New York State of Mind

The following is an excerpt from David Byrne's new book Bicycle Diaries.

I ride my bike almost every day here in New York. It's getting safer to do so, but I do have to be fairly alert when riding on the streets as opposed to riding on the Hudson River bike path or similar protected lanes. The city has added a lot of bike lanes in recent years, and they claim they now have more than any other city in the United States. But sadly most of them are not safe enough that one can truly relax, as is possible on the almost completed path along the Hudson or on many European bike lanes. That's changing, bit by bit. As new lanes are added some of them are more secure, placed between the sidewalk and parked cars or protected by a concrete barrier.

Between 2007 and 2008 bike traffic in New York increased 35 percent. Hard to tell if the cart is leading the horse here-- whether more lanes have inspired more bicycle usage or the other way around. I happily suspect that for the moment at least, both the Department of Transportation and New York City cyclists are on the same page. As more young creative types find themselves living in Brooklyn they bike over the bridges in increasing numbers. Manhattan Bridge bike traffic just about quadrupled last year (2008) and the bike traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge tripled. And those numbers will keep increasing as the city continues to make improvements to bike lanes and adds bike racks and other amenities. In this area the city is, to some extent, anticipating what will happen in the near future--a lot more people will use bikes for getting to work or for fun.

On a bike, being just slightly above pedestrian and car eye level, one gets a perfect view of the goings-on in one's own town. Unlike many other U.S. cities, here in New York almost everyone has to step onto the sidewalk and encounter other people at least once a day--everyone makes at least one brief public appearance. I once had to swerve to avoid Paris Hilton, holding her little doggie, crossing the street against the light and looking around as if to say, "I'm Paris Hilton, don't you recognize me?" From a cyclist's point of view you pretty much see it all.

Just outside a midtown theater a man rides by on a bike-- one of those lowriders. He's a grown man, who seems pretty normal in appearance, except he's got a monstrously huge boom box strapped to the front of the bike.

I ride off on my own bike and a few minutes later another boom-box biker passes by. This time it's a Jane-Austen-reading, sensible-shoe-wearing woman. She's on a regular bike, but again, with a (smaller) boom box strapped to the rear ... I can't hear what the music is.

City Archetypes

There is a magazine in a rack at the entrance to my local Pakistani lunch counter called InvAsian: A Journal for the Culturally Ambivalent.

What is it about certain cities and places that fosters specific attitudes? Am I imagining that this is the case? To what extent does the infrastructure of cities shape the lives, work, and sensibilities of their inhabitants? Quite significantly, I suspect. All this talk about bike lanes, ugly buildings, and density of population isn't just about those things, it's about what kinds of people those places turn us into. I don't think I'm imagining that people who move to L.A. from elsewhere inevitably lose a lot of that elsewhere and eventually end up creating L.A.-type work and being L.A.-type people. Do creative, social, and civic attitudes change depending on where we live? Yes, I think so.

How does this happen? Do they seep in surreptitiously through peer pressure and casual conversations? Is it the water, the light, the weather? Is there a Detroit sensibility? Memphis? New Orleans? (No doubt.) Austin? (Certainly.) Nashville? London?

Berlin? (I would say there's a Berlin sense of humor for sure.) Düsseldorf? Vienna? (Yes.) Paris? Osaka? Melbourne? Salvador? Bahia? (Absolutely.)

I was recently in Hong Kong and a friend there commented that China doesn't have a history of civic engagement. Traditionally in China one had to accommodate two aspects of humanity--the emperor and his bureaucracy, and one's own family. And even though that family might be fairly extended it doesn't include neighbors or coworkers, so a lot of the world is left out. To hell with them. As long as the emperor or his ministers aren't after me and my family is okay then all's right with the world. I had been marveling at the rate of destruction of anything having to do with social pleasures and civic interaction in Hong Kong--funky markets, parks, waterfront promenades, bike lanes (of course)--I was amazed how anything designed for the common good is quickly bulldozed, privatized, or replaced by a condo or office tower. According to my friend civic life is just not part of the culture. So in this case at least, the city is an accurate and physical reflection of how that culture views itself. The city is a 3-D manifestation of the social, and personal--and I'm suggesting that, in turn, a city, its physical being, reinforces those ethics and re-creates them in successive generations and in those who have immigrated to the city. Cities self-perpetuate the mind-set that made them.

