3 NYC boroughs in 1 night

Mmmm, damn these brownies are good. I am staying with my friends in Brooklyn -- and they have left to go to work, abandoning me in a locked apartment alone with these brownies that for some reason are just very soft, moist, and more than a little bit chocolaty. As I am sure you know, grits followed by a brownie is pretty much the best breakfast a girl can hope for. Ahem.

Yes so my eating habits have been a little odd over the last couple days -- put it down to the jetlag as well as the food poisoning incident that happily decided to appear from the time I left Oxford till I arrived in New York. As a result not much food was consumed my first day here, which left me rather hungry yesterday. So I guess that's what caused yesterday's dinner:

-Appetizer: Subway sub sandwich while waiting for a friend (Subway is, I found out, expensive and rather wimpy tasting in NYC);
-2nd Appetizer (?): Hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup at a homelessness vigil/protest in the Bronx;
-Entre: Really amazing veggie burger near the Village before catching a movie;
-Dessert: And yes, a brownie upon arriving home. And tea.

As the above record of food consumption reveals, yesterday evening involved three boroughs and peeks into this city's tradition of extremes. I met my friend near Penn Station and from there we travelled up into the Bronx to attend a protest organised by Picture the Homeless, an advocacy organisation founded and staffed by homeless people. (Read about their history here and check out their blog here).

The weather involved a rather unpleasant combination of sleet, snow, rain, and cold, so we did not expect a huge crowd. And at first, we couldn't find it and almost turned around to go home, especially as many people around seemed unclear about the location of the street we were looking for. It was dark and the ground was soggy -- in stark contrast to Manhattan and Brooklyn, the ground had not been salted or cleared of snow here.

Finally though, when my right boot had shown its complete disdain for the descriptor "waterproof" and my toes were swimming in frigid water, we saw about 15 people huddled under some scaffolding. We trotted over and after a few minutes were warmly greeted and after another few minutes given some much needed hot chocolate.

"So what organisation you from."
"Oh, er, none, we just came."
"You just came? Damn. We need more citizens like you."

And another conversation...."Say, who these white girls?" This is a white preacher laughingly saying this. I tell her I am just in New York for a few days, at the start of my vacation.

"This is how you spend your vacation? You know I know some really great psychiatrists."

Ok, so maybe it's not your traditional first-night-in-New-York kind of activity, but I wish they had not been so shocked that people would turn up for a vigil just cuz -- just because they think homelessness is an issue that should be thought about more by people who have warm places to go at night and policymakers who design the rules that say who does and does not get to have a bed or a home and who does and does not get to keep their children.

After a short vigil, we held a press conference attended by an independent Bronx TV station. A series of speakers took the mic -- the preacher that had led the vigil, a local councilwoman (whose district by the way stretches from East Harlem as well), and a representative of Picture the Homeless. Then several people gave testimonials about their experience with the latest New York housing and shelter rules. The first couple spoke about having their daughter taken away from them. I could not hear them very well as I was at the back of the crowd and the wind and people's chatter took the words away from my ears. But I did see the father, after speaking, push through the crowd to escape, to get some air. He was angry and the night air clung around him, oblivious.

The mother continued to speak, explaining. The kind of tired firm eyes that bear the mark of a sad story and the courage to tell it until something changes.

There was another family. The mother was terrified at first to go on camera. She thought they would never give her shelter if she went on camera -- was it really safe? Others there encouraged her, told her in the past going on camera and telling a story that can be checked out has often resulted in a faster result. She agrees as others affirm that if we don't all stand up for our rights, they will never arrive......

The last speakers I saw were two young teenagers describing their months in the housing system which meant separation from their families, time out of school, hungry nights, and general disrespect. I was really impressed with their eloquence -- the first girl in particular was so articulate, so firm, but yet so calm as well.

After my candle had burnt down to a waxy mess, someone pushed a warm bowl of soup into my hands, which I gratefully accepted. My friend and I then started the soggy trudge back to the subway station.

There are around 36,000 people in the New York shelter system. No one knows how many more are on the street.

We took the subway to the Village, where the streets were clear of snow. There after a swift stop a burger joint, we checked out the film Across the Universe, a crazy musical about the 1960s built around Beatles songs and the iconic transformations of those years. I would recommend seeing it -- it is over the top but a lot of fun too. The main drawback is that it does not explore enough of the characters in depth, focusing on lives of a young Liverpudlian steelworker and a white American brother and sister from a very rich family. Frustratingly, there are tantalizing hints at the stories of others revealing more neglected dimensions of the period's social conflict and defiant creativity. All the same, the film is worth seeing for its psychedelic weaving of love stories, scenes of hilarity, and piercing shots of war, oppression, and bitterness.

Following the film, we took a subway home to Brooklyn. After a last brownie, I fell into bed. Warm blankets are so wonderful after a slushy walk in the cold. A friend's home is so welcome in this vast city...