"For what we once could feel only by quitting New York: the fundamental oneness we have with the place and the people in it, that is sensible to us today in the very jostling, abstracted streets of the city." (Paul Rosenfeld, "The Port of New York")
I returned to the Hill this week for a brief escape from the City. The real purpose of my trip was to fulfill my duty as this year's Adirondack Adventure intern and participate in the new leader selection process. While most of my time was spent running around for AA, I found myself, in my time alone, comparing Hamilton College to New York City. Now, I am not suggesting that Clinton and Manhattan are the same, but they are more similar than one might imagine. In his 1925 article "The Port of New York," author Paul Rosenfeld describes a New Yorker's connection to his city. "We know it here, our relationship with this place in which we live…For they [the buildings] and we have suddenly commenced growing together. A state of relation has timidly commenced-between the objects, and between the objects and ourselves." Like a dark-sider's connection to Café Opus or a senior history major's claim over her "spot" in the library, New Yorkers also form relationships and bonds with the people and things around them. From the man who distributes the "A.M." newspaper at the West Side 66th St. stop, or the coffee and bagel vendor stationed outside our building, to the ground zero 1-9 subway construction, or the sight of Lady Liberty from our living room couch, I too have noticed the people and things around me. And although I might not know their names or why I have chosen to pay attention to those specific details, I have managed to construct my own version of New York City. In so doing, I have put down roots in this city of constant motion. "The place has gotten a gravity that holds us," Rosenfeld writes. "The suction outward has abated. No longer do we yearn to quit New York. We are not drawn away. We are content to remain in New York. In the very middle of the city, we can feel the fluid of life to be present."