Maybe every city has a unique sensibility but we don't have names for what they are or haven't identified them all. We can't pinpoint exactly what makes each city's people unique yet. How long does one have to be a resident before one starts to behave and think like a local? And where does this psychological city start? Is there a spot on the map where attitudes change? And is the inverse true? Is there a place where New Yorkers suddenly become Long Islanders? Will there be freeway signs with a picture of Billy Joel that alert motorists "attention, entering New York state of mind"?

Does living in New York City foster a hard-as-nails, no nonsense attitude? Is that how one would describe the New York state of mind? I've heard recently that Cariocas (residents of Rio) have a similar "okay, okay, get to the point" sensibility. Is that a legacy of the layers of historical happenstance that make up a particular city? Is that where it comes from? Is it a constantly morphing and slowly evolving worldview? Do the repercussions of local politics and the local laws foster how we view each other? Does it come from the socioeconomic-ethnic mix; are the proportions in the urban stew critical, like in a recipe? Does the evanescence of fame and glamour lie upon all of L.A. like whipped cream? Do the Latin and Asian populations that are fenced off from the celebrity playgrounds get mixed into this stew, resulting in a unique kind of social psychological fusion? Does that, and the way the hazy light looks on skin, make certain kinds of work and leisure activities more appropriate there?

Maybe this is all a bit of a myth, a willful desire to give each place its own unique aura. But doesn't any collective belief eventually become a kind of truth? If enough people act as if something is true, isn't it indeed "true," not objectively, but in the sense that it will determine how they will behave? The myth of unique urban character and unique sensibilities in different cities exists because we want it to exist.

Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from BICYCLE DIARIES by David Byrne. Copyright © David Byrne, 2009

 

 

Comments

[MadHeart]

After living in large cities most of my life, in my late 50s I discovered country life (not the way the rich see it, either). Found what I'd been missing and why I'd been unhappy, for the most part, living in cities. Simplicity, nature, and wonderful, daily, free therapy.

I lived in mid-town Manhattan for 3 months in '82 and came to understand why it's been estimated that up to 80% of its residents have some sort of mental health problems. A young friend who had been living there for several years committed suicide while I was there; I don't think she ever adjusted to it, and I knew I never would on the small salary I was making, either. I saw a lot of desperation and homeless people on the streets. Depressing. It's probably different when you're famous and/or well off.

[strawberryjulius]

New York has changed a lot since 1982. I don't think it's fair to judge it by the experience you had there.

[UberReaganite]

Agreed. Rural life or life in a small town is much more pleasant than working and living in cities. Overall I wouldn't say the country is free from manic depressives, social deviants or fools either though, they are simply more spread out and a bit easier to avoid.

I hear people whine when it gets "cold" here (45 degrees) or when they get their 1/4 inch of rain a year here but I'll tell you, this SoCal desert smells just like a wet litterbox when it rains - turds included. I miss real thunderstorms, white cristmas', trees, birds of every kind, deer and little furries in the large backyard and the smell of leaves in a colorful autumn. I think a change of season brings contrast and contrast helps us appreciate things. When its been rainy, you appreciate the sun, when its been hot you appreciate a shower, and a real chage of seasons makes you reflect on the season you are departing and look forward to the one thats coming. When its the same all year round it gets boring.

[nhoustonguy]

I grew up in NYC, left when I was a teen and moved to the South (Oklahoma) and I've lived in Southern and Western states ever since (OK, TX, AZ, GA, NC, plus worked on long contracts in CA, WA, KS, SC, TN, IL and ND). I've lived in Houston for a couple of decades now, but I have also lived in small towns with maybe 10,000 people too.

I've learned many things from this experience, but the most important thing I learned is this:

1. Mean people and messed up people come in all sizes, shapes, colors, ethnic and national backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, regional origins and accents. It won't matter where you live, they'll be around.

