Goodbye East Village

One of my first posts was about the small table area that my roommates and I consider a living room. It doesn’t function well and it isn’t aesthetically pleasing, but somehow we imbued meaning into the place. Thinking back on my college experience, it is incredible to consider the types of places I’ve learned to love. Out of all my past apartments, the one that was most comfortable basically had no functioning doors. The inside doors (to the rooms, bathroom, closets) were all open permanently or off of their hinges. The front door didn’t have a doorknob, so it was always an event trying to get in. It was, by far, the grimiest apartment, but the significant events and memories we created over the months made it home. 
 
I lived in the East Village for the majority of my college experience. My lease ends this June, and I will be moving to Brooklyn. Although I am excited to explore my new neighborhood in Brooklyn, I’m also sad to say goodbye to the East Village. Many young people in NY move from apartment to apartment, and it is easy to feel displaced. For me, the six months to one year leases are teases when it comes to a sense of place. I often feel I’m just getting to know a street or neighborhood before I have to pick up and move on. This process makes the symbols and meanings I give/find in places seem that much more important. I recently revisited a West Village area that I lived in during my freshman year. I was immediately a bit disoriented, and I clearly felt that I had been removed from the neighborhood for quite a while. Several of the stores and restaurants had changed, and many of the people I interacted with daily had moved on. Even so, I did feel a level of nostalgia at certain points of my trip. I reminisced on the personal importance of a certain street, trash can or café. Although I definitely don’t feel the same level of ease in the West Village, I still look back on my experience with it fondly.
 
As I part ways with the East Village, I can’t imagine what a couple years will do to its sense of place. That is not to say it will get better or worse because these ideas can be extremely subjective (as we’ve seen in our readings). Rather, I am interested to see the new group of people who call the neighborhood home. This flow of people throughout NY can seem disorienting at times, but it also possesses a really beautiful quality. Knowing that someone else a week, a month or year before me had loved or hated my apartment, my street or my neighborhood makes me feel connected to the city. I’ll definitely miss my home in the East Village, but I look forward to exploring Williamsburg.

Thank you for a great semester, Professor Hutkins!