Crack Is Wack!!!
I decided to leave my real camera at the apartment for our trip into Harlem, because I’m a suburban white Canadian guy and didn’t think it was a good idea to take it. I’m not going to sugar-coat my reason. So, the rest of my pics from Day 1 would have to be taken with my cell phone camera.
We got off the 6 Train at 125th Street and first looked for a bathroom. I went into a crowded McDonald’s and headed for the bathroom, and immediately this big black guy sitting at a nearby stool called me out for not buying something first. So I looked around and assessed the situation and thought “Fuck this; I’m not about to get shot over a piss”, so I left. I told Ally what happened, and she suggested we go to the Subway just up the street, which I said no to…I think. The details are a little blurry. Probably should have posted these pics and stories sooner. Anyway, after my first experience in Harlem being a negative one that completely fit the stereotype in my mind, we walked up the street and turned onto E 127th Street, where we got ice cream from a truck in front of a school, and walked toward the Crack Is Wack playground. We walked around the park and saw some people inside, then made our way around to the actual mural, where we each took a few pics. The stereotypical first tourist stop? “OMG Statue of Liberty!!!” Our first stop? “Crack Is Wack!”
We didn’t spend much time in Harlem, but my impression overall (including our experiences that afternoon and later in the evening) was better than I expected. I expected Harlem to be sketchy and full of gangsters, but it was really no more sketchy than the neighbourhood I lived in at the time. Maybe it's the fact that we got there around 3 in the afternoon and there were kids everywhere, but it seemed like a happy place.
__________
IMG_2090ps
Crack Is Wack!!!
I decided to leave my real camera at the apartment for our trip into Harlem, because I’m a suburban white Canadian guy and didn’t think it was a good idea to take it. I’m not going to sugar-coat my reason. So, the rest of my pics from Day 1 would have to be taken with my cell phone camera.
We got off the 6 Train at 125th Street and first looked for a bathroom. I went into a crowded McDonald’s and headed for the bathroom, and immediately this big black guy sitting at a nearby stool called me out for not buying something first. So I looked around and assessed the situation and thought “Fuck this; I’m not about to get shot over a piss”, so I left. I told Ally what happened, and she suggested we go to the Subway just up the street, which I said no to…I think. The details are a little blurry. Probably should have posted these pics and stories sooner. Anyway, after my first experience in Harlem being a negative one that completely fit the stereotype in my mind, we walked up the street and turned onto E 127th Street, where we got ice cream from a truck in front of a school, and walked toward the Crack Is Wack playground. We walked around the park and saw some people inside, then made our way around to the actual mural, where we each took a few pics. The stereotypical first tourist stop? “OMG Statue of Liberty!!!” Our first stop? “Crack Is Wack!”
We didn’t spend much time in Harlem, but my impression overall (including our experiences that afternoon and later in the evening) was better than I expected. I expected Harlem to be sketchy and full of gangsters, but it was really no more sketchy than the neighbourhood I lived in at the time. Maybe it's the fact that we got there around 3 in the afternoon and there were kids everywhere, but it seemed like a happy place.
__________
IMG_2090ps