Annie's Travels

Some of my favorite experiences I’ve had while living here might not have started out as the first choice of activities for... well most people. While Coney Island, GMA’s Backstreet Boy’s Concert, and Roosevelt Island could be described by all three words for which this blog is entitled … I found some incredible treasures in each of these three experiences.

Coney Island

What could sound better than an ancient amusement park with each individual ride owned by a family of carneys that may or may not be able to guarantee the safety of their rides? … Everything! But I spent my 23^rd Birthday in the delightful creepiness that is Coney Island – and it was amazing!

It didn’t help the eerie atmosphere that it was a slightly rainy day that day, which cast a dark gloom on the devilish smile of the amusement park logo. But Coney Island is a fairly cheap way to enjoy a bunch of fun and slightly dangerous rides! The first ride we went on, a dad was freaking out because his child’s safety bar was wide open and the ride was about to start. But no worries, the Coney Island folk got to it seconds before we took off! Where’s the fun in predictable safety codes?

Then there was another ride that was supposed to be a roller coaster resembling a horse race. We straddled the horse like any professional jockey would, but when the safety bar pressed against our lower backs and locked in – all of a sudden we were sitting in the most awkward position imaginable, as if the ride was originally made for a velociraptor.

We ended our incredibly unique amusement park experience with a few carnival games, a candy apple, and a hot dog from the infamous “Nathan’s”, which hosts the world hot dog eating competition.

GMA Backstreet Boy Concert

Every summer, Good Morning America hosts a number of free concerts in Central Park for their morning shows. Well it just so happened I had moved to New York right in time for the Backstreet Boys special. Only catch? You had to get to the park around 4 AM. Not very many of my friends were willing to do this on a weekday/workday, but one thing I’ve learned is don’t let the fact that no one can go with you – stop you! You can make friends when you get there!

So as I sleepily stumbled into the park, I got to enjoy sunrise with hundreds of people, in a line twisting all the way back through half of the park. I shared stories with the fellow line waiters about our backstreet boy fandom way back when. One mom brought her 5-year-old son, who was disappointed this wasn’t a One Direction concert and that the Backstreet Boys were … Old.

After a few hours the line got moving and (another perk of doing things solo) I somehow managed to squeeze into the 4^th or 5^th row! The Backstreet Boys came out and gave us all bagels before the show started, and I spent the following hour singing every single word to every single song with hundreds of strangers. Best. Day. EVER!

Roosevelt Island

The last odd and overlooked treasure I found in New York was a little slice of an island called Roosevelt. It stands like a little strip of bacon between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and isn’t really known for much. But I LOVED this place!

We would play our weekly work kick ball games on this island, and on the warm days, it became a relaxing outdoor escape from the city. Playing kickball in green grass with the bridge and the city skyline as your view, what more could you ask for!

Oh I can think of one more thing… Bill Murray! We totally missed him, but apparently Bill Murray came wandering over to Roosevelt Island, asked for directions, played a few innings of kickball with one of the teams, and peaced out! How completely random! Just like this island!

The best part is taking the Roosevelt Island cable car back to Manhattan, where you can get a birds eye view of the East River in all it’s glory.

Just because it's old or odd - just means it's probably just overlooked!

So luckily, the internship at Welcome Change Productions had turned into a part time job. I had finally moved out of deep Brooklyn and moved into the high class lifestyle of the upper West Side … for a week. That’s all I could afford! At around $1,500 a month I would have been in debt fast. Not to mention that the old lady I was renting from was an insane character (ask me for stories, I’ll tell you plenty). Luckily, right when I was thinking I might have to move back home – the women’s residence I had applied to said there was an open room for me! I was moving to a nunnery! (More to come, that experience deserves it’s own blog!)

So now that I had cheap rent, a steady part time job, and lots of free days – it was time to start searching for more work! But how was I going to break into the production world with zero connections and zero experience? The only way I knew how to start the process, was to go door to door of every production company I could find with a resume in my hand. After a full day walking all over Manhattan, I ended up exhausted and with not a single response back…. except for one. A post-production company named Goldcrest Post called me back about interning with them. It wasn’t a paid position, it wasn’t exactly the career path I wanted to take, but it was an OPPORTUNITY. So I took it!

Thus I was thrown head first into a world of stocking the fridge, getting coffee, going on runs, practicing my Spanish with the lovely Carmen, answering phones, but most importantly – learning about the business. Any free time I had I would try to sit in on editing sessions to try and absorb all I could.

Another benefit of that job was I got to see another cool part of the city, the Meatpacking district. It’s an industrial-sounding name, but they have made that once factory-ridden area so pretty. The roads I would walk on to get to work were cobble stone, trees aligned our block, and best of all – we worked right next door to the High Line. The high line was once an above ground railroad that was shut down and converted into an above ground park. I picnicked up there during lunch breaks, and took little walks that felt like I was walking right through the buildings.

I also loved doing tasks for a producer named Gretchen, who was more involved in the actual production aspect of the films, which was what I was really interested in. As I would file different permits and contracts, she would answer all of my rookie questions about the logistics of production. She even mentioned at one point that her husband worked for a television show filming in New York, Person of Interest. That peaked my interest, and I asked her if she ever heard of an opening with them – to let me know!

Low and behold a few weeks later, they called me to fill in as an office PA for a day. That brought on job number 3 at the time. I was so excited about this job because it was an actual Warner Brother production and I wanted to learn all I could! Little did I know at the time just how much I would absorb and all the amazing people I would meet from working with Person of Interest. But I’m getting ahead of myself!

A few weeks after being called in to POI, I got another job offer filming short promo videos for a tour company called On Location Tours. This company gave tours to parts of the city that were known for the movies filmed there. This job wasn’t exactly a way to make “contacts in the business” but it is by far one of the best things I did while living here. I got to wander around New York with fun people and learn a bunch of random facts about the city! Some of my favorite days were seeing the “Men In Black headquarters” in the city, learning about the bull statue and how it was sneakily and illegally plopped into where it stands today, oh and filming the host get “slushied” for a special Glee episode. It was a blast!

Here are all of the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/onlocationtours

With the addition of one more job organizing the mailing lists for a documentary, that made 5 jobs I was trying to juggle at once. I was going crazy trying to plan out my weeks and when I would work where, but little did I know this is the lifestyle of a LOT of people who live in New York. I met a few girls in my residence that balance jobs DJ-ing, catering, acting, working in a hair salon, waitressing, EVERYTHING you can imagine. Some of these girls had moved from a different country, and were learning English on top of that. Suddenly after meeting them, my juggling act seemed like a lot lighter load. I was in awe of their determination while also having to learn a new culture! Because on top of working, it’s also very hard to learn how to do daily tasks in the city.

For example, normally a grocery store run would consist of me getting in my car, buying everything I need for the next few weeks, piling it in my trunk, and driving home. But suddenly now, I was walking to the store and had to lug everything I bought 10 blocks back home. I had to learn how to buy little stuff frequently. And with no WAl-Mart ANYWHERE in Manhattan (gasp) – I had to learn where I could buy what. This could make a few simple errands take ALL DAY. Not to mention very few public bathrooms in the city, some days I would find myself frustrated trying to accomplish mundane tasks and having to pee like a racehorse with still 5 stops left while riding the subway. Then finally getting home to my TINY little closet of an apartment blowing the fan directly on me to try to escape the summer heat in the city. It’s definitely not easy living here, but it’s a challenge with some very cool perks. I could be having the most frustrating day ever, and stumble upon something I’ve never seen before…

Like a group of people dressed up as animals doing some sort of modern dance… in the subway.