Getting Around Town in New York City

Well, my words got around in New York, but how did I, and others who live there, get around and navigate throughout the city?

New York City, specifically the island of Manhattan, is a world unto itself. If you live there, you never have to leave; everything is right there at your fingertips. And getting from one place to another basically is easy because of all the different types of transportation that readily are available.

Yes, New York City is a hustling, bustling place. There are taxi cabs and city buses everywhere. There also is the subway system. The subway in New York probably is the best system in the world. It also doesn’t have the bad reputation that it did back in the 70s. Of course, no matter the transportation used, it always is wise to be cautious and safe.

No matter where you go in New York, there’s likely to either be a subway stop, bus or taxi cab nearby. The subway system is extremely intricate and detailed. When I first moved to New York, I had to have a subway map in order to navigate the system. It can be extremely confusing. And there’s nothing like getting on the wrong train or getting off at the wrong stop to ruin your day.

During rush hour, the subways also tend to be very packed. If you’re lucky you’ll get a seat; if not, you can stand for a while. Although efficient, there were many times I stood in a train for more than an hour due to some complication or delay. When you’re standing in a packed train of people wearing winter coats, it’s easy to get nauseous or feel like you want to pass out. Not to mention, sometimes the subway platforms are so packed that you have to wait for a couple full trains to pass before you even can get on a train!

The bus system in New York is comprehensive as well. If you don’t know the bus system or the routes and stops, you’ll get nowhere fast. There are bus route maps that I carried along with my subway maps. I never left home without them. Again, if it’s rush hour, you can forget about getting a seat on the bus, if you even get on one of them.

The taxi cab is in a class by itself. New York is filled with yellow taxis. Wherever you go, you’re likely to see a handful of taxis. And sometimes it’s pretty difficult to hail one. Rush hour again is the culprit. During this time, everyone is trying to hail a cab. I’ve seen people push people out of the way to steal a cab ride. It’s ruthless, and oftentimes not even worth it.

The feet are what I relied on after some time. Walking in New York is a treat, I have to say. Not many cities are “walking” cities, but New York is THE walking city. While walking in New York, times goes fast. Block after block there are things to see and lots of window shopping to do. I lived about 30 blocks from my first publishing company job, and one day I decided to walk to work. Not only was it a great workout, I also got to avoid the subway, bus and taxi mess. All those blocks may seem like a lot, but it really wasn’t at all. Sometimes I’d make it to work quicker than if I took the train or bus.

So, even though there are many transportation choices in New York City, my favorite was just plain walking. I didn’t have to deal with angry people rushing to get to work. Sure, there were other “walkers” on the sidewalks, but walking beat getting pushed in front of an oncoming taxi any day!

Concrete and Heels

Something I remember from back in the early ’80s popped into my head over the weekend having to do with walking around on high heels in New York City. Some women out there probably will remember this, because I couldn’t possibly be the only one with these memories.

Before women carried their high heel shoes in a bag but wore their sneakers or running shoes to work, things were different. When I first moved to New York, I was mesmerized by all the well-dressed women walking around the city on their high heels. Like, “How do they do that?” Remember, at that time suits and corporate wear for the most part were a must. And the well-dressed woman also wore some three- or four-in. heels to go with the outfit.

And I followed suit. Til this day I don’t know how I did it. Rushing around in my skirt and high heels all over New York City. Up and down stairs to and from the subway. Rushing, or running, to cross the street to make sure a taxi didn’t run me over. Everyone seemed to rush wherever they went. I always found myself rushing to make sure I got to my editing job. All this on all that concrete.

Not only were my feet screaming in pain every day, my shoes took the worst beating. New Yorkers do a lot of walking. It’s one of the only cities in the world where that is done. Everyone walks everywhere. Walking on concrete all day, every day of the week is hard on the feet and the rest of the body. Add high heels to that, and your feet take an incredible beating.

By the time I would get to work, I didn’t think my feet could last the rest of the day. By the time the workday was over, which in the publishing world could mean late, I had to somehow find my way home in those same shoes!

Shoes wouldn’t last too long after walking around New York City. Most of my shoes couldn’t take the pounding on the concrete day after day, so the shoes wouldn’t have a long life. I found myself going through shoes like crazy.

So, you ask, why not buy more comfortable shoes with a low heel? At that time, so many women, myself included, wouldn’t hear of it. The look was the heel and that was that. I have to say, thank goodness, the trend changed after a couple years. I started seeing women walking around in their little suits and socks and sneakers. What a concept! A great idea!

