New York City – Page 16 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Coney Island and Night of Horrors (Weekend before Sandy)

November 19, 2012 Bradley Farless2 Comments

This post is long delayed. I meant to write it up and publish it on Monday, October 29th, but that night was the night Sandy flooded Lower Manhattan and caused our power to go out. By the time we got our electricity and internet back, I was scrambling to catch up on papers that needed to be written, reading for class (I use eBooks as much as possible) and generally in just getting life back into a rhythm. You know how it goes. Grocery shopping. Cleaning. Chores. Things just don’t do themselves, and when you spend all of your time trying to do the essentials, like finding food and water, things start to pile up. I really feel bad for the people that still don’t have power, even now. But, that’s a story for another post.

On the Saturday of the last weekend of October, my wife and I went to see the “Nights of Horror” event at Coney Island’s Luna Park. The attractions seemed to be themed primarily for teens, but we had a great time anyway. We walked around the neighborhood, looked at the boardwalk, rode some rides, and walked through the two mazes. I wonder how torn up this place was after the storm?

Poster for Coney Island's Nights of Horror — Poster for Coney Island’s Nights of Horror

Right after getting off the Q train, we saw this mural:

I thought it was really surreal and cool so I took some photos of it and then enhanced the colors. At the time I was taking the photos, I jokingly told my wife, “Just in case it gets washed away by the hurricane.” I wonder if it’s still intact? (Pictures of the rest of the mural is in the gallery at the bottom of the post.)

After having a junk food meal at McDonald’s, we walked down to the boardwalk to look around. I think I’d been there before, as a kid, but it’s been so long that I can’t be sure anymore. It was nice.

Nathan's on the Boardwalk — Nathan’s on the Boardwalk

A pier stretching out into the ocean from Coney Island's boardwalk area. — A pier stretching out into the ocean from Coney Island’s boardwalk area.

I’d like to go back and have a look around next summer. Hopefully by then the damage done to the area will have been repaired.

Car fatality at Luna Park Night of Horrors Entrance — Car ‘fatality’ at Luna Park Night of Horrors Entrance

Luna Park itself was done up pretty well. My favorite part of the whole themed event was the fact that they’d hired people to walk around in scary costumes and randomly scare people who weren’t paying attention. For example, they might get up behind you in line and lean in real close, and then scare you when you turned and found them right in your face. Or, you might be looking at a ride up in the air, and when you looked down, there’d be a person in costume standing right in front of you, staring at you. It was good fun.

Car coming down the track on The Tickler.

The rides were good. We only went on a few, both because we were running out of time and because we just didn’t have the guts to get on some of them. There was one where you rode in a thing that looked like an airplane. The whole ride was spinning and each airplane-car was also spinning on an arm that took the plane into sort of a barrel roll. We took it easy. We stuck with the Tickler, a roller-coaster that spins like a top while going down the track, and the swing that takes you way up and spins you around real fast. We also rode a thing that was like a giant surfboard that went back and forth like it was on waves, while also spinning in circles. That one was sort of relaxing.

I made the mistake of forgetting to take my hat off while we were riding The Tickler. There’s one long drop on it and after exiting the ride and looking, I saw that my hat was one among many laying on the rocks below the tracks. I talked to a few employees, all of which said they couldn’t do anything about it and told me to talk to someone else. I was beginning to feel like I was going to have to leave my hat behind, but it was frustrating because it was just out of arm’s reach. My wife got tired of me being a punk and just grabbed a nearby broom, hooked my hat and gave it back to me. Maybe I’m too conditioned to follow the rules? Maybe it’s a leftover from my military days.

The entrance to one of the haunted mazes. I can’t remember its name.

The 'gatekeeper' to the funhouse/haunted maze. — The ‘gatekeeper’ to the funhouse/haunted maze.

None of the rides seemed particularly Halloween-themed, but there were two Halloween mazes. One was called the Cudie Farm. I can’t remember what the other one was called, but they were both set up in a similar fashion and both were a lot of fun to walk through. My wife was a lot more startled than I was, but I think she was just enjoying the moment. More than anything, I was interesting in how well done the costume makeup was on the employees, given the scale of the park.

