I am not afraid of the dark. I never have and never will, but the darkness in this picture evokes a different kind of fear than the little boogeyman that might live in my closet. Will I be mugged? Shot? Taken? See, I was taught these fears by my parents daily. “Come home early, Damian.” “You walked home! Things could’ve happened to you!” “Please be careful.” They never said these things to me in while I lived in Manhattan. You see, the other day I had left my Kindle in the family car. The car was parked two blocks away from the intersection shown in the picture, but my mother would not let me go to the car. It was “too dangerous” to go outside after dark because all these terrible things could happen to me. I was not happy with my community at this moment. I really wanted my Kindle but the dangers of my neighborhood after hours prohibited me from performing such a simple task. Is this perceived fear though? Or is my neighborhood actually dangerous after hours, even though nothing worthy of police investigation has happened?
My trek to the train station starts off in this seemingly peaceful neighborhood. The sun is out, it is relatively quiet, and there aren’t a lot of people outside. During the day the streets that I live on don’t seem ominous. They seem somewhat welcoming. It would be a perfect place for a community gathering or a parade, but those things don’t happen in my neighborhood. In my perspective, there isn’t a sense of community in my community. There are parks and there are individual barbeques, but there are never activities or events that incorporate the entire community. It kind of makes me feel like I am not part of this community. I don’t know anybody that is my age in my neighborhood besides my sister. There aren’t any community events that take place that can incorporate the entire neighborhood. This picture also shows me how my neighborhood and other places in the Bronx are only perceived as dangerous. This perceived danger may come the fact that some areas of the Bronx are actually dangerous. That and in the past, the entire Bronx borough was considered dangerous. When my mother was young she lived in Brooklyn and her mother did not allow her to go to the Bronx. Apparently as soon as you walked into the Bronx, you were either injured, killed, raped, mugged, or kidnapped. My father had lived in the Bronx during that time and he would describe the Bronx as his home. He never dealt with the shootings, killings or rapes in the area. He actually lived in the neighborhood that I live in now. Why do people outside of the Bronx consider the Bronx so dangerous? Was it really dangerous or was it it only perceived?
As I leave my house in the morning on my 45 minute trek to school this is the first park that I pass by. This is actually a really cool park that tries to teach children simple astronomy through a few fun things. There is a simple constellation map that shows children what the big and little dipper look like. There are also little planets throughout the park that show children the planets and their order. This park was interesting to me because the most natural part of the land is farthest away from the entrance and is the part least played with by children. Whenever this park is in use, all the children are playing in the jungle gym area or the most artificial parts of the park. This picture depicts that with how much sunlight is on each section of the park. The environmental section is covered in a shadow, cast by the building behind it. Nature is shadowed by the artificial. The sunlight is shining all over the rubber play mats and the jungle gym. We are allowing the artificial to soak up all of our attention. That and the actual park is teaching the children about space and planets and stars but not our own planet and the danger it is in.
This is the second park that I cross when on my way to school. I think this park is a joke. The dictionary definition of a park is a large public green area in a town, used for recreation. This greenest object in this park is the sign saying Inwood Park. This park has only one species of tree and doesn’t have dirt, grass, or even turf to run on. This is a space covered in concrete with a handful of trees scattered throughout the space. I have never seen children running or playing in this space, but I do see people sleeping on the benches at night. This space is also called “Inwood Park” like the very green “Inwood Hill Park.” These are very different spaces, yet they have very similar names. Inwood Park has no facilities that children might find attractive besides the benches that people sleep on. This park is also next to a train station, a major highway, and a McDonalds, things that are completely void of nature, just like this park. Places like this can become so much better than what they are, but they are neglected because of their appearance. There are so many parks like this. Parks that are neglected and ignored impact the community. If there isn’t work being done, the actual community will feel less important since the neighborhood isn’t receiving the attention necessary for the construction of parks that can integrate children into the community.
My journey ends with this concrete encasement. It’s completely void of nature. Concrete, tile and metal created this place that is used by so many people, yet it is so void of nature. I was born in Puerto Rico, a world of lush green rainforests, and then moved to New York City, a world of concrete and glass, just like this subway station. This station represents New York City itself. This station represents the way I say New York City, as a place completely void of nature. There are pockets here and there, but it will never be my home. It will never be Puerto Rico.