things in the city of new york

[gofreescout]

to explore. Relics, cryptic etchings, abandoned subway platforms, industrial graveyards... Any help is appreciated. I'm going up this weekend to ride a short line, but I have more time for exploring. thxthx.

 

[hassysmacker]

Forest Park in Queens is cool. Its the only wild mostly unmanaged old growth forest left in NYC. Evergreen Cemetary on the border of of Brooklyn/Queens is fun to explore and gigantic. Take the L Train to Wilson AVe to get there I think.

As far as where any traveller kids might be: Tompkins Square Park (e.7th st. & ave. a) of the East River Park in Downtown Eastern Manhattan (lower east side).

But the scumfuck junkie traveller kids mainly congregate and spange on e. 14th st, although they can be be found in tompkins as well.

Umm, I'll update this if anything occurs to me.

 

[hassysmacker]

c squat isnt really that cool unless they have a show going on, or you know someone there.

if you know someone there its also not that cool, just an apartment building with a bunch of punks in it, so its coolness is dictated by how cool the person you know is.

if you don't know someone, and theres no show, they probably wont even let you in.

i've had some damn fun times there, but like i said, if theres no reason to be there, its just a black apartment building with graffiti on it that you probably won't be going inside!

 

[finn]

There's the WWII battery emplacement on Rockaway Beach, on the southern end. It's nice to visit while the air's still cold, because once it gets warm it gets ridiculously crowded.

PS. on your way walking there, you will notice some derelict old military buildings, too.

 

[Shoestring]

Riding the ferry from Port Jefferson, Long Island to Bridgeport, CT is nice!
(Only costs $10.00 walk-on to ride too)!

 

[elvagabundo]

Try to find the "Third Level" at Grand Central Station. It supposedly exists, but you have to go around midnight.
CBGB is near Little Italy (A couple of blocks over from Mulberry St.). I think it's closed.
Visit "Ground Zero". I know a couple of guys who barely escaped.
The Stonewall on Christopher btw 6th and 7th Ave (If you need to ask...skip it).
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

[Beegod Santana]

c squat isnt really that cool unless they have a show going on, or you know someone there.

if you know someone there its also not that cool, just an apartment building with a bunch of punks in it, so its coolness is dictated by how cool the person you know is.

if you don't know someone, and theres no show, they probably wont even let you in.

i've had some damn fun times there, but like i said, if theres no reason to be there, its just a black apartment building with graffiti on it that you probably won't be going inside!

My boy used to live there and now they won't even let him in anymore. Rumor is that they've all become a bunch of spaced out, egotistical, tweekers. I've never been though so I can't really say.

 

[Geoff]

the metropolitan museum of art entrance fee is by donation so if you look like you don't have money and tell them you're broke they'll let you in for free. There's alot of really cool art there too (A LOT). They have originals by salvador dali and other surrealists and they have alot of cultural artwork from around the world. It's definatly worth checking out. the village is pretty cool. and of course check out thompkins square park.

 

[soymilkshakes]

ABC NO RIO! on, I think, Rivington Street & Stanton in the LES. Really awesome community space, FNB cooks there on Sunday, and there's poetry readings and punk shows and the like.

As for little-known hidden away type things.. there's the highline, doesn't have trains run on it anymore so it's all overgrown with grass and if you ninja your way up you can walk for miles, high above everything. But, oh, I can't remember where it is. Somewhere on the Upper West..
Freedom Tunnel I never got a chance to check out, but - Freedom Tunnel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And if you like graffiti, really amazing graffiti, definitely check out 5 Pointz in LIC Queens. It's a warehouse covered entirely with beautiful street art, the person who owns it allows people to do their work with permission. Take the 7 to 45 road and it's a couple blocks away.

 

[gofreescout]

awesome, thanks everyone. i really want to check out the high line, but isn't it being redeveloped for something now?

 

[Matt Derrick]

just so you know, i stayed at c squat back in like 2002 for like a week. it sucked. everyone was a bunch of angle dust tweekers. also, c squat charges rent now, it's expensive, and not that great. it's not even a squat anymore, and everyone there sucks. abc no rio is still pretty awesome though. pretty much all the positives without the cons of c squat. can't sleep there tho...