I finally took to the new idea, bought myself a great pair of sneakers and just brought my nice, high heel shoes with me and changed at work. But now I have the bad feet as a reminder of those days of “conrete and heels.”

The ‘Real’ Thing

Days ago I wrote about computers replacing people in some of the publishing jobs back in the late ’80s. What a shame. I still think back to those days and the people let go from their jobs. For a while I kept in contact with some of them. Some of the people were able to get other jobs right away. Others received some training so they could be marketable in the “new” world of publishing. And then there were those who were unable to find anything. I truly felt bad for them.

After showing so much loyalty to a company for so many years, it’s unfortunate when people get thrown away, as if they were nothing.

That leads me to what happened to the “real” New York. Yes, things change and cities grow. Parts of cities get revitalized. “Bad” sections of a city get gentrified. This can be great in many ways. Old, dilapidated buildings receive much-needed improvements. Boarded up businesses get bought and spring to life once again. Parks are improved. Or places where there are junkyards become parks. Trees are planted, fountains erected, dog walks set down.

To improve old neighborhoods is a great idea and, oftentimes, brings money into an area that once lacked funds. There also is the downside. To the extend that gentrification happened in New York, and still is happening, you find that the lower-income and poor were pushed out and still are being pushed out.

There were many areas in downtown New York that were considered artsy. I am not talking about all the expensive art galleries existing now. There were “starving” artists who lived downtown in lofts. Many of these artists had no option but to leave after genrification. An area would be revitalized and named the “latest hot spot.” The more affluent would want to live there and then poof! It becomes the “in” place to be. There’s no room for low-income or poor in the “in” place. 

Many of the low-income and poor also have been pushed out because expensive co-ops and condos replaced their homes. New York City never has been more expensive. Yes, it’s true, this is happening throughout the country. But New York City once had a “coolness” to it that just doesn’t exist any longer. It has become a city for the rich.

Towering glass structures are going up in many downtown areas where once stood picturesque architecture. Many see these new buildings as monstrosities that do not add to the character of New York. But it doesn’t matter. Pieces of land in New York go to the highest bidder. And there are tons of high bidders out there building what they think should stand tall, no matter its ulginess.

The prices in New York City have skyrocketed so high that it has been hitting the middle class as well. If you cannot afford at least $2,000 a month for a studio apartment, then you surely can’t afford $2 million to buy a two-bedroom co-op or condo. Yep, those are the prices. And those prices include about 1,000 square feet of space. If you’re lucky maybe 1,200 square feet.

Soon the only thing left of the old New York City will be the memories of those of us who were there before all this gentrification took place.

Computers Replace The Real Thing

When old-fashioned typesetting was being fazed out in the publishing industry to make way for desktop publishing, many people wondered what would happen to their jobs. I knew of many people in the typesetting department who had been there for years. They were nervous and anxious about what was going on, if they’d be trained for the new world of publishing, or if they’d be let go.

Unfortunately, many of these typesetters were people who had been in their jobs for years. They were older, many heading toward retirement age. A lot of publishing houses did not see the need to train these people, most of whom were women. So they were fazed right out of the companies for which they worked.

It was sad and such a shame. Many of these people wanted to learn desktop publishing and stay in their jobs. Let’s be real: Who’s going to hire an older woman in her early 60s? It’s unfair, but it’s true. The answer is: hardly anyone.

With the influx of desktop publishing came the layoff of many old-school typesetters. For those of us who were old-school copy desk employees, we were the ones who would learn the new animal: desktop publishing.

New computers called “Macs” were brought in along with experts who would train us. Some of us “old-schoolers” had a difficult time, even a so-called “mental block.” There also were some of us who were angry that the last of the typesetters were let go. They had become our friends and they were loyal, good workers. So, in a way, we were stealing their jobs. There was a mix of guilt and just-plain feeling bad.

However, if we wanted to keep our jobs, we had to deal with it and learn the new system of putting out the newspaper. Not all of us liked it, but many of us had no choice. This was the beginning of a whole new world in publishing.

Sales vs. Editorial

I found out early about the differences between sales and editorial with regard to the publishing world. There sometimes were problems and sometimes not. Things sometimes even got heated.

Obviously the world of sales in publishing means selling the ads, which brings in the money. And the bottom line always is the money in just about every business. On the other hand, editorial typically is about journalists striving to report on and write the best stories they can. Pitching editorial sells ads. But when it comes down to it, sales usually wins. If the ad space isn’t sold, then there’s no magazine. If there’s no magazine, everyone on staff has a big problem.

