You know, there's a charm and essence about Harlem I just love. I went to Melba's today for her famous chicken and waffles that were featured on Throwdown. Immediately when I walked in, a family member of Melba's that worked there said that the kitchen was closing to prepare for dinner service --- But if I could order quickly Melba is fine with keeping the kitchen open for another 20 minutes. Not only that, but she said I could hang out for as long as I wanted, no rush at all. The atmosphere was welcoming. The people were welcoming. I felt at home --- and I believe that's Melba's goal with her restaurant. She even came out and sat at the table across from me, just sitting there going over mail and number crunching. She was happy --- and happy to take pictures with anyone who wanted to take pictures with her, who clearly loved seeing people happy. Needless to say her fried chicken beats Roscoe's hands down. I did a million crunches and ran all over Manhattan shortly thereafter. Thank you, Melba.
On a different note, I'm not trying to be controversial nor am I trying to be racist. What I will post shortly after this is a forewarning of potentially terrible things -- these things are purely based on observation and I mean absolutely no harm by it.
So to just say it already, I just want to say that I love the Harlem black community. Historically Harlem has always been pegged as being such a poor black community littered with crime. That Columbia U is in the middle of the ghetto. That Harlem is nothing but projects and comparable to the worst parts of East LA, Compton, Watts, etc. I remember visiting Harlem, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn, etc. as a kid --- and Harlem today is nothing of what it was then. Harlem has been cleaned up beautifully with little fall backs here and there, but even in rich white surburbia that i call home, we have our fall backs in cleanliness, too.
Today I fell in love with Harlem. I fell in love with its people. I fell in love with the vibrancy that is this part of New York City. I felt safe and comfortable. I felt like this was what I wanted to feel when in Harlem. --- None of that nonsense down Times Square, 5th, Broadway or any of that crap. What I saw in Harlem was genuine --- Walking through Church of the Holy Rosary littered with happy go lucky church goers. Across the street at Riverside Park, where Ulysses S. Grant's tomb in that monster of a moseaoleum, I saw a bunch of Kid-Cudi look alikes hanging around in the park just huddled around talking politics. Maybe they were Columbia U students. Maybe there were just hood kids. In LA I'd assume they were all doing crack -- and they probably would be --- and certainly politics wouldn't be a favored topic. Whoever is running Harlem is spending their money wisely cleaning up that community on all levels. My father says it's a combination of the conservative wall street men bringing in the cash flow to NYC, its government dispersing it appropriately --- obviously a liberal government with the right intentions and agenda. Why can't I see this in LA? Why doesn't this exist in California? Either way, LA has taught me to be scared of everyone and everything but affluent ritzy areas. That drive-by shootings are the norm. That living that life is OK. Harlem has taught me that LA is full of shit and not everyone is fucked up. There is serious lack of culture in LA even though we say we're so cultured. We're not. Californians are full of complete shit. We segregate the poor and let them try to kill each other off. We keep them dumb and do nothing to help our terrible education system, we just give them money to shut them up just enough to not be heard. We allow people to go on welfare for lengthy periods of time without question. We allow for people to acclimate to living with nothing but government money. It's the Stockholm Syndrome of government. We do nothing to help. We've had Barbara Boxer in California for 20 years doing nothing. We've had Jerry Brown before who did nothing. He did nothing for Oakland. I'm not saying that what we need is a bunch of neoconservatives in office because that does nothing good either. What I am saying is we need people who actually care. I'd love to see LA transform like Harlem has. Harlem is amazing, plain and simple. Maybe I didn't spend enough time there to see its negative side but the reality all communities have their drawbacks --- despite race, nationality or creed.
Now that I'm going to step down from my soapbox --- I just want to say leaving New York City is going to be incredibly difficult for me. I spend the better part of a day just hanging around East Village --- filled with South Americans and its incredible cuisine. I was reminded of Madrid and my heart melted 800 times over. It's been exactly a year since I've been to Madrid. I spent my 1 year sans-Madrid anniversary in East Village, at Caracas Arepa Bar and I loved it. I've never spoken so much Spanish outside of Spain or in my own home.
It's like all these little ethnic enclaves are forgotten by tourists. Last I was here I was a kid, so this is a whole new experience for me. I feel like when my friends tell me about NYC they either aren't brave enough to explore on their own or aren't interested in anything other than the norm, they come to get drunk and go to bars or do drugs in hotel rooms. maybe see a Yankee game. Everyone wants to come to NYC and see the museum and the flashing lights and sounds of Times Square. Everyone wants to shop on Broadway and I'm not sure why, isn't that why we have online shopping? I don't think people come here enough and venture out to little mom and pop shops or go beyond pizza, hot dogs, pretzels and don't see what really makes New York City which are street after street of mini countries in such a small space. Traveling the globe in 10 miles. Sounds good to me.
Across the Hudson I fell in love with Hoboken and Jersey City. a 10 minute subway ride to an adopted Habana itself. I've never seen so many Cubans outside of Miami --- Cubans who take pride in their community and cuisine. It's so awesome here. As a Cuban on both sides, I adopted the Cuban culture as my own. I adopted as much as I could without being in Habana or Miami, minus the Catholicism of course. The point is that being here made me REALLY feel at home as I identified with this community in the best way possible.
Leaving tomorrow is going to be hard --- and I will be thinking of this side of the US until I come back. It's like I have all I want --- so much that reminds me of home, so much that reminds me of Madrid, so much in culture and cuisine in such a small space. I highly suggest to anyone that visits NYC to step out of the NYC box. Fuck seeing Trump Tower, fuck Rockefeller Center, fuck shopping, fuck it all. Go down to the old Five Points (Yes, from Gangs of New York and PS it's no longer the Five Points --- Take a walk down Mulberry. Sit on Baxter and Walter.) and see if you can feel old NYC like I did. Walk down streets you're unsure of. They're safe. Just walk. Walk into a restaurant whose cuisine you've never had. I ate cow heart and a Peruvian restaurant and it was delicious. Just walk. and keep going. I really know why people fall in love with Manhattan and all its beautiful communities with all its ups and downs. I love it.
Tomorrow I'm heading down into Princeton to see my Godmother. I'm slowly working my way down to Virginia with lots of other stops along the way. The more I travel the more I realize how much I hate Los Angeles. No wonder my boyfriend and I are so perfect for one another. We're travelers and we see the same things. We see that LA is bullshit. I wish he was here with me to experience what I am --- and I know he would. I miss him a lot right now but thankfully I won't be gone much longer.
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