New York City - Part I

2009-10-03: My first experience with New York City was the absolute disaster that was traffic. Everywhere, everything was bumper to bumper. You couldn't dare to let anyone in front of you, as they and everyone behind them would go without regard for your politeness. Changing lanes was obscenely difficult. The rain made it that much worse as it spilled down various structures onto traffic and pooled in gutters and potholes. Everything looked as dirty as it did in New Jersey.

My friend's home was in Bedford-Stuyvesant (in the north part of Brooklyn) so I did not have far to go, if only distance was considered. It took more than an hour to travel a few miles. Finally, I arrived, and most fortunately found a parking place in front of her door. "Bed-Stuy" looked a little rough but not necessarily dangerous. The tree-lined streets were nice to see. I nervously climbed the steps and let my friend know I had finally arrived. Our reunion was a very happy thing. And, starting now, I would have a companion, and I expected things to be as good or better when someone else was along with me. We did not need to talk much about events for the past few years. Instead we had, as we always did, the deepest discussions of philosophy including topics on art, ethics, and other things that would be difficult to categorize, well into the night.