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As I peered down at the New York Stock Exchange floor from the gallery above, I was impressed that employees could work in that hectic environment.  People, mostly men, run around with tickets of paper, screaming "buy" or "sell."  Half could make all the difference.  Huge buying and selling stations divide the room and into a labyrinthine structure that the employees navigate with ease.  The runners sprint around like rats in a maze trying to find that elusive gourmet cheese.  While the runners shout "buy, buy, buy," the men in the booth type.  Fingers tap dance across the keyboard-- the two-step, shuffle, and Charleston.  A number rolls across the stock ticker and a cheer goes up.  Some one guessed right and another million dollars falls into his account.

I have the privilege of spending part of my commute in the main concourse of Grand Central Station. I believe it to be the greatest standing American monument to mass transportation. It is majestic and awe inspiring, as the hundreds of tourists who stand on its inner balconies each day snapping photograph after photograph testify.

The trick to being young and jobless in NYC is finding a job and  finding stuff to do that is free.  This week I tried my luck at both and came out pretty well.  As many before I have discovered, New York has everything one could ever want if you have the money. So earlier this week, I dedicated myself to finding a job. 

Professor of Geology Eugene Domack was quoted in an article about Tasmanian oil in the March 1 edition of Platts Oilgram News, an oil industry newsletter. The article discussed an oilman named Malcolm Bendall who is looking for oil on the island of Tasmania, a place where it was long thought that commercial hydrocarbons did not exist. Bendall, however, is certain that the island has potential for oil drilling. Professor Domack concurred, saying, "The potential for oil is 100%... The source rocks are some of the best I’ve ever seen and they have a thermal history. The problem is how continuous and producible the oil and gas may be due to faulting. It may be difficult to get at without a lot of drilling."

This past Thursday we went on a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE is not open to the public so we had to go through heavy security just to enter the building. The guards explained that the building was the number one terrorist target in the world, which didn’t surprise me at all. After clearing the security checks, our group proceeded to a balcony area that looked over the main trading floor. We witnessed first-hand the craziness and intensity of the trading floor, approximately 3,500 people conducting their duties simultaneously. We learned that the different firms outfit their employees in a specific color jacket to distinguish them from other companies’ employees. We saw a lot of straight faces for the most part, until half-way through the tour we heard screams and cheers from a group of men who had clearly hit it big with some stock.  

Indeed there is culture all around us in New York City; it is what this city was founded on of course. It just so happens that every possible thing I did this week had some sort of culture, and it was purely by accessibility to all of these things.

Darkness.  Silence.  All at once, the night sky appears and illuminates everything around me. Oooo.  Ahhhh.  Then I hear a voice from above.  Could it be?  No, wait!  It’s Tom Hanks!

I did not realize how much I actually liked New York City until I left for the weekend. I was surprised to discover how much I missed the city while I was in Buffalo. I seemed to catch myself comparing the city to the Buffalo area.  For example, I compared how it is faster and more efficient to take the subway everywhere instead of having to get into a car and drive a lot farther away.  Everything is so much closer in the city. I also thought that New York has many more “night life” options than Buffalo.  There is always something new and different to see in the city.  Not only that, I could not stop talking about the city and everything there is to do it there.  I would talk about the museums I have seen, the shops I have browsed, the places that I plan to go, etc. Leaving the city helped me to discover how much I enjoy being there. 

On Thursday we visited the New York Stock Exchange. Officer Rick Lee of the First Precinct arranged our visit. Ever since 9/11, the stock exchange has been closed to outside tours, so this made the trip extra special. The security on Wall Street is incredible. The streets are blocked off from traffic and guards armed with AK-47’s stand outside the Stock Exchange. We had to go through three security posts to enter the building. First, they asked for ID to make sure we were on the guest list. Then we had to get our picture taken for our special pass. Finally we passed through metal detectors. One of the senior security members was our tour guide. He explained that the Stock Exchange would be a prime target for a terrorist attack. He also explained that the exchange has four different backup power sources, because a loss of power would create chaos. The NYSE runs on two different generators, and two backup batteries.

Today was a very exciting day.  For the first time since arriving in New York City I randomly encountered the same person twice!  My observations thus far have led me to the conclusion that this is very rare.  There are so many anonymous people in this city, all with such contained, limited existences that almost never do you randomly walk past the same person twice.  Of course you will see the people in your apartment building more than once.  You will enter your office building with the same people each morning.  Oftentimes you will even commute with the same crowd.  But when I break free from my daily routine and still run into someone that I may not know personally but at least recognize, I begin to wonder just how rare this is.  I’m sure it is merely a matter of probability.  If you explore the City for long enough, eventually you will encounter the same person twice also wandering a random circuit.  Yet it makes me feel like the City is shrinking around me.  New York is losing its intimidation and I am beginning to realize just how small and restricted the island of Manhattan is.  The more I explore and involve myself in this densely populated city, the more I feel connected and familiar with the people and workings of it.  I feel like I am gradually becoming a real member of this community and a part of New York City.