The original Nathan's Famous at Surf and Stillwell Avenues. — The original Nathan’s Famous at Surf and Stillwell Avenues.

When we finished going through the mazes, we decided it was time to leave, but no trip to Coney Island would be complete without stopping in at Nathan’s Famous (the original Nathan’s) on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues. I was tempted by seafood dishes, but I decided to get what Nathan’s is Famous for: the all beef hot dog. So, I got my chili cheese dog; my wife got her chili dog, and we stood there in the street watching the people while enjoying the good food. It wasn’t boring. A man dressed like a gay stripper Super Mario walked by.

Shore Theater. The sign was damaged the following Monday by Hurricane Sandy.

But, then it was time to go home. Back to Manhattan. It felt disappointing. There was something comfortable about Coney Island. Maybe it was the lack of tall buildings. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Everything there felt more relaxed. We thought about how nice it would be to live in that area. Of course, we don’t think it would be that great to live there now, considering the recent catastrophe, but the place just has a really good vibe to it that I can’t describe. It’s casual in the way the Metropolitan Museum of Art isn’t. We’re really looking forward to going back.

The following gallery includes additional images of Coney Island and Luna Park:

A View of Coney Island from the Q Train

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 1

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 2

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 3

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 4

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 5

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 6

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 7

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 8

Wall Mural by Coney Island Train Station 9

The original Nathan’s Famous at Surf and Stillwell Avenues.

The beach at the Coney Island Boardwalk

A pier stretching out into the ocean from Coney Island’s boardwalk area.

Nathan’s on the Boardwalk

The Cyclone

The entrance to the Cyclone.

Entrance to Luna Park’s Night of Horrors

A man taking photos of his costumed (presumably) girlfriend.

Car ‘fatality’ at Luna Park Night of Horrors Entrance

A view of The Tickler from the ticket line.

Creepy Dead Chick With A Baby

A mechanical puppet that looks like a hooded ghoul, or Darth Sidious…

A dangling ghoul that would randomly start shaking and screaming.

Some of the rides had extra passengers.

The loading area for The Tickler.

The Tickler, a log ride, and the Cyclone in the background.

Car coming down the track on The Tickler.

A ghoul hanging from a lightpole over the line for the haunted maze.

The entrance to one of the haunted mazes. I can’t remember its name.

A picture of the Ferris Wheel. It had no cars on it, so it must have been closed for the season.

The ‘gatekeeper’ to the funhouse/haunted maze.

The ‘gatekeeper’ of the funhouse/haunted maze.

Another picture of the Ferris Wheel.

A creepy clown head.

A stack of skulls.

Poster for Coney Island’s Nights of Horror

Shore Theater. The sign was damaged the following Monday by Hurricane Sandy.

Coney Island Train Station

Ripped Books

November 5, 2012 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

I’d like to take some time later to write a long post about my experiences over the past week in Lower Manhattan in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, but I want to mention something I saw today that made me realize that some things in New York City never change.

When I was on my way home, I saw an older man pushing shopping cart down the street. He stopped by the trash can, peered in, and then reached into a box in his cart. He pulled out a book, looked around as if he were making sure no one was watching him, and then ripped the front and back cover off the book and tossed it in the trash can. He then reached into his box and pulled out another book. At this point, he saw me watching him and turned away from me and hid clutched the book to his chest. He looked over his shoulder at me and then ripped the covers off the book. He tossed the remains of the book into the trash can along with the first one and then hurriedly crossed the street, where he peered briefly into the trash can on the corner before moving on, presumably to find more suitable trash cans to receive his defaced books.

I had stopped to watch this guy, so I’d missed the light to cross in the direction I was going. When I did cross over to the other corner, I found a man in dirty, rumpled clothing singing to a pile of dirty clothes in a shopping cart.

Last week, Lower Manhattan was very dark and the streets were relatively deserted. Thinking about it now, I don’t remember seeing anyone … weird… out there. Not weird by NYC standards anyway. But now, the power is back and the crazies are out again. Some things just don’t change.

