So this blogging thing isn't working out too well, partly because the computer at the dorm has been down for several days and partly because working 35 hours a week at a copy desk (regardless of where it is) isn't quite as blog-worthy as having random adventures in Europe. I gave us sometime ago trying to compare New York to Europe. But to sum it up, the pigeons are less vicious, the traffic is more vicious, the customer service is better and the subway is more complicated.

I think New Yorkers are notoriously good at ignoring people on the street because every few days a street person will try to call the attention of everyone on the subway car and talk about how their wife is sick and their kid is hungry and they have no insurance and if you just give them a quarter they will be profoundly grateful. Because if you don't get used to tuning it out after awhile you will either become either broke or depressed or both.
also,
New Yorkers walk faster than anyone else in the world — unless you're trying to get to work.

As far as work goes, the big Times drama is the move from the old building to the new building (or in my case, watching everyone else freak out about it since my department moved before I got here). The old building had this kind of lived-in, all-the-president's-men feel to it, where you can just walk around and trip out that 90 or so Pulitzer winners and numerous scandalized reporters and editors have worked there. The people that bought it for $100 million or so turned around and sold it for about half a billion, and the new owners are going to gut the inside, which is kind of sad (the outside is a protected landmark). The new building is big — the fifth tallest building in manhattan I think. And cold. And decorated in white and red with green accent chairs. And the shades go automatically up and down and the elevators have number buttons on the outside (oh, the other thing I don't get is that we have this big eco-friendly state-of-the-art building but yet there's not a recycling building in the place). If I had anymore journalism classes I'm sure this would make a great metaphorical discussion of the state of the industry. But wait, I don't. oh darn.