around the city, and I mean the whole city....all 5 boroughs! Had to go over to the Upper East side from the Upper West, and boy that bus ride through the park separates a whole 'nother world! From the time you land down on the Upper East, its well heeled WASPY thin folks, slinging the thousand $ bags, clean tidy streets, where there's not as much foot traffic - not really set up to encourage that anyway. Doormen in full force, nice; actually, upscale supermarkets and you just feel the wealth. Day schools abound and pricy stores line Madison creating a fortress, one can definately feel quite out of one's environ here - if you're not one of the well heeled that is. Upper West certainly much more foot traffic, one feels welcome, less WASPIER, louder, the people...a bit more liberal and freekish in look and seemingly down to earth and the stores; less expensive and one doesn't feel like ya need a special pass to enter and shop. Fast forward to Brooklyn - Flatbush Ave to be exact, streets crowded teeming with Caribbean Immigrants where ya always feel welcome. Vendors on the street and everywhere you can find hair shops, shops for fixing that hair, hair products to buy and massive emporiums of just HAIR! As always in Black neighbourhoods its always about the hair and nails. Nail salons, hair emporiums and hair salons! All the stuff you damned won't see on the Upper East or West side - bite your tongue! Shops all chock-a-block with no real aesthetic form or feel, this is ghetto, ghetto style, ghetto wear - just plain ghetto! Most of the women are obese, and still sit down to platefuls of too much food. The majority of everyone here looks like the reason they invented the treadmill! The supermarkets are garbage and you'll be hardpressed to find a diet-snapple for blocks! Trust me I tried and just gave up!
The only time the ghetto and the high brows mix is when some elements of the 'ghetto' have to work for the 'high brows' never in each other's neighbourhoods - I guess that's too uncomfortable. I could go on, but see for yourself; just ride the bus; take 5th ave ALL the way up, same for Park Ave., Lexington, Broadway etc etc and see the morph. It's most amazing! And for Brooklyn..just keep going on the 41 or is it the 44 oh what ever, you'll go from hipsters, Poles and Hasidic Jews to Caribbeaners, to more Hasidim to Russions and eventually off into the the Ocean at Coney Island. NY whatta place!