The “Muslim” Halloween Costume

October 28, 2012 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Man dressed as a "Muslim" for Halloween. — Man dressed as a “Muslim” for Halloween.

Somewhere around Sheepshead Bay, a guy and his friends got on. The guy was wearing traditional Arab Muslim clothing. Or at least, sort of. He had the kufi (?, long shirt), brimless cap, cotton pants and the sandals, but he wasn’t wearing them quite right. The cap was way too small for him and the pants were rolled up, but not to above the ankles. I don’t imagine he was too concerned about the details, but if you’re going to be a jackass, you might as well do it right.

He was laughing and joking with his friends and passing around a bottle of vodka on the train. I heard them mocking the burqa, and commenting that the man’s female companion should have dressed up like a whore. I heard the guy yell, “Kill the white people! Kill, kill, kill, kill them all! [laughing] … Kill, kill, kill, kill…” Another time, he said, “I’ve got a bomb! Hit the deck!”

The situation was absurd to the point of being slightly surreal. At what point does it become ok to turn free speech into hate speech, to degrade and disrespect an entire culture, just because you don’t agree with some elements of that culture? And by elements, I mean some segments of the society, not elements that pervade the whole. Violence perpetrated by Islamist groups is a problem, yes, but there are violent fools in every culture and we don’t claim them as representative and use them as justification for generalized insults.

Some things are funny and some things aren’t. Just because we possess freedom of speech in the United States doesn’t mean we should toss the concept of appropriateness out the window and ‘say’ whatever we want. We should still have some self-moderation and not generate what is essentially racist hate speech because we’re too stupid to understand the more complex realities in other parts of the world, and too lazy to find out.

Hey bro, I hope no one urinates in your beer tonight, but you deserve it.

NYC BMW Has Hood Crushed By Construction Backhoe

October 21, 2012 Bradley Farless2 Comments

After a fine dinner at Pinche Taqueria, my wife and I were walking down Bleeker Street (between Lafayette and Bowery) and, well… this:

I had to stop to make sure I was seeing it right, and sure enough, the hood of the car is being smashed in by the backhoe.

Close up of backhoe resting on (aka smashing) BMW hood.

I suppose seeing me standing there taking photos was drawing attention, because by the time I left, there was a crowd of people looking at the car, people peering out of apartment windows, lots of laughing, lots of joking, and people calling “shotgun” on who gets to post this to Reddit first.

A number of questions come to mind. Whose car is this? Why did the person driving the backhoe do this? Was it intentional? Did the BMW driver piss off the backhoe operator? Was it stupidity? When will the lawsuit drop and who’s going to pay for this?

Work Permit at construction site for BMW with hood crushed by backhoe.

Regardless of whether this makes the NYC news or not (I’m sure there will be too many stories about Honey Boo Boo or something equally stupid to show this), I’m sure the driver of the construction vehicle will be fired, but the work permits were applied for by a guy named Martin Donovan, so I guess he’ll be held ultimately responsible for footing the bill. (Update 2: Noticed that both vehicles were parked illegally in a spot that has no parking b/t 7 am and 7 pm, Mon – Fri. Makes the question of legal responsibility for the damage a little more muddy, doesn’t it?)

Vehicle information and more photos in the gallery:

Update:

Found this photo on Reddit of the car earlier today, before the backhoe dropped onto the hood.

The Hawks at Washington Square Park

July 13, 2012 Bradley Farless3 Comments

The last place I expected to see a hawk for the first time was at Washington Square Park, in the middle of New York City, but that’s what happened. My wife and I were passing through and saw a crowd of people gathered with their phones and/or cameras out.

Part of Washington Square Park is fenced off because it’s still being renovated. Because of that, it’s free of people, which is probably why the hawk chose that area to hang out in, though it might also have had something to do with the squirrel that was on a nearby tree.

I asked a guy near us if the hawk showed up in the park often and he said that it, along with three siblings, lived in the area and had grown up in a nest on a window ledge on a nearby NYU building. He said that when the hawks were young, there was a 24/7 webcam set up above the nest. He took a moment to show me a video he had on his phone that he’d saved. I guess people were allowed to go into the building and look at the hawks from inside.