2. Nice people and level headed people come in all sizes, shapes, colors, ethnic and national backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, regional origins and accents. It won't matter where you live, they'll be around.

3. It is best not to use the anecdotal experiences of others or engage in contempt prior to investigation when judging a city, state or country (or a person for that matter).

[UberReaganite]

CA people have no sense of "GTF outta the way". This is a NY behavioral norm. NY people tend to ensure we are not in anyones way and if you are in the way we will "correct" you on it real fast. CA people will stop at the top of an escalator or in the doorway of a busy store to chat and hold everyone up trying to get by. They loiter in the passing lane at slow speeds and dont know how to merge with traffic on the freeway. When they place a food order at the counter most of the time they take forever to do it and then stand there and dont let the next person order without being told to GTF outta the way. The service provides think you are "their" customer and they dont need to provide quality service, you'll just put up with their crap, so I surprise people by immediately making them aware of their incompetence and then moving right on to a new provider with no "second chance" to inconvnience me. There is plenty of competition and I have no problem moving on. Some say thats harsh but I call it being efficient. I forgive honest mistakes and genuinely remorseful people but not inompetence combined with indifference.

I wouldn't characterize NY behavior as harsh, I think the people here in CA are somewhat dimwitted. NYers are more efficient and energetic and dont tolerate inefficiency, slowness or stupidtity as normal behavior.

[cuthbertallgood]

Stop Making Sense, last night of filming. Unspeakable wonders. Just thought of it yesterday. It was really an amazing thing to behold and to be bathed in.

[negogato]

You would be nuts to ride your bike in Rio execpt at the beach and in Vienna it is safe but they treat you like a foreign worker. Which I am. Copenhagen is a dream come true for cyclists and you will see people in their 80s gently on their way in the dedicated bike lanes. Everyone is insured. And the rules are simple. If a car and a bicycle collide it is always the cars fault. If a bicycle collides with a pedestrian it is always the cyclists fault always. If a pedestrian is hit by anything it is never their fault. Easy to remember.

[negogato]

Where you from man!?!
That is Memphis. If things get rolling and times are high a newcomer who is starting it up will be asked: Where you from man? Memphis, my first 20 were there. There, where was who. Kansas City Red. Memphis Slim. I have a friend whose last name is Palestine, his family generations ago was from there.
My close friend says she is just a fox in a fox hole. The fox hole she speaks of is Hong Kong. Set on all sides my Mainland it is changing now following the handover that took place almost 12 years ago. Hong Kong retains the identity of a special closed world, with the most expensive real estate in all of Asia, and the least corruption.
Rio and New York are my main cities. They are unique in the world and unique to their own nations. Both cities have a magnetism that draws certain persons and repels others. They fulfill their character by constantly refilling. Maybe all cities do, when the people are free. Goldfish grow to the size of their bowls; if we can, we choose ours. Choices are made by either by staying where we are or moving and immersing in the personality of another city. People will tell you that they came to NYC and after 2 weeks they were feeling more at home than anywhere in the world. Copenhagen, Belgrade, Taipei. The very names mark and sound in my body like notes.

[negogato]

Not typo free today!
Set on all sides by Mainland..
Nego

[EthnicHeart]

Growing up in uptown Manhattan makes it easy to answer all your questions. A native New Yorker from a tough neighborhood grows up with a combined consciousness that results from a constant contrast of opposites. On one hand, you feel as though you are at the bottom of a huge unforgiving system. On the other, you know you are in the greatest city in the world, so anything is possible. Every time you walk from the door of your building to the subway can be your last, so you grow eyes in the back of your head. You learn how to read people, and quickly determine who is dangerous and who isn’t. This skill serves you for the rest of your life. You also learn the power of asking – “Can you do me a favor?” – of complete strangers. In New York this is code. It means – “We share a secret. In the middle of all this craziness, we New Yorkers have to be able to count on each other. We have a special kind of courage. I know you don’t have to help me, but if you do, maybe someday when you ask for a favor someone will help you. What goes around comes around.” I never had anyone refuse my request for a “favor.” Finally, being a New Yorker means if you have FYDAHLAHS, you can walk into a Pizza store and yell out SLAAHS! and get fed.