 

[hassysmacker]

just so you know, i stayed at c squat back in like 2002 for like a week. it sucked. everyone was a bunch of angle dust tweekers. also, c squat charges rent now, it's expensive, and not that great. it's not even a squat anymore, and everyone there sucks. abc no rio is still pretty awesome though. pretty much all the positives without the cons of c squat. can't sleep there tho...

Pretty sure there ain't any tweakin going on, but plenty of crack dust and dope at C. I have some friends there though. But sometimes major suck comes from that direction.

BUT that being said, I'd like to clear up the rent thing.

In the late 90s, the NYC govt under guiliani REALLY cracked down on the squatters on the lower east side, and shut down a lot of squats, until there were only like 7 left, including dos blocos, c squat, umbrella house, serenity squat and, i dont know a few more.

anyway, to negotiate with the squatters, the city offered to sell them their buildings for $1 a piece. Sounds like a great deal right? However, as comes with the territory, if they legally own the buildings they have to keep them up to code...so a bunch of them were forced to take out MASSIVE loans from something called the Urban Homesteaders Associtation or something like that, and so now a lot of them are severely in debt, but they have their homes that they squatted for years and almost lost, and now are technically co ops, and have to charge rent to pay back said loans.

 

[Raging Bird]

Forgotten NY

This website is awesome! I checked out Roosevelt Island and the abandoned small pox hospital when I went up there.

 

[soymilkshakes]

5 points, that's actually a historical area huh? Most of the immigrating Irish went there when they started comin to the US in the 180's....My Dad's folks families came throghthat region when they left Western Euro...Now ya got me curioes.

Five Points was the name of a historical neighborhood in I think Manhattan, but the 5 Pointz I mentioned is just a warehouse in Queens. They might've gotten the name from that neighborhood - I'm not sure.

 

[moe]

i think the whole city is cool, in general.

i just want to check it all out.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Pretty sure there ain't any tweakin going on, but plenty of crack dust and dope at C. I have some friends there though. But sometimes major suck comes from that direction.

BUT that being said, I'd like to clear up the rent thing.

In the late 90s, the NYC govt under guiliani REALLY cracked down on the squatters on the lower east side, and shut down a lot of squats, until there were only like 7 left, including dos blocos, c squat, umbrella house, serenity squat and, i dont know a few more.

anyway, to negotiate with the squatters, the city offered to sell them their buildings for $1 a piece. Sounds like a great deal right? However, as comes with the territory, if they legally own the buildings they have to keep them up to code...so a bunch of them were forced to take out MASSIVE loans from something called the Urban Homesteaders Associtation or something like that, and so now a lot of them are severely in debt, but they have their homes that they squatted for years and almost lost, and now are technically co ops, and have to charge rent to pay back said loans.

Your House Is Mine documents this pretty well:

 

[veggieguy12]

Dude looks like he could be Widerstand's brother!

 

[pola negri]

ha ha.

 

[shitbagdanny]

Your House Is Mine documents this pretty well:

that video was pretty cool, never seen or even hear of it before. sadly enoug hnear the end one of the squatters says, that in the long run it seems like a victory for the city, and thats what i was thinking myself. personally, to me, squatting is a way to get out of the elements if i need to. i have no need to raise a family, to hold a steady job, or to put any time or effort into a living space. the history is significant i agree, but these days its pretty pointless to even see. the lower east side is pretty much like the rest of NYC for better or for worse.
personally, if given the same deal, in the same situation as the folks in that documentary, i would have opted to burn the squats down and move on. it may be my destructive nature or slightly nihilistic outlook, but as you all can tell they are in a state of bondage, in debt to the very system they were fighting against. no wonder so many folks squat in the mountains or go to europe, this country is just getting worse and worse.

 

[pillowtron]

i'd like to at least walk by c squat as well, i think it'd be neat even if i could only see it from the outside. exploring the whole city would be fun, i havent been there much.