It’s nice to see that people are supportive of wildlife returning to the area. There are places in the world where birds like this would have been poached, or hunted just for kicks. Some people are sick. I hope these hawks stay cool and don’t make a nuisance of themselves, or you know someone will cry about it right away and want them removed.

For more info about the hawks, you can visit their ‘homepage’: WP Hawks.

For more pics I took of the hawk, see my Google+ photo gallery, or do a Google search.

Poor Viewing Areas For 4th of July 2012 Fireworks in New York City

July 8, 2012 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Years ago, the fireworks show on July 4th used to be held on the East River. I remember going there and standing on the elevated highway. The view was amazing! It was also real close to where my mother’s apartment is. If we wanted to, we could have just gone to the roof, but going to the river and watching it with the crowd was a lot more exciting.

This was my wife’s first 4th of July and I wanted to make sure we got a chance to see some fireworks. I was excited too. The websites and news reports I’d seen said that 40,000 fireworks were going to be shot off, total. I imagine that includes the ones that don’t really go up and pop, but look like they’re spraying upwards from the boat. Anyway, it sounded like it was going to be awesome, so we planned to spend the day out in the city and end the day with fireworks.

The Pond at Central Park (Yes, “The Pond”)

We did a little shopping and then bought some water before walking through the lower portion of Central Park and heading over to the river. We were in high spirits until we saw the way the crowds were being managed for fireworks viewing. To be blunt, it was done in an obscenely stupid way that left me with the impression that the city didn’t care if the average resident or tourist could see what was going on; it was set up to make everything as convenient as possible for VIPs who paid upwards of 200 dollars for private parties on the piers and in the park that runs along the riverfront. You know, that area where people normally jog.

The 'view' at 59th Street — The ‘view’ at 59th Street. The viewing area was placed behind the row of trees that divides the highway, instead of on the side closer to the river, and behind the pier structure which blocks the skyline.

We started out at 59th street. To get down to the river, you have to go through a checkpoint on the previous block where your bags are searched. Then you can go down to highway. The problem with the 59th street area is that the pier is built up into a huge two story structure and there is absolutely no view. While we stood there, dumbfounded by the fact that it seemed like people were intentionally being herded into the worst viewing areas, I could hear a DJ saying, “Ya! Put your hands together! VIPs!” coming from somewhere beyond the trees and high building in front of us, likely from one of the piers.

Somewhere around 56th Street. Shortly after this, we had to go back to 11th Avenue and reenter the viewing area through another checkpoint. Roads were blocked off for VIP access to the piers.

Also, the cops had different viewing areas sectioned off with barricades. Instead of being able to walk down the highway, we had to go back up to 11th Avenue and walk down that way, then go through another checkpoint to get back down to the river to see if the viewing was any better. At the second point, we wound up being behind the USS Intrepid and the row of trees. There was practically no clear line of sight.

When we tried to leave, the police tried to stop us. One cop told us that going to the fireworks “is not just about seeing the fireworks; it’s the experience.” I told him there’s no experience if we can’t see the fireworks. What’s the point of spending the afternoon and evening in a crowd, looking at the butt end of an aircraft carrier? When I argued with the guy, another cop told me that if we left, “That’s it, you won’t be able to come back in.” Uhh? What? As we walked away, I heard him telling another woman that the fireworks are free, but the view might not be free if she wanted a good one. The whole time, we could hear the thumping music of a VIP party coming from the riverfront.

We walked down a bit further but still couldn’t see. Our view was blocked by trees.

We walked down to 34th street and saw the massive crowds. We decided the whole thing wasn’t worth the trouble anymore, had something to eat, got some sundaes at the McDonald’s there and then stood in the street and waited for the fireworks to start. We figured we’d just see what we could see and the rest we’d catch on YouTube later. We weren’t the only ones with that idea. As many people as we saw walking down to the river all day, until just before the fireworks started, just as many were walking back into Manhattan, annoyed and complaining about how the barricades were set up and how there wasn’t a good view anywhere. Also, there were NO PORTABLE TOILETS. There were thousands of people heading to the fireworks event, but we didn’t see a single portable toilet set up to accommodate people. That seems like a gross oversight by the city government.