Things actually can get held up because of advertisers. That oftentimes doesn’t sit well with editorial. Writers, reporters, copy editors, managing editors and editors work on “deadline.” With these people, and I’m one of them, deadline is “king.” Our lives revolve around deadline, and most of us hate to miss a deadline. Many of us live our entire lives, personal and professional, with the word “deadline” hanging over our heads. It’s ingrained in our souls, like a sickness.

I found out pretty early on in my career that deadlines would be missed — not due to errors on my part, but mostly due to sales. Didn’t like that at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know our magazine had to make money. But you can’t tell me to be “deadline-oriented,” which I accomplish, then tell me to forget the deadline! That drove me absolutely bonkers.

There were never any actual knock-down, drag-out fights. But we sometimes came close. I think there were quite a few times when I sat at my desk at 10:12 p.m. clenching my teeth in anger. The stress level certainly was high. I guess many of us in the business thrive on that type of stress.

After a lot of late nights, the editorial team closing the issue easily got “punchy.” Laughing for no reason. Typing in a headline after your fingers are on the wrong keys can bring about some funny stuff. Maybe not that funny, but when you’re going on two hours of sleep, you sometimes laugh at just about anything. Heck, you’ll even laugh with the salespeople.

In the end, after an issue closes, everyone makes friends. Then it starts all over again for the next issue.

The Road to a New York Writing Job

Truthfully, the road to an entry level publishing job in New York wasn’t too tough. I hadn’t been out of college that long and received a job just weeks after graduation. I graduated with a degree in journalism and writing. Out of all the jobs for which I interviewed and the offers I received, I chose an editorial assistant position at a trade magazine.

From all my research, I concluded that trade journalism paid way more than consumer mags. And I was correct. To this day, from people I know in the biz, consumer magazines, especially fashion magazines, do not pay well at all. And it’s all about who you know, what you wear and who can kiss up to the boss the most.

I worked for a wonderful editor at a trade magazine in midtown Manhattan. She was tough, but she knew her stuff. Ms. Editor had started from the ground up and took no prisoners, but she was fair if you did your job and showed initiative.

As editorial assistant, I wore many hats. It’s kind of like part editorial helper, part secretary. I worked hard to show everyone I wanted to move up, write, edit, anything to get their attention. Through months of this job I learned a lot of company gossip due to the “secretary” side of the job. I also learned about the writers and editors who wanted to help the up-and-coming newbies.

After months of trying to prove myself worthy of actually being part of editorial, it paid off. I was promoted to assistant editor, meaning I would help write stories on the reporting side, and also learn to edit other reporters’ work. This was my big break.

I finally make it to New York, land a job, and then get promoted all in less than a year. Everything is going great workwise. Let’s not forget I’m in New York City at the time, which meant after work there’s an entirely different life waiting for me, and everyone else in the city.

The Big Move to New York

As a young, “green” and ambitious writer who moved from the surrounding Phoenix area to New York in the 80s, I encountered many different things. First of all, Phoenix was not such a “big town” back then, and moving to the Big Apple was a big deal.

Before I even got to New York, my parents had some reservations about the move. They feared me leaving and going it alone to the big bad city. But go alone I did. I had things to do, places to see, and fun to have.

Phoenix at the time was not the big city it is today. Back then, the way I saw things, it was boring in Arizona. I previously had been to New York on various occasions to visit with family and that is where I wanted to be, wanted to write and wanted to have experiences.

Having graduated from college, I decided to get out of my hum-drum home town and take off on a wild adventure. As my parents bit their fingernails and worried for my safety, I couldn’t be happier. New York, here I come. That’s all I knew and all I wanted.

I wanted to be a writer, a journalist, and New York was the place. There didn’t seem to be many writing opportunities in Phoenix at the time. And didn’t all the great writers start in New York? Weren’t all the big publishing houses in New York? The great newspapers, the best magazines? Everything seemed to be based in New York. So that’s where I had to be. Plus, I knew there were many exciting experiences of which I would get to be a part.

My friends were excited for me. Maybe some were envious. And I was doing this alone. Some of my friends also thought I was brave because of this. Maybe I was, and maybe I was young,  naive and even somewhat stupid. Time would tell.

Well, there were experiences, that’s for sure. Let’s put it this way, when I first got there it was like the farm girl goes to New York. Lots of things I saw…well, some I wish I never encountered, others are great memories. I had to learn not to be so naive, and that would come for sure.