Blog 2: Soundwalk

New York City is a rich cultural landscape that differs from one city block to the next. Going one avenue down and one block over can place you in front of an entirely new set of buildings that looks completely different from where you stood just minutes ago. Not only is the look ever-changing, but so is the sound. Simply turning a corner can mute the saturated city noise of cabs honking, ambulances blaring, and people chatting. There is peace to and serenity to be found in any part of the city if you reach the right spot. Perhaps it’s why people love New York so much – it really does have everything.

            Union Square, the arguable epicenter of mid-to-lower Manhattan, is rife with all kinds of sound. On a Friday afternoon, just sixty minutes before rush hour, I heard just about everything New York has to offer while slowly making my way around all four sides of the square. I started along 14^th Street where it was the busiest. Once I spent a few minutes working to drown out the sound signals of the car horns, it was much easier to capture the soundmarks. Older men playing chess with one another and the scrape of their pawn against the board. People of all ages and races and types gathering on the steps before starting a 5pm political protest.

            As I moved onto Lexington Ave toward 18^th Street, the foreground sounds started to fade. The congestion of the streets is more relieved and cars move more smoothly. I can hear people walk around in the square’s park. Couples are sharing sentiments while sitting on benches and holding hands. In the background the branches crackle in the wind and the leaves rustle together in the wind. With eyes closed, you’d hardly know you were in the city. But with the sounds of New York just perched on the edge, it wasn't long until I was drawn to another side of the square to hear what waited for me there.