New_York_City

I once read that the only people who ever get a true sense of a place and its social culture are its tourists. It makes sense that the only way to be unbiased towards anything is to be completely withdrawn from it. Prior knowledge and experience builds bias that can then not be removed, although overtime bias can change. Therefore, in our class visit to New York City, I expected to see the city exactly as it was, as I had been there only once before. Regardless of the minute amount of experience that I had in the city, I still found almost all of my expectations to be inaccurate and judgmental. You see, there are two classes of expectations when it comes to New York City. First is the view that the city is magical – a venue for fun and adventure in an urban setting. People spend their entire lives waiting to climb the Empire State Building, or to see the Statue of Liberty. Many see the city as a way to start over; with a booming economic setting, many would find it an easy way to run off and “make something of themselves”. In contrast though, many others view the city as cold and detached. A place where ambition and greed reign free and people only look out for themselves. They see the city as segregated and full of people ready and waiting to cause trouble and hurt those around them. In reality though, I found the city to be a pleasant mix of both. The biggest surprise I experienced was my adventure through China Town. First of all, being a so-called “good girl” the idea of experiencing and participating in black market trade was a bit intimidating. Being completely inundated by the crowds of shoppers and sellers was overwhelming and frightening in the beginning. The fear of being mugged or duped, which had been wired into my head from a young age growing up in the suburbs of New Orleans, was constantly present in my mind. Having complete strangers walking up to me, rather overbearingly, telling me about what they are selling and asking what exactly I would like to buy. Once I realized that these people really had no interest in me in any way other than as a potential customer I relaxed and was able to truly experience the world that was contained within the confines Canal Street. One thing I noticed was the way that the vendors all looked out for each other. While we were shopping for purses and wallets they would often work together to make sure that we found what we wanted. They knew that working together was their greatest chance for success. Canal Street was exemplary of this course’s theme of good and evil. While legally, the sale of most of the products there was very illegal, and police raids are a relatively common event, the trade still continues. Families make their living from the items they sell here, and the local authorities are aware of that. Canal Street brings in a strong and lucrative tourist industry into the city. To shut it down would mean putting hundreds of people out of jobs and losing income for the area. Judging whether it is a good or bad is impossible due to the benefits and pitfalls to each viewpoint. In high contrast to the hustle and bustle of Canal Street was the more industrialized financial district on the lower tip of Manhattan. The financial district, home to Wall Street and the ruins of 9/11, has almost no residential buildings, making it a place geared to two distinct groups: those who work in the district, and those who visit it for its tourist locations. There are hundreds of places to find food and stereotypical I Love NY goods for visitors. Also included is also a war monument dedicated to fallen soldiers, and a view of the Statue of Liberty, and Firehouse 10 (the first fire department to respond to the 9/11 attacks) so it seems that much of the tourism is geared towards American patriotism. Vendors capitalize on the fact that many visitors are visiting the ruins of 9/11 and other related sites, and they sell towards that. The idea of selling towards something like patriotism gets tricky when it’s comes to the idea of good and evil. Patriotism is not judged by how many “I Love the USA” shot glasses one owns, but that doesn’t stop people from feeling guilty should they turn down a purchase of USA gear. Is it right to capitalize on emotion' Is it right to use a person’s emotional vulnerability to try to oversell them something that they in many cases feel obligated to buy' Is it move valid for one to buy a memorial t-shirt for $10 off the street, or for $50 on a memorial website' That is for the consumer to decide. Regardless of motive, vendors are going to continue to sell, and tourists will continue to buy. New York City was a fascinating place. Though the high traffic excitement of Canal Street was very different from the calm remembrance felt when visiting locations in the financial district, it was easy to see why so many people adore the city. There truly is something for everyone. Different people will their niche in different places, and it is wonderful that there are so many opportunities to do so. Whether certain areas possess good and evil, or embody one of the two, is a subjective question that only an individual can decide.