I think it was the better choice. We’d have been annoyed if we’d stayed behind the Intrepid, or behind a line of trees that blocked our view. As it was, I had to wonder what the city government was thinking saying the view would be good from 59th street down to 14th street. From where we were standing on 34th and 10th Avenue, which is admittedly a narrow field of vision in terms of seeing the waterfront, it looked like we were seeing the north-most fireworks, because we didn’t see any flashes of light from further up the river. I couldn’t help but wonder if the people at 59th street were able to see anything at all. At least we saw some fireworks head on.

If you’re reading this and thinking that it sounds like I’m doing nothing but whining, or that I’m hating on “VIPs” that are willing to shell out large sums of cash to stand on a pier, maybe I am. There’s a reason for it though. I remember being able to stand on an elevated highway with a clear, free, perfect view of the fireworks. I heard the excuse for moving the fireworks to the Hudson River was because of concerns about the bridges that go over the East River, but I call bullshit. It seems more likely to me that it was done to give preference to people with money and create new opportunities for monetization of what’s supposed to be a national holiday. The 4th of July is supposed to be about patriotism, pride and unity as Americans, but it has been warped into a business opportunity that emphasizes class struggle, not to mention the fact that it pisses off tourists that come here and are not be able to see anything. That’s embarrassing. Or at least it should be.

I’m not saying people should be able to stand on private piers for free; I’m saying the show was better done on the East River and should be moved back. At the least, the people should be put on the side of the highway that’s closer to the river, rather than right behind a row of trees. As it is now, the view of the fireworks from the ground is disappointing. Very disappointing. Unless you pay for a VIP ticket to stand on a pier or maybe go to New Jersey and view it from their shore, then it’s not even worth it. You’d be more comfortable sitting at home and watching it on TV.

An Excellent Day at The New American Wing of the Met and JKO Reservoir

July 2, 2012September 4, 2021 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Last Saturday wound up being one of those days that just turned out right. We got a late start because we both slept in, but once we got out the door we were rolling. We started our day off with a visit to Udon West, a great Japanese noodle shop on St. Mark’s Place (8th St) by Astor Place. If you haven’t been there, it’s worth the trip. Seriously.

Gallery 700 - The Charles Engelhard Court - New American Wing — Gallery 700 – The Charles Engelhard Court – The New American Wing

Just before leaving the house, I’d decided on a whim that we should drop by the Met. We hadn’t been in months and we’d kept talking about going back to see more of the galleries. I kept it a secret from my wife. I just told her we were going out to have a little fun. She didn’t realize where we were going until we turned the corner at 86th street and the museum was in front of us.

She was a little hesitant to go in because she wanted to enjoy the sun, but once we were through the door she said she wanted to see “The New American Wing” of the museum. At first I was thinking, “meh…”, because really, how many Americans do you know that want to spend a few hours looking at American art? I tend to get excited about seeing art from other parts of the world, but for her, America is another part of the world and I was a little curious, so off we went.

George Washington crossing the Delaware River.

Panorama of a panorama painting of Versaille Palace — I took a panorama of this panorama so you can pan around the panorama. Seriously, it’s a panorama painting of Versaille. The room it’s in is pretty big.

We detoured a bit through some European galleries because the American galleries are in the back right corner, but once we got there, I was pleasantly surprised. Some of the paintings looked oddly disproportionate considering the relative skill of European painters at the time, but a couple of the paintings and sculptures really caught my attention.

Woman contemplating a cross. My wife said the cross could just as easily be a cell phone. Once she said that, I couldn’t un-see it.

A Tiffany Studios work desk from the early 1900s

Roof structure transplanted into the museum — This entire roof structure was transplanted from its original location to the museum. Many rooms or portions of houses and buildings have been relocated to the museum.