[negogato]

Couldn't have said it better myself. You nailed it.

[SkipStone]

Yes, you are right on there. Having grown up in Brooklyn I have always been able to read ppl quickly. Having worked as a messenger in Manhattan, I got to experience the best and worst of the city.

Cities determine how you adapt to the larger society, how you interact with others, how integrated you are culturally.

What David is talking about is a field of study called Environmental Pyschology. It studies how people interact with their man-made environments. Humans adapt to their cities while city design and architecture determine how we go about our lives.

Environmental Psychology is part of a larger subject, Social Ecology, which studies all human interactions with man-made and natural environments.

I like David's take "Cities self-perpetuate the mind-set that made them."

For NYC, that would have to be the Dutch mindset, which put business as the first priority, back in the New Amsterdam days. As we can see this is still the prevailing Manhattan mindset.

[AlexNYC]

I know 2 bicycle riders who were killed by cars. Even though I'm very safe and careful rider, I've had a couple of close calls with road hog car drivers. Along with of the potholes and the sudden opening of a park car door, I remain reluctant to ride my bike regularly. The odds are still against a cyclist not havign a serious accident.

[keene]

I lived in Brooklyn and then Manhattan a timeless 30 years ago. I am from a small city. I had questions similar to David's. Although he elaborates them
I missed the sky and the many fields from my town when I lived there. Watching ants in Tompkins Square Park was a treat for me. It got me reconnected to nature.
My questions were how the surrounding structures shaped the perceptions of people. How they perceived themselves and one another.How the city scape shaped learning.
When I returned to my home town to live again, one of my old friends said I had changed. I had become more paranoid. Tucked my head into my chest when I walked. Became more closed off.
I think I also expanded in many ways. Really got a first class theater/writing education by doing workshops with various artists there. Threw myself into lesbian-feminist, alternative living.

[skatscan]

I had the opposite experience. When I got back to my home town after living in the city. I realized how backwoods it was, and this is in Jersey. I kept thinking how I was going to be lynched if I looked at some one the wrong way. And that's when I was hanging out with friends.

[negogato]

In Memphis we would constantly be picked up for DWI.
Driving while integrated.
And if you were a returning vet against the war - you would definitely have trouble coming at you from the MPD.
You would be both integrated and opposing the war.
Best you leave town.
Support the troops was not a slogan. The troops were black and white and completely integrated with their fellow soldiers and everyone was in the habit of loyalty and standing up.
Best you leave town.
Love it or leave it, that was the slogan.
Jail or exile.
Talk about the personality of cities.
Sure miss that cornbread.

[keene]

My experience wasn't opposite of yours. Believe me. I missed all the culture of NYC. I missed all the courageous artists and activists .(NY was like the Muscle Beach of the mind and I loved that but also liked getting a break from it). I missed the freedom to be and explore identity. I didn't miss the piss smell, or that I could see my breath in the winter in my apartment.

[Sirenissima]

Since July 2007, the city of Paris has a bicycle transit system called Velib’. Parisians and visitors alike can pick up and drop off bicycles throughout the city at one of the 750+ Velib’ stations. It costs 1 euro per day, a weekly card is 5 euros or an annual card is 29 euros. And it’s reimbursed by your employer!

I wish L.A. would introduce such a scheme.

P.S. On a completely different not, I loved your rant against U2's contribution to even more pollution on this planet. About time someone said something other than "they're so great." (Before a U2 fan slags me off, please note that I love U2 but I don't have to agree with everything they do.)

[BassguyGG]

Never mind that David. What I want to know is... when you're going to get the Talking Heads back together? The "Stop Making Sense" band with Nona Hendryx and Buster Jones, please! Your new disc was good but a great band is a great band!

[shanghaislim]

I saw him in Hong Kong.......and they played 80% Talking Heads songs with about 14 people on stage at times (just like the good ole days).

I was surprised.­..........­but it was really really good. ALMOST as good as The Talking Heads?

While his album maybe not bring memories of the past......I suggest trying to see him live.

