Tourists size up the city’s weaknesses

Congratulations, Philadelphia.

For the second year in a row, Travel + Leisure magazine named Philadelphia the least attractive and least stylish of America’s Favorite Cities 2008.

The city also continues to have a high murder rate, although the numbers are steadily declining.
While the city’s faithful locals can look past Philly’s faults, it may be much harder for tourists and potential residents to do so.

Vicky Linde, a London native, recently returned to the United Kingdom after a three-day stay in Philadelphia. She said safety was one of her biggest concerns prior to her visit.

“There were certain areas of the city where the people [made] me feel a little uneasy,” she said. “I would not have liked [to be around there] at night, but during the day [people] were very friendly – less so on the streets, but I couldn’t name a city where that is not the case.”

But some weren’t so forgiving of the city.

A 38-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said friends offered to walk her four blocks down to her car after a night out, in fear of her safety.

“How sad is that?” she said.

Jenny Lin, originally from Cupertino, Calif., has never been to Philadelphia. She plans to move to the city soon to attend graduate school, so she uses online forums and co-workers’ stories for advice. Some of what she has heard is unsettling.

“I work with travel RNs who have worked in large cities across the country, [who] have mainly told me stories about the unfriendliness of people in Philadelphia,” she said in an e-mail interview. “One RN, originally from Canada, worked at Children’s Hospital … relayed mostly negative stories … that she’d never seen the sheer number of child abuse cases that she’d encountered in Philly.”

Although there are mixed feelings when it comes to security, it’s safe to say food is one of the best things about Philadelphia.

Travel + Leisure would probably agree – in the category of ethnic food and cheap eats, Philadelphia came in seventh out of 25.

“The food is the best I’ve had in any city I’ve ever lived in,” said Kevin Ott, a Philly native currently living in Los Angeles, in an e-mail interview. “Should I ever decide to move back to the East Coast, it’ll be to live in Philly.”

“My favorite thing about the city was actually the food – so much better than the rest of the U.S. so far. I was very impressed by each little eatery I went into,” Linde said.

But like the middle child, Philadelphia struggles to separate itself from New York City, the attention-grabbing younger sibling from 100 miles away.

When asked about Philadelphia, it was inevitable the two cities would be compared.

“Philadelphia’s got it all over NYC, in my opinion – great restaurants, [a] big arts community, lots of stuff to do and extensive nightlife – but without any of the self-satisfaction you see associated with New York,” Ott said. “It’s also generally cleaner, although it does have its unpleasant parts of town and has a good deal of local pride.”

The anonymous woman, who hails from Queens, N.Y., admits to her bias.

“I was never really into the whole Manhattan see-and-be-seen scene. I never lived in Manhattan. I didn’t go clubbing, etc.,” she said. “But my impressions of Philly are obviously colored by my impressions of New York, so a lot of what I say about the city is in comparison with New York.”

Despite the city rivalry, people do have positive experiences in Philadelphia.

“Before I visited Philadelphia, I thought that it was going to be a lot less tourist-friendly and more dangerous than I found it,” she said. “My main impression other than that was the accessibility of American history, which it certainly lived up to,” Linde said.

“As someone planning to obtain a master’s degree … the city offers several highly-regarded programs to consider,” Lin said.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia is going to have to work a little harder to win some people over.

“I don’t think I’ll live in Philly permanently, probably NYC, although that isn’t set in stone,” Lin said.
“I guess [Philadelphia’s] just not for me,” the anonymous woman said.

Sherri Hospedales can be reached at sherri.hospedales@temple.edu.

Newcomers shine alongside veterans at Tribeca

Since its birth in 2002, the Tribeca Film Festival has been the place for brash independent films to be exposed to the public. The festival, which was founded in response to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, by producer Jane Rosenthal and actor Robert De Niro, has grown and spread to venues around New York City.

This year’s festival, which ran from April 23 to May 4, was filled with the kind of energy that can only be found in New York City. Cameras flashed and glitterati arrived on the red carpet in droves.