We wore ourselves out walking around in the museum but before heading back downtown I wanted to take my wife up to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, just north of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The view was great and we resolved to make trips there to jog in the near future.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park

When we got back to the East Village, we capped our night off with dinner at Thai Terminal, which also has great food.

We meant to spend the day shopping and doing chores, but I’m glad we decided to kick that all to the curb and just have a good time for a change.

Full photo set from our trip to The New American Wing

More photos of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

Weekly Flea Market Ave A and 11th Street

June 30, 2012 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

I’d forgotten about this place until I started going back through my photos. Last week, my wife and were walking down 11th Street. I don’t recall where we were going, but we saw a flea market and stopped in to look around. I’d always thought of flea markets as being a uniquely ‘Southern’ thing and I’ve been to quite a few. I have this vague memory of being at one where a guy had a stall set up to sell animals. I remembering seeing snakes. I have no idea how many years ago that was.

I asked around a bit and this flea market is set up once a week. The space it covers is pretty big, which made me wonder how much each individual seller pays the lot owner for the time they spend there.

If I had more time and more space, I would probably pick up some of the things they sell there, specifically books. I hardly have time to read the ones I have, though, given how much I read for classes I’m taking. I also saw some bicycles near the front entrance. I think I want to get bicycles for myself and my wife again. It would be fun to ride around Central Park and the bike paths that go around Manhattan. I don’t think I’d want to ride inside the city though and especially not on busy roads. Too dangerous.

On the way out, this guy saw me taking photos and indicated that he wanted to post for the camera, so I humored him and I’m happy with how it came out. He looks pretty slick.

Israeli School of U.P.K. Black Jewish Supremacist Extremist Group

June 30, 2012 Bradley Farless2 Comments

Israelite U.P.K. School Demonstration in Times Square

Last Saturday my wife and I were in Times Square, heading to Olive Garden to have a nice dinner for our anniversary. We got off the train at 42nd street and walked through Times Square to do a little site seeing first. I was surprised to see what looked like a hate group preaching in the middle of Times Square.

When we were there, I didn’t really pay too much attention to them, other than to stop and take the above photo and note that they were yelling loudly about black people being oppressed. When I got home, I looked them up on Wikipedia and found the following information:

Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK) is a non-profit organization based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, United States. The group is part of the Hebrew Israelism movement, which regards American blacks as descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled ISUPK an “extremist” and “black supremacist” group.

I zoomed in on the info boards they had set up and saw some things I didn’t expect:

They apparently consider Jesus to be the anti-Christ. I’m no expert on Jewish theology, but I think that’s a harder line than the average Jew would take, fears of antisemitism aside.

Islam wasn’t spared either; not that anyone thinks to spare Islam these days when there’s an opportunity for criticism. The ISUPK has apparently equated the Ka’aba (the square structure in the photo) with an idol. They’ve gone so far as to tag the ‘black stone’ as a “clitoris”. If you’re not aware, Muslims believe that Abraham visited Hagar and his son by her, Ishmael, and helped them construct a home near a spring which came up out of the ground when struck by Ishmael’s feet as a baby. That’s the black square structure. Or, at least, the rebuilt and maintained representation of it. Muslims pray facing this structure, regardless of where they are in the world and perform a pilgrimage, but not because they worship the structure. It’s just a symbol; it’s the focal point that unites all Muslims. Islam as a religion is big on the concept of unity, though you couldn’t guess it considering some of modern day politics.

The black stone which the ISUPK referred to as a “clitoris” is a black stone said to have fallen from Heaven to show Adam and Eve where to build an altar for sacrifice to God. It was, according to tradition, placed in the Ka’ba by the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims attempt to touch it or kiss it on one of their seven circuits around the Ka’aba during the Hajj, or pilgrimage.

Neither the Ka’aba nor the black stone are idols in the sense that they’re worshipped. They’re merely focal points for the religion. I’d put good money on Jesus Christ not being the anti-Christ as well.