It brought tears to my eyes.

[RandomMandarin]

His solo work is not inferior to the Talking Heads material, it's just different. He's one of the most brilliant and reliable artists making records. Even his worst stuff is pretty damn good, and his best is earth-shattering.
See him live, you won't be sorry.

[SmileyBrooks]

What a waste, I think I'll go back to listening to "Little Creatures".

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

i can easily imagine beautiful music (eno) behind that excerpt, with davids voice narrating. that would be a treat!

[EminemsRevenge]

i was crossing the street by one of those pedestrian zones Mayor-for-Life Bloomberg created, GOT the light, and would've gotten hit by a yuppie chick flying down the bike lane [SHE has a RED light] and of course i give her a New Yawker reply and SHE looks at me with the disdain of an SUVer getting cut off by a Smart car.

Eco-arrogance? Or just the same yuppie disdain for people of colour???

[Nyc Labrets]

If it weren't for people around bicycles, see: Wright Brothers, we'd all be making our Flight Reservations through Amtrak.

I've spent decades bicycling in the Canyons of The Death Star, (as if I was a young Luke Skywalker), that is Manhattan Island of NYC and right now, until more bike lanes are adopted, the safest way to do it is to get right in the middle of the road with your bike, get up to, and match, speed with surrounding car traffic.

Easy to do, due to the high traffic congestion of NYC streets and avenues.

Most incidents with negative outcomes for cyclists I've heard about over the years generally happen alongside parked cars or on corners.

You're so right about the European Bike model, the way bikers are respectfully treated here is like Night and Day compared to the USA.

BTW, David, right before I moved to Germany I made a special Pilgrimage to take one of the last photos I ever took in NYC.

It was of the Bicycle Rack that you designed that is on the corner of Pearl and Wall Street across the street from AIG Headquarters on Water Street. Here's the Flickr set I took of it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustindewynde/sets/72157614334391179/

It was 20° out that January day and so I didn't get as many of them that I wanted, but I never would have forgiven myself if I didn't do this.

Thanks for posting this and helping heighten awareness.

[CutAlongThisLine]

Sadly, bicycle-related head injuries that rob young people of their full lives are on the rise, thanks to the addition of those ugly, chaotic cement "islands' intended make room on city streets for cyclists, but now clog and increase hazardous traffic.

That new congestion, in turn, robs our beloved immigrant taxi drivers of their measely income since they lose a huge amount of time creeping, not cruising, through the new narrower avenues.

Not to mention the horrible visual clutter caused by all those ugly painted arrows and superfluous signage. Just go to 17th street. Or go to 8th Avenue, where the city now allows large delivery trucks to park in what used to be the middle of a very spacious avenue!

But hey, as long as self-proclaimed Brooklyn artists and the well-connected, not-necess­arily-a-US­-Citizen, "freelancer class" can comfortably tool uptown on their 3-speed pondering the pothole, their latest latte, or bookdeal- it's just another day in tough little New York.

Isn't it time for some fresh ideas that actually help year-round city-dwelling, 9-5 working people pay the rent?

[skatscan]

I guess the pollution you love so dearly has killed a few brain cells. Manhattan was not built to handle the car traffic it gets. The subway system makes it unnecessary to not leave your car at the Port Authority. Walking is faster in shorter distances.

Taxi drivers are some of the biggest causes of these problems immigrant or otherwise. Yes, they make a modest living but they know where to go to make the most of their money. They're smart enough to figure it out and charge by the time not the distance when they're crawling.

[strawberryjulius]

I think getting more cars off the streets is a benefit to all New Yorkers. Less cars equals less pollution and cleaner air for us all to breathe. It's better for the environment too. Not to mention, less cars makes the streets safer for pedestrians.

For the record, I know plenty freelancers who commute from Brooklyn daily. They are taxpaying american citizens and yes, they work 9-5. Although, most work longer hours to pay their rent. I know it's easier for you to belittle these people, painting them as non-citizens, and rich trust fund kids, but, the fact is they deserve to ride their bikes safely, whether they fit into your ideal vision of a New Yorker or not.