The Tribeca Film Festival is known in the film industry as the venue for showcasing budding new talent alongside Hollywood mainstays and high-profile celebrities. This year’s festival featured the premieres of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Baby Mama, for example, and the soon-to-be blockbuster Speed Racer.

Covering the festival involves seeing a revolving door of stars, ushers and the occasional obnoxious PR representative, and viewing film after film – which can take a toll on the psyche, not to mention the memory. However, two singular films emerged for me and struck a chord that, in all honesty, hasn’t been struck in a long time.

Bart Got a Room
“Dorky” is the best word to describe the film Bart Got a Room. It’s a movie about life at a Florida high school, in which you’re not quite cool and not quite the ultimate loser.

Written and directed by Brian Hecker, Bart follows Danny Stein (Steven J. Kaplan) as he desperately searches for a date for – what else? – the prom. Danny has purchased everything – the tux, the flowers, and even the hotel room – but date prospects are few and far between in this young man’s world.

“It’s about a prom. It’s a huge day,” said William H. Macy, who plays Danny’s awkward and supportive father. “For me, the prom was huge. It was the first time we got to act like adults, with everyone all dressed up and a lot of ‘inter-boobular’ action.”

Hecker takes audiences on a semi-autobiographical tour of adolescence in a place – Hollywood, Fla. – overrun by senior citizens, pink flamingos, golf carts and palm trees.

“It isn’t entirely the story of his life,” Kaplan said. “But there’s so much of Brian in this.”

In fact, Hecker said in a brief speech preceding the film premiere, “If I had any shred of self-confidence in high school, I wouldn’t be here tonight.”
The characters in Bart Got a Room are engaging and funny. Kaplan brings Danny to life with an authenticity that can only come from someone who knows the situation well. He, along with his tactless parents, played brilliantly by Cheryl Hines and Macy, create a family that’s void of boundaries but not of love and support.

Bart Got a Room is a witty film that reminds us all of the hardships we endure as teens struggling to fit in. Bart allows us to recall how it felt when the world seemed to be caving in and all we had were the people who loved us.

“What’s special about Bart Got a Room is that it’s not the typical high school prom film,” Kaplan said. “It’s not about getting laid. There are greater themes here.”

The Wackness
It’s the summer of 1994, hip-hop is all the rage, and New York City is the setting for a new generation of young people who are infiltrating American culture. Meanwhile, one 18-year-old is trying to make his way through the confusion and chaos that comes before moving on to college.

Director and writer Jonathan Levine has recreated a world that is quintessentially New York City and yet can appeal to anyone. The film reminds us how this country and the city of New York have changed so drastically in the decade between Rudolph Giuliani’s clean-up of Manhattan and post-Sept. 11 America.

Levine, who in fact graduated from high school in 1994, takes viewers on a journey with Luke Shapiro during his final summer in Manhattan. It’s a summer of young love, which highlights the fears and frustrations that come with looming adulthood.

Luke, played by Josh Peck (Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh), spends the sweltering summer days selling marijuana to so-called friends from an old Italian ice cart in Central Park. When he isn’t dealing, he’s confiding in his therapist-turned-friend, Dr. Squires (Sir Ben Kingsley), and crushing on Squires’ stepdaughter Stephanie, played exceptionally by Olivia Thirlby (Juno).

One of the best stars of The Wackness, which made its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival, is the music. Luke is passionate about rap, and tapes a boombox to his ice cart, from which he regularly blasts the music of Biggie Smalls. The soundtrack, a mix of everything from ’60s rock to ’90s hip-hop, culminates in the film’s final scene. Luke puts a mixed tape from Squires into his boombox and “All the Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople begins as the credits roll – a solemn but optimistic note for the young characters.

Peck and Thirlby act with a ferocity that is rare in such young actors. Peck, an unlikely choice for a lead due to his Nickelodeon work, is true and honest in his portrayal of Luke. He’s droll without being hysterical.