NYU Spiritual Life Center Ramadan Workshop Update

June 23, 2012 Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

Last Wednesday night I went back to the Spiritual Life Center at NYU. My class at City College was given the choice to vote between whether they’d rather have class at CCNY or go back to the Ramadan Workshop and they chose the workshop. That was good, because even if they hadn’t, I’d have skipped class to go back. It’s one thing to read about Islam and Muslims in a book or see it in a documentary; it’s quite another to get that first-hand experience in actual religious workshops that discuss the details of the faith and how people are actually practicing it. It’s also nice to socialize with and meet people who practice Islam. It really helps to put things in perspective, in the sense that Islam is not a monolithic evil.

While I was there I was pleasantly surprised to see a former classmate from an English class I took last Fall semester. She was sitting on the other side of the room (the room basically stays divided by gender in Islam, forcing people to focus on the material and God rather than each other), so we chatted by Facebook messenger for a few moments before paying attention to the lecture. She told me that the speaker’s name from the previous week is Khalid, so I went back and edited that post. I’m pretty bad with names.

She also told me the guy has videos up on YouTube so I did a search and found out the NYU Islamic Center has its own YouTube channel. There are two videos from the workshop up already: the first and second. The one from this week hasn’t been uploaded yet. I’m not sure if it will, since it wasn’t Khalid giving the lecture. If you were curious, you can watch the video below to see some of what I sat through during the first week. The video could be a bit better. The information borders cover too much of the viewing area and never fade away, but the important part is what Khalid is saying.

This last week’s lecture was by a guest speaker. Again, I don’t remember his name. He studied Islamic disciplines in South Africa, if I remember right. He spent six years being educated in Islamic schools and he’s now here in New York to begin his undergraduate education in a Western traditional college. His lecture focused on the legal aspects of fasting during Ramadan. The guy has a bit of a sense of humor and I was surprised and happy to see that he was very candid with the topic in the interests of clarity of information.

Issues like menstruation and avoiding any activity that might “get the juices flowing” were addressed. It wasn’t something I expected to hear discussed, but then again, what was I expecting? I suppose topics like that probably wouldn’t come up during a conservative Christian sermon. I wonder if that means Islam has a healthier conception of sex and the body? I’ll have to think about that more. The topics weren’t all racy. Things like medication and health issues were also covered, including when fasting begins and ends and when you’re allowed to eat.

Islam is more of a rule-oriented religion, where you have to follow strict and clear guidelines if you want your act of worship to be valid and effective. On first inspection it seems overly complicated, but in a way, it seems very clear and the complications are only there to prevent people who are trying to find loopholes from cheating. One example of that is having to be told that chewing gum invalidates fasting, since you swallow the flavor of the gum, even involuntarily.

So, essentially what it boils down to is this: When it’s Ramadan, you eat when the sun is down. When it’s fajr (first prayer of the day at dawn) it’s too late to eat. It’s too late to drink. You also don’t smoke, have sexual relations, masturbate, put anything into your mouth or another orifice that would cause your body to receive nourishment for the duration of the day. You attempt to avoid doing anything that would cause sexual arousal and stay away from immoral things. You try to clean up your act and don’t intentionally use foul language or do foul things. When night time comes and you do the sunset prayer, maghrib, you can eat, drink, smoke (if that’s your thing) and engage in sexual relations again. There are exceptions, but I won’t go into all of the details here.

The point of Ramadan is to remind you to be humble by creating empathy with those who do without because they have nothing, rather than voluntarily, people who fast all the time because they’re too poor to eat. It’s a time to refocus your mind on God, drop bad habits, create new, good ones, by studying scriptures and praying more. Ramadan is like a once-a-year opportunity to try to reinvent yourself into what you should be (to be a good Muslim) and to move further away from where you were before you began your fast. As Khalid put it the previous week, you should never meet two Ramadans with the same perspective. You should always grow. Not that I imagine he would say personal growth is restricted to Ramadan.

Here’s a real short video that gives a real good overview of Ramadan from a Turkish family’s perspective:

http://embed.5min.com/275999537/

I’m looking forward to attending the workshop again this coming week. It’s really great, and if you didn’t know, open to anyone with a picture ID. You don’t have to be an NYU student.