It’s coming…

Living in the city has been taking it’s toll on me recently. In addition to the near-constant sound of jackhammers from the street right in front of our building, there’s the fact that I don’t have enough room in my apartment to have a small birthday party for my son with a few of our friends. It’s frustrating. Now add to that the fact that the never-ending, very controversial 2nd Avenue Subway construction is coming to our section of 2nd Avenue and I’m ready to go screaming for the hills!

The 2nd Ave subway will eventually  be a good thing – don’t get me wrong. Having only one subway line to accommodate the entire East Side is sort of ridiculous and I’ve been the victim when that line goes down and it sucks! However, I’m not so sure that the construction of another subway line is a good alternative. I’ve seen the devastation it’s caused in the areas already hit. The construction takes years for a span of a few blocks, during which time businesses are essentially killed. The sidewalks are so narrow that the stroller won’t fit and people (including me) are unwilling to contend with the hassle to get to their favorite places. Restaurants that once had sidewalk cafes, now have indoor spaces filled with the racket of drilling. It is a nightmare.

We saw the markings on the sidewalks a few weeks ago and we shuddered knowing it was coming and coming soon. The other day a friend came by to walk to the park with us and had me walk out to 2nd Ave first. All of the trees have been cut down. My walk out there this morning brought the sight of bulldozers, concrete barriers, and men in bright yellow vests.

There used to be a tree here

Doesn't the neighborhood look lovely?

If I felt that the MTA were in any way competent, that we would see a 2nd Ave line before say 2020, or that they were doing this construction in the most efficient and responsible matter, maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much. But I don’t feel that any of those things are true and so it does bother me – it bothers me a lot!

I guess we’ll just have to make an effort to combat the construction enough to keep our favorite places open and hope it won’t take too long and that it won’t be too loud. Either that, or move further west!

It definitely feels like the perfect time to run away to Europe! We’re leaving on Tuesday and spending 5 days in Vicenza, Italy for my sister-in-law’s wedding, where Brady will get to meet his great-aunt and uncles and all of his cousins! Then we’re flying to Paris for 5 days where I’m really not sure what I’m going to do with an almost 2-year-old boy.  At least I get to see the Eiffel Tower! Wish me luck!

Yay more concrete barriers!

Subway adventures!

Just another New Yorker on the subway.

Last Friday, Brady and I went on an adventure to visit the husband’s office way out in Queens. The trip requires taking 3 different trains – the 6, the R, and then the E.

Brady was super excited to go on the train, although he’s a little afraid of the noise, he usually loves it. He loves the train (like Thomas!), the tunnel (under the ground!), and all the people. This was one of our best subway trips. He liked keeping track of of which stop was ours and which train we’d be taking next.

When we got to the office, the husband met us in the lobby and Brady ran to him saying “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!” It was so cute. He was very cute and polite at the office and had the best time writing all over the big whiteboard. The only time he wasn’t happy was when Daddy had to be on a conference call.

I was a little nervous that the trip home wouldn’t go as well, but it was perfectly fine. Brady was happy to remember which trains we took in the reverse order and to again keep track of the stops. It certainly opens up a whole world to us! Maybe we’ll actually see more of the city from now on.

Remember

Since this blog is not just about being a mommy, but also about living in this city, my city, New York City, I thought it appropriate to write my memories of this day here.

Eight years ago today I was 22 years old, new to the city, new to my job, and honestly a little bewildered by the whole “being an adult” thing. I went in to work that day like any other day. I remember exactly what I was wearing – a pink sleeveless top, black pants, and black Steve Madden “slinky” slides (remember those?).

I got off the elevator to hear people sort of yelling from the other side of the office. One of the other assistants ran by me and told me to follow her, that there had been an accident or something. I went, with the other, like, five people who were in that early, to the big office in the south west corner.

What I saw seemed curious more than anything else. One of the Twin Towers had a little circle of fire on it, burning bigger and bigger. Smoke poured out. The other assistant told me it was a plane that had run into the tower. We thought it must have been little because the hole didn’t seem all that big. But we didn’t realize that we were looking at the spot where the nose of the place came through the north side of the building.

More people came in, a television was tuned to the news, I called my husband (then boyfriend) who was at home being a laid-off dot-commer at the time. I don’t remember if I was looking out the window or at the TV when the second plane hit, but this memory is very, very vivid. I remember what I thought and what I felt like at that moment. Up until that moment I was convinced this was an accident. A horrible tragedy, but an accident. At that moment I realized that it was no accident and that something truly awful was happening.

It was such a long day. Not long after the second plane hit my building was evacuated. I went with the two other assistants from my department to a loft one of their colleges had in the city. It was close and seemed safe to us. I was able to call my mother and my husband before I left the building to tell them I was safe and would be home when I could get there.

We ended up at a bar, drinking beer and eating burgers. We watched the news and talked with people who had hiked up from downtown to safer areas. We heard stories from people covered in dust about how they had escaped and what they had seen.

When the subways started running again, I took it home.

9-11 is such a strange day in my memory. It forever changed the way I felt and the way I looked at things. I made my first real friend in the city and we are still amazing friends today even though we have both gotten married, both had children and she has now moved away.

I felt more terrified that day than I have ever been in my life. That feeling of uncertainty is something I will never forget. That day Manhattan seemed like such a small place in so many ways. Although it was miles away, Ground Zero felt so very close to me as did the evil that was happening there. I didn’t know when the next attack would be or where.  But it also felt like we were all one big family in a way. For weeks, we all had something in common. People talked to each other in restaurants and bars and on the subway. It felt close and familiar. It felt good to lean on everyone around me.

I forget about the atmosphere of the city in those days and weeks sometimes; the fall air, the smell of  acrid smoke that seemed to permeate everything, the posters of missing loved ones on every available surface, the fear, the camaraderie.

I had no idea then of the real implications that the event would have not just on me, not just on the city, but on the entire world. I want to remember all of those who lost their lives on 09-11-01 and all of those whose lives were forever changed.

A Boy and His Train

Choo choo!

Brady has been in the midst of an intense love affair for most of the summer…he is desperately in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. Or really, anything related to Thomas the Tank Engine. He likes the trains, he likes the show, he likes the website, he likes the books, he likes anything and everything Thomas. He knows all of the trains by color, shape, size, and  sometimes number. He sings the song and knows all the words. It is, in short, insanity.

We had been looking to get him some tracks for his trains and all of the simple sets were too boring and all of the complicated sets too expensive.  But we found the absolute most perfect track set for him. It’s a figure eight of tracks with a bridge, a conductor house, and a little figure of Sir Topham Hat. And it came with the best thing of all…THOMAS!

Thomas is difficult to find. All of the Thomas trains you can buy separately are weird – battery operated or covered in snow or painted strangely. Little boys DO NOT like their Thomases to be different. But this set came with a plain old little blue Thomas and Brady could not have been happier. When we took him out of the box his eyes lit up and he grabbed him and said, “I GOT THOMAS!!!”

He plays with his tracks constantly and it’s so cute to hear the little stories he plays with them. “Gordon pulling all the tenders. Scuse me Billy, Hank comin through. Thomas leaving the station!” I love it!

He wants us to play all the time too, which can get boring, but is so cute that I love it anyway. Thank you Thomas, for bringing so much joy to my little Brady’s  life.

I’m Walkin!

Everywhere! Or at least he wants to. Brady has decided that his stroller is SO uncool and that he wants to walk to all of our destinations. He likes to push his little stroller which is nice because it usually keeps him walking. It’s really cute and fun for about half a block and then it just becomes really…really frustrating.

I don’t know if it’s worse because we’re in the city, maybe if I didn’t have to worry about all of the people who want to walk past us down the sidewalk or all of the open store and restaurant basements or all of the construction sites or the dog poop piles or the rushing traffic it would be easier to walk down the block with him. But as it is I have about seven heart attacks a block.

He refuses to hold hands and when I do grab it to cross the street he screams “no Mommy’s hand, no Mommy’s hand, I’m walking, I’m walking!” to which I reply, “you have to hold Mommy’s hand, it’s not safe to go by yourself. Even if I’m holding your hand, you are still walking.”

I’ve yet to come up with a peaceful solution. For now we start out walking side by side and walk along until I’ve had my maximum level of panic attacks at which point I put him in the  stroller where he screams, “no strollo, no strollo, no strollo!” until he calms  down.

We’re going to have to work on hand-holding or I may lose my mind.