Outside My Window
So last year I lived on the 15th floor of my building, and my room faced neither campus, nor 114th st. It instead faced the roof the of the library, another freshman dorm (behind the library) and the walkway in between my building and the library. My point is, there wasn't too much noise. Even if I had faced the street, 15 stories is pretty high and 114th st. is a street, not an avenue, therefore much less busy. For those unfamiliar with Manhattan, the streets run E-W and are pretty small, usually one way, avenues run N-S, much bigger. Anyways this year my building faces the 3-way intersection of Amsterdam Avenue and 115th st. The downside: I get woken up by ungodly loud noises (there was jackhammering VERY early for like 2 weeks) at any hour of the night/morning. The upside: I get to see cool things outside my window.
This year so far things I've seen include (but are not limited to):
1) 2 accidents (ok, not seen them happen, but heard them and seen the immediate aftermath), neither of which were major, but one involved 2 cabs, interesting;
2) Someone get CAVA'd- that is I saw someone get loaded into the back of a Columbia ambulance;
3) A drug bust, or there was a "plainclothes" car & officers, except the car now had a flashing light on it. The guy was handcuffed and his car was being searched;
4) A group of Jewish guys running up the street in a big pack and singing;
5) And my personal favorite: So Amsterdam Ave. is a 2 way street outside my window. I hear honking and I look outside and there are 2 cars parked/stopped right next to each other taking up both lanes of one side of the street, with a ton of cars backed up behind them. The two cars are talking to each other or something, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but all the people were right there. Finally there's a break in traffic on the other side of the street, so the first guy goes around, BUT when he gets next to them (on the wrong side of the street) he STOPS HIS CAR, and gets out to go yell at them. So now THREE lanes of traffic (out of 4) are stopped and these guys are yelling at each other. It was so stupid, it was hilarious. The guy who was yelling at them just made the situation worse. It was awesome.
This year so far things I've seen include (but are not limited to):
1) 2 accidents (ok, not seen them happen, but heard them and seen the immediate aftermath), neither of which were major, but one involved 2 cabs, interesting;
2) Someone get CAVA'd- that is I saw someone get loaded into the back of a Columbia ambulance;
3) A drug bust, or there was a "plainclothes" car & officers, except the car now had a flashing light on it. The guy was handcuffed and his car was being searched;
4) A group of Jewish guys running up the street in a big pack and singing;
5) And my personal favorite: So Amsterdam Ave. is a 2 way street outside my window. I hear honking and I look outside and there are 2 cars parked/stopped right next to each other taking up both lanes of one side of the street, with a ton of cars backed up behind them. The two cars are talking to each other or something, I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but all the people were right there. Finally there's a break in traffic on the other side of the street, so the first guy goes around, BUT when he gets next to them (on the wrong side of the street) he STOPS HIS CAR, and gets out to go yell at them. So now THREE lanes of traffic (out of 4) are stopped and these guys are yelling at each other. It was so stupid, it was hilarious. The guy who was yelling at them just made the situation worse. It was awesome.