Romancing the Genres: Staten Island Ferry

Being a native New Yorker the roar and rush that is the normal pace of the city ran in me from sunrise to sunset. I took for granted how the city never sleeps, even if I rarely took advantage of the attractions that draw most tourists there like the Chrysler Building and Radio City Music Hall.

New York at Night

Yet amid the famous and infamous pace attributed to NYC, the city gave me a soul-satisfying quiet that kept me anchored in what was important to me. I think that’s why my favorite song from the musical Hamilton is Quiet Uptown. The song is a reminder that New York has places of quiet that soothe and calm.

Four Freedoms Park

This is a view of the UN from Four Freedoms Park. Located on the south end of Roosevelt Island, the park is a tribute to FDR’s famous four freedoms speech. I’d go there and just sit and let the quiet calm of the East River wash over me.

Promenade and Ferry

Another of my quiet places was the Brooklyn Promenade. You’d think a walkway built over a highway would be noisy, but sitting on one of the benches with Brooklyn Heights behind and the lower Manhattan skyline before always filled me with peace. I got the same sense of stillness riding the best free water ride available: the Staten Island Ferry. Just looking at this photo I can smell the ocean and the feel of the breeze on my face as I gazed at Lady Liberty.

The grandeur of the 42^nd street branch of the New York Public Library worked its magic on me too. I’d go to the main reading room, fondly remembering thumbing through the old card catalogues then requesting a book and sitting on the bench until my number appeared until I could pick it up just like in the scene in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

New York Public Library Reading Room

Now it’s a research library now but the majesty of the murals painted in tribute to the written word instills a sumptuous stillness of their own.

New York Public Library Murals

It’s no coincidence that my contemporary stories are located in the quiet places I’ve claimed in Harlem, too. St. Nicholas Park. City College. Strivers Row.