“I chose it because it was very fresh,” Peck said. “I felt something about Luke that was inside of me, that was living inside of me.”

Thanks to Levine’s style and strong performances from the young actors, The Wackness, which opens in Los Angeles and New York on July 3, is a bittersweet, nostalgic and stirring film that’s anything but “wackness.”

Max McCormack can be reached at max.mccormack@temple.edu.

Older, less wise and still sexy

Sarah Jessica Parker can’t take her eyes away from the view. Central Park, in all of its green, springtime glory, looks like a mere patch of grass from the 36th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where journalists from around the country have gathered in large, high-ceilinged rooms to talk sex with the women who revolutionized it.

Perched nervously at the edge of her chair, Parker looks more like a strange, exotic bird than the very Manhattan creature that is her alter ego, Carrie Bradshaw. Her impossibly tiny frame is dressed in gray silk ruffles that could pass as feathers; her piercing blue eyes are painted dark and eerie with raven shadow. When she speaks, her voice is a chirp.

“I’m not the person that Carrie Bradshaw is at all,” she said quietly, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

While this may be true, it’s a hard concept for many to swallow. During its six-year run on HBO, Sex and the City accomplished a lot. In addition to making it more acceptable for women to speak honestly and frankly about sex, the show stood at the forefront of many social and fashion movements and influenced an entire generation of young, city-dwelling, cocktail-sipping singles.

It also established Parker and her co-stars as veritable icons – and made their names synonymous with those of their characters. In the eyes of the fans, Parker and Carrie are one in the same.

May 30 marks the U.S. premiere of the Sex and the City movie, a big-screen reprisal of Carrie’s life in the Big Apple with her three best friends, Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and her new fiancé, the ever-charming Mr. Big (Chris Noth).

Set four years after the show’s finale, the film finds each character older but not necessarily wiser, and follows them as they journey from New York City’s Fashion Week to the Mexico of Montezuma’s Revenge, from just-married happiness to just-scorned heartbreak, from single to taken and back again.

The movie was a labor of love for cast and crew alike, a reunion of sorts that they didn’t expect to see after the series ended. The excitement is palpable. Parker and the others can barely sit still, they’re so eager to show their baby to the world.

“It’s a movie about being a grown-up,” Parker said. “It’s about understanding your disappointments. And it’s about friendship. Friends are necessary and vital, but when you’re 40 and you lose out in love or romance or work, your friends are there and they can distract you for a little while, but not like when you’re 20. When you’re 40, you have to figure it out on your own. You have to fix things for yourself.”

The friendships extend beyond the screen. Parker is about to answer a question when Davis runs in and throws her arms around her, squeezing her tight.
“I haven’t seen you all day!” she said.

Later, while Davis is in the hot seat, Cattrall pokes her head in, and she and Davis exchange the smiles of longtime partners in crime.
“Could you please share this with people?” Davis asked, an exasperated edge to her voice.

In pure Charlotte style, she’s clean-faced and tailored, dressed in a beige-and-cream suit fit for a Park Avenue Princess.

“Because it’s out of control, the rumors about us not getting along,” Davis said. “There was a time when we went around and tried to explain, but nobody listened to us. It doesn’t sell magazines, I guess.”

In spite of the outfit, Davis is a far cry from Charlotte, the sweetest, most naïve and most conservative of the bunch. Darkly funny and fiercely opinionated, she carries her New York attitude like a designer bag – with pride.

“It’s nice to play a hopeful character, because I’m certainly not as hopeful as she is,” Davis said with a dry laugh. “There are times when I feel downright cynical. And I think her tenacity has been helpful for me. I’m pretty tenacious anyway. I think all actors are, but she’s really stubborn. She’s like a dog with a bone. And I really like that about her. She’s just like, ‘I’m going for what I want.’”

