Hi, all! Hope everyone is having a great Friday.
Today, I thought I would switch it up from Boston and head south! Recently, my friend and I took a quick weekend trip to New York City. One of the best parts of the East Coast is how close together everything is. So, after a quick four hour bus ride, we made it to the big apple!
On Friday, we spent the day walking around Hoboken (New Jersey!), Koreatown, Midtown, and Chelsea. Another Wellesley friend is interning at Hoboken this summer, so we crashed at her apartment for the weekend. It’s a cute (and rapidly gentrifying) city, directly across Manhattan. The only thing separating the two is the Hudson River!
If you’re in NYC, and are looking for a place for amazing city skyline views, I would recommend grabbing a bagel, some iced coffee, and sunbathing at Pier A or Pier C Park in Hoboken. That’s exactly what we did Friday afternoon, and it was incredible.
Pier A Park (Hoboken, NJ)
Pier C Park (Hoboken, NJ)
We headed into the city and ate ramen in Koreatown, and then walked around after. My recommendation: walk The High Line, in Chelsea! The story behind it is so neat, and it’s unlike anything I really done before. Basically, it’s a public park that was built on elevated railroad tracks, on the westside of Manhattan. The park was built to prevent the rail track from being demolished. It really is a display of epic transformation that can occur in public spaces.
Ramen in Koreatown!
On The High Line
After walking the High Line, we spent Friday night at the Whitney Museum of American Art (tip: visit museums during their ‘pay what you can hours’. You can pay as much as a penny to enter!). Since I took modern art history last semester, the Whitney was the perfect place to spend a Friday night. And, as an added bonus: the 2019 Whitney Biennial is currently on display! The Whitney Biennial is an exhibition of contemporary American Art (usually from up-and-coming artists) that occurs every two years. In my art history class, we talked a lot about Biennials, so it was a dream come true to see one in the flesh! The art we saw was puzzling, inspiring, striking, and emotion-inducing, as all art should be. (And just a side note: if you’re paying attention to art news, there has been some controversy surrounding the Biennial this year, as artists have withdrawn in response to the news that the Whitney vice chairman has been accused of war profiteering. He stepped down very recently. Here’s the NYT article, if you’re interested.)
Views from the Whitney Rooftop
Anyway, other highlights of our trip included getting wondrously lost in Central Park, navigating Soho and Tribeca (and the NYC Subway system…), and a spontaneous trip to Columbia University! It was a memorable weekend, and a delightful summer trip.
Washington Square Park
Central Park
Columbia!
Next week, I’ll be talking more about the Lumpkin Cohort (including a weekly tradition!), and what I’ve learned so far during my internship. Isn’t this summer flying by?!
Stay tuned,
Shreya