Hell's Kitchen Sidewalks

I can walk through my neighborhood by myself, with my dog, or with my partner, Bracha, without fearing for our safety.  Each of these means that I move through the space in three different ways.  Within these, it changes temporally; night versus day, and 6 months ago, versus present day. 

When I am by myself, I am essentially free to go wherever I want.  Even though I have multiple marginalities, only one, woman, is obvious.  I get cat-calls on the corner of 47th and 9th, from the same construction workers that have been doing it for over a year now.  They are so obnoxious about it that it is funny. Now.  Not when it first began.  

Otherwise, I get some stares, but for the most part I am left alone.    There are a few bodegas in my neighborhood that are owned by a middle-eastern family, and I interact with them on a regular basis, as they both work and live on the surrounding blocks.  They know that I am Jewish, that Bracha is Israeli, and that we travel to Israel regularly.  This is not an issue for any of us.  If I walk into one of these bodegas alone, they will ask where my ‘friend’ is.  I assume they know we are together, and it seems ok as well.   All in all, when I am alone, I feel safe from physical and emotional harm, and can come and go as I please.

When I have the dog with me, this same space becomes different. I can no longer run into the local market and buy exotic fruit and homemade bread.  Since I can’t take her with me, I need to tie her up outside the store while I go inside.  This means that strangers walk up to her, try to pet her, and otherwise harass her.  She is afraid of most people, and this is traumatizing to her.  Therefore, instead of kiwis and fresh bread, I go to the bodega and get apples and bread brought in from Brooklyn.

When I walk the dog, I come across other dog owners who will not let their dog play with mine, even though the dogs are excited to see each other.  Depending on my cognitive mapping that day, I will think that it is because they are the new gentrifiers to the neighborhood, or else, that they won’t let our dogs play because I am queer.

As I walk the dog, I sometimes pass World Wide Plaza, a building complex that takes up an entire block, and has a large public plaza in the center, with chairs and tables for sitting.  People play cards, sit and chat with their neighbors, in order to be outside of their otherwise stuffy summer apartments.  There are no dogs allowed.  We cannot stop and rest out feet even for a minute.  We can’t even sit in the chairs on the edge of the plaza, with the dog sitting outside the plaza on the city sidewalk.  We have been thrown out for doing this. There is a German Shepard on the prowl to prevent us from being there.  This ‘security’ dog loves people and growls at most dogs.  We have to cross the street to keep the dog safe. Oddly though, this no-dog rule is only maintained for some people.  There are people who are allowed in with their barking dogs.  Since they sit and talk to the security guards for hours on end, it is not just an occasional oversight.  This is a very closed public space.