The strength and independence of the four female leads was something that fans of the TV show admired, something that set Sex and the City apart from the rest of the comedies on air at the time. Their candidness and openness about their sex lives also played a role in making the show an early millennium pop culture phenomenon.

“Some people thought that the show was very feminist, some people thought that it was very un-feminist,” Nixon said, looking much more feminine than tomboy-lawyer Miranda in a summery white dress.

Her eyes, too, keep darting out the window at Manhattan, and she speaks just as softly and humbly as Parker.
“These women had very discernible strengths and very discernible weaknesses and foibles,” she said.

Executive producer Michael Patrick King, wearing a pastel-striped shirt beneath his khaki jacket, has a grin larger than the city spread on his face. King is the proud father of the series, the writer who adapted author Candace Bushnell’s 1997 Sex and the City novel into several years’ worth of scintillating plot lines and sizzling humor.

“[Bushnell] was the first scientist who identified this unique strand of organism that is girl, powerful, Manhattan, alone,” King said. “She hung around while we filmed the first couple of episodes, and it was like having a prospector take you to the stream where the gold is.”

“Everything, everything, in the series and the movie starts and ends with Carrie Bradshaw,” he said. “If you can get Carrie Bradshaw’s thought, heart and soul on the page, everything just flows from that.”

Working with HBO allowed King to exercise his creativity without compromise and push the boundaries of what’s appropriate for TV. At the same time, he tried to maintain class.

“There was never sex on our show that was pornographic,” he said. “The edge on our show wasn’t the sex, it was the comic aspect of the sex and what they said about it and what happened to them because of the sex. And it was great to be on a cable network, because we were allowed to do ballsy things sexually and ballsy things emotionally without being censored.”

Cattrall’s character, Samantha, is the most promiscuous of the Sex and the City girls. Her antics on the show and in the movie may be shocking to some, but she’s a genuine breed of woman, a female Don Juan of sorts who isn’t afraid to flaunt her body or her sexuality.

“When the show hit, we’d gone through 20 years of AIDS,” Cattrall said, touching her sleek blonde bob.

Wearing a baby blue dress of a delicate fabric, Cattrall looks elegant, like she’s on her way to afternoon tea. The British-born Canadian actress has an English sensibility about her, a reserved calm.

“There was a real fear based around sexuality,” she said. “And I think the country needed a character like Samantha, somebody who could break down the barriers and say, ‘OK, have protected sex, don’t be stupid. But sex is a part of life. And it’s something to be enjoyed.’”

“Here’s the thing about the girls,” King said, leaning in as though he’s about to share a secret. “They appeared, much like other mystical goddesses. They suddenly just knew each other. And then they shook up the world.”

Anna Hyclak can be reached at anna.hyclak@temple.edu.

History professor takes job at NYC museum

History professor Morris J. Vogul has accepted a positition as president of The Tenement Museum in the Lower East Side in New York City.

Vogul will begin his term as president starting this summer. He has taught American history at Temple for the last 30 years, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article. He served as acting dean of the college of liberal arts from 1999 to 2003.

“The museum is a different way of teaching,” Vogul told The Temple News. “It has 130,000 visitors a year. It is the most visited historic site in Manhattan. It’s a way to be a Temple historian in a different setting.”

The Tenement Museum is housed in an actual six-story tenement building in New York City. Vogul is the second president of the museum, preceded by founding president Ruth J. Abram.

“It’s an outgrowth of the kind of work I’ve been doing while at Temple. I’ve been involved in both public history and social American history. This is an iconic institution in both of those areas. It’s an institution that has done a lot to shape the fields of discipline in which I work. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity,” Vogul told The Temple News.

Alex Irwin can be reached at a.irwin@temple.edu

‘In Conflict’ wraps up in Conn., may head off-Broadway

Temple University’s longest-running student play, In Conflict, performed to a standing ovation at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., on Tuesday.

This performance marked the beginning of a new chapter for Temple Theaters. Doug Wager, who wrote and directed the play, is currently in negotiations to bring In Conflict to the Culