I figured I was a little overdue on an update so excuse me in advance for the rambling. I have a full week of my internship under my belt now and am much more adjusted to my surroundings. I've haven't been making it out and about around town quite as much as the first few day when all I had to do was explore but still trying to see new things.
A few highlights from the last couple of weeks....
Pre-Internship:
The day after I got there I met up with my friend Emma from grad school and her fiance and his co-workers down by Wall Street for drinks after they got out of work. I didn't take a picture myself but click here and here to see this cool street (Stone Street) in the Financial District that acts as a sort of co-op outdoor seating area with a bunch of restaurants and bars right in a row. It reminded me a lot of Ireland and almost looks European.
The first Friday I was here I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (again...) and wandered around Lower Manhattan a bit. It's pretty interesting...again looks very European in areas with some winding little side streets. I walked down to Battery Park which we were able to visit when we were here in December but it was brief. I was able to see the World Trade Center Sphere sculpture.
It stood in the lobby of one of the original WTC towers and was actually intended to be a symbol of world peace so it was pretty ironic that it survived the attacks and was still standing. Rumor has it that it may be put away to be preserved but hopefully not...it's a pretty great symbol. I then took the Staten Island Ferry. Martie had filled me in that it was the cheap way to see the Statue of Liberty since the ferry is free and it goes right by the statue. And it's a pretty cool view of the southern tip of Lower Manhattan. I did remember to snap some pics.
Later that evening I attended my first weekly installation of Fridays at the Heights (local restaurant in Brooklyn Heights). This is the little group that Jim and Martie have introduced me to. I met the Judge who is pretty incredible when he can hear and isn't making corny jokes. The group was entertaining as usual. More on them later...
On that Saturday, I met back up with the same group from Thursday out in Astoria, Queens (right over from Manhattan) for drinks at Bohemian Beer Hall which is the oldest beer garden in NYC (101 years). Again, forgot to take a pic but here is a shot from Google that is pretty accurate (minus the german dancers).
With that Sunday being my last day before my internship was starting I tried to get out and explore a bit more. So of course, I trekked over the Bridge again over to SoHo where there was a street fest going on Crosby Street. Another little cobblestone street. The fest was put on by the local bookstore and was having a book sale so you can imagine my delight. It was a bit crazy to mine through all the people and boxes of books but I ended up with 1 book (I deem the walk worth since I walked away with a book...and it's Father's Day gift at that).
Internship:
Monday was the day I had been waiting for...the first day of the internship! One of the greatest things I realized was that my office is literally a 5 minutes (almost down to the second) walk from my place. It's great and allows for me to come home for lunch and relax for my hour I get to take. (Usually I would feel bad about taking a full hour lunch but since they aren't paying me...I don't feel bad...at all) We had a brief internship orientation on Monday morning. They laid out the calendar of internship events (which I was not expecting...certainly not what I was used to dealing with interns at ACS). I was pretty blown away at the summer they have set up for us. Each week we have a different department from within the agency give a presentation on what they do and it gives an opportunity to ask questions and even sit down with someone. Since I could see myself in a few different places within city agencies, it's really great to see the big picture. Other events include tours they have set up for us including private tours of the New York Stock Exchange, City Hall, Municipal Archives and Gracie Mansion (which didn't mean anything to me until other interns from NY in the room literally gasped. Gracie Mansion has been the official residence of the Mayor of New York since the 1700's. From what I hear it's pretty great! We're going this Wednesday so I will fill you in). We also tap into the Mayor's Office Events for interns and get to attend seminars (This morning was a seminar from the head of the NYC public schools...the talk was pretty good but the building it was in -Surrogate's Court - was amazing...supposedly modeled after the Paris Opera House. We sat right in the lobby shown in picture 2. Pic 1 and Pic 2) I met with my supervisor, who I interviewed with and seems like a great guy. He took me around on a tour and we got to see Watch Command. Seriously, it's like something out of Star Wars or War Games...or any other 80's movie with technology involved. Again didn't get any pictures (thought that would be a bit of an awkward convo on my first day..."Hey...I know I've only known you for 5 seconds but do you mind takin' a pic of me with all the big screens"). I did find a picture on Google image (this is only about a quarter of it) but it really doesn't do it justice. There's a 24/7 watch room with video streams from Police, Fire, News, Weather Channel and everything under the sun so they can monitor the city at all times. Outside of that is for if there is a large scale disaster/emergency. There is a cubicle for all city agencies to have two people with huge screens hanging in the middle like a jumbotron. Pretty amazing operation!
The work has been a little mundane to start but it's beginning to pick up. I'm working on the Ready New York program which is charged with coordinating the efforts of educating NYC residents about emergency preparedness. I'm currently working on Hurricane outreach which you wouldn't think of initially for New York but with Hurricane Irene last year and the crazy spike in the last five years of natural disasters, NY is set to be a target from now on. I've been coordinating with Community Boards (all areas in NYC are split into community board areas which deal with local issues such as liquor licenses and zoning issues...not exactly like our Chicago Wards but similar).
This past Saturday was the Belmont Stakes and "the Group" was all meeting up to watch it. We all had a drink at a new Irish pub that had opened that day, the Custom House (Mom and Dad, I'm thinking we'll try this for lunch one day) where Martie was the very first customer. We then moved along to Armando's (my fave) to watch the race. Good times had all around!
So if you've made it this far, I feel like I owe you a drink or dinner or something but let's be honest...I'm paying a shitload of money to live in NYC this summer and can't afford to buy you dinner but hope you liked this insanely long blog post. Until next time...
