Crystal Foster
EngTP
12-03-99
 

                This is my neighborhood all year around, Summer to winter and back again!

        The most pleasant part about this whole project, was to help me learn and see the true history about my neighborhood.  it helped me learn about how my neighborhood has really done for the people . Before we started this neighborhood project, I thought "why should we have to write about our neighborhoods?" I thought that what's the sense in us writing about our neighborhoods, when there is nothing special about the neighborhood. But by the composition, When we had to dig deep down to the nitty gritty in our neighborhood. I really saw how my neighborhood has changed since I was little growing up. The greatest experience was the artistic part of the whole project. The artistic part, was the best, because I wanted to let people see the true meaning about my neighborhood through pictures and forms of literature.

        The thing that worked the most was the artistic part. I love to do artistic things, so that was kind of a breeze. The collage, and the map went out of the way real fast. I did the artistic part first, because it was the easiest. And the pictures went by real fast, because the pictures really reflected the images, the feelings of my block and the way I portray   my block look like.

       The thing that didn't work the most was actually the composition. Because I had to write something about the neighborhood, and I had nothing to base my neighborhood on.  I thought there is nothing special about the neighborhood to write my project on. So I had to do alot of thinking and researching, about how the neighborhood has changed since my father's family was living in the neighborhood, how the school across the street has changed, and how the neighborhood in the Harlem community has changed. I spent at least 4 days on doing this part in the project.

        The most difficult part of this whole project, was the creative piece. That was the most challenging in the neighborhood project. Everybody had real nice things to say about their neighborhoods, some even had raps and rhymes about their neighborhoods. I have a problem with poems. But where my weakness was in the project was is where it had to be the strongest. I spent at least 2 weeks on what to do with my creative piece in the project. I was kind of jealous with the way Ruby and Mohammed did their creative pieces. I wanted mine to be just as good as the next two or better than other the creative pieces. I love to do creative things, but when I couldn't do a simple poem about my neighborhood. It just made me think of my creative piece and what I needed to do to make this project an a success.

                   I live in Manhattan in Harlem, On 120th street and Morningside Avenue. I live right across the street from Morningside Park. Most of the people on my block has been in the neighborhood ever since they was little. My father has been living on the block since he was 1 years old. Most of the people is old and they lived in the times my father grew up. Many events happen in my neighborhood, we have done things in the neighborhood like block parties from house parties, and throwing special holiday parties, like halloween parties and christmas parties.

                On Morningside Avenue, there is two schools that everybody and their mama went to, P.S 180(across from my apartment building) and P.S 125(right down the block on 123rd street) P.S 180 has been the most popular school in Morningside Heights. P.S 180 was built in 1959. My father was the first graduating classs in that school. My whole family(except my mother) went to that school. My father, My 2 uncles, my sister, Me, my brother, my niece and my cousin. Morningside Heights has had alot of family history. Everyone that I know now has lived on that block, from the grimie boys to the chicken head girls on the block, who mess with the grimie boys, who really don't care about them girls. From the nosy grownups that is always up in somebody's business to the business people who have better things to do besides gossip, but try to get them young boys out of trouble. That what's my block is all about.

               Around the corner is the neighborhood corner store. That store been there before my father was born. Everybody that's in that area from 125th street down to 110th street in the avenues from Ansterdam to 8th avenue. Around the corner is the pool room. Where there is alot of history and people have enjoyed that little game roon in the pool room. There was a new edition to the Morningside Heights History. A new PAL has been built and its very good and it keeps young kids off the street and out of trouble. All them scrubs that hang around the corner next to the corner store decide to go to the PAL and play pool, ping pong, arcade games, and basketball.  The PAL has changed the way the society thinks about kids today. And the people have changed the lives of many young kids and have had their minds developed and worked on.

              Another addition to the Harlem History is the new mall that they are building on 125th street and St. Nick. This new mall is going to change the shopping needs and their ways of the spending power. In the mall, there's going to be an Old Navy, a movie theater, and a Gap. And according to food shopping needs. Down the block at Lexington Avenue is the New Pathmark that was finished built in the summer of '99. The new shopping mall and the new Pathmark center will and has changed the lives of many people in the Harlem and Spanish Harlem areas. It made their lives and spending time more convienent and alot more helpful. Espically in my area. By the year 2000 comes around, the rate of the unemployment will have gone up, because of the increase in the new jobs that will be offered once the new mall is finished.

             There is alot of history and more history that will be added on while the first and second generations will die off, to make way for the next generations and the generations after that. I love my neighborhood, because you know everybody and everybody knows you. That's the kind of neighborhood that many people could love to live, but everyone could not have that type of neighborhood luxury and comfort that many people have right now.