2005-03-11: The Gates, Biking, Mini Bodega Party.

Early March
riding thru central park.
warm day like spring.
the gates are still there
such a waste of pricey fabric
turned central park
into a construction site with willowing orange garbage bags
or
into the gateway to some generic trade show expo.
such a waste to leave all these fabric banners blank when they could carry a message.
ride my bike on 44 and sixth av.
all these yellow cabs - filling every spot of the avenue.
they look more striking to me
than the gates
a golden stream at the bottom of the urban canyon.
an art installation that is there and has been there every day at rush hour.
union square -
anti-war banners.
remind me of what the gates could have been.
yellow and red -
black lettering
someone should collect all these
from the past years
anti war demonstration slogans
and hang them
thousands of them
on the central park trees.bike messengering -
3rd week
part time.
Larry - the dispatcher tells me i am fast.
Just wish the money was better.
every day
i ride
wall street soho midtown - upper east - upper west -
back and forth
some changes.
wake up earlier every day
between 7 and 9.
wake up with just one espresso -
that's more or less enough -
dont feel addicted to coffee anymore.
feel awake - feel energetic even when tired.
i accelerate a lot faster riding up the bridge -
and I can pass riders that I see that are already halfway up.
my legs got skinnier and stronger
they dont hurt anymore after the first week.
crave a lot more fresh fruit.
bags of apples from the farmer's market.
and pasta and pizza and congee.
the west side is often way colder than the east side. I knew that already.
but riding in 20 min from one part of Manhattan to the other - and back
you realize there is this patchwork of different weather and temperature.
you feel cold here and you feel like sweating there.
midtown
i kinda getting to hate
being between 33 and 60th street
and between third and eight avenues
too many SUVs and oblivious drivers.
commuters
people that dont have a clue
tourists [why do tourists do ever hang out in times sq???]
and if you are thirsty or hungry -
you can only get sodas and snapples.
hard to find fresh stuff at a decent price.
too many mcdonald's too many starbucks - too many generic places.
can't get a real Cuban sandwich or a Vietnamese bahn mi - or whatever.
it is either pricey steak or sushi or junk food.
the fruit looks covered with dust and smog.
when you use a payphone
half of the time you see an empty liquor bottle.
a small secret drinking booth.
only in midtown.
the messenger centers
decadent and dirtu. people that work there breathing unhealthy air
unable to see if it is summer or winter - rain or shine.
getting fat
sitting i a cell
or in a bunker
swimsuit model posters on the wall.
just one level below
the luxury and the wealth of the midtown skyscrapers.
castes so far in the social ladder
just spending life in a different floor.the day of the snow icestorm -
it is kind of brutal.
when the arctic wind starts blowing my shoelaces froze and so the bottom of my pants.
hard as cardboard.
meet this messenger that introduces himself as Sonic Flash.
He's got a $ 1200 Bianchi track bike he put together himself.
aluminum frame - carbon fiber forks - fancy front wheel [$350 for that rim with 5 carbon fiber spokes].
Larry -
one of the dispatchers for A to Z has been a messenger for 7 years.
he has some gold front teeth and i think I saw him limping.
I talk to this other messenger.
he's been doing this for 9 years.
he looks like spider man in his outfit.
he has another Bianchi Pista.
he can ride 32 MPH in the city and 45 MPH downhill.
he told me one day he rode all the way to bear mountain.
across the GW bridge then 6 miles uphill non stop.

go to Greenpoint see some people play
Matt Wascovich - Pete Nolan - Marc from jackie o motherfucker.
stop by the polish dollar store to buy polish food i like.
they sell pregnancy tests for 99 cents.
I buy a bowl of white borscht with a side of mashed potatoes and dill for $2.40.
Wasco does not show up - still driving from Ohio
Marc is playing trippy music.
Pete -
i knew as a drummer -
plays sad amazing songs on guitar -
no microphone - no amps - it sounds so great -
somebody should have recorded it
a girl plays a corn with dried leaves as a percussion. you hear every single sound.
so trippy - so relaxing - wish it did not end so soon.
next night
more music at some dive on S6 and Berry - in Williamsburg just almost under the bridge.
need a snack
some cashews or peanuts or something like that.
mini bodega next door.
there is loud music -
people smoking drinking and dancing.
guy from Peru
has been living 20 years in NYC.
he tells me -
this bodega is the only place these people can go to unwind and enjoy some free time.
they are all related
somehow
their little world.
singing about god.
about the good and evil.
but it seems so different than some of the Christian fundamentalists you hear about here.
i need to go back and shoot that bodega in the daylight
so small and hidden.
a bit of south America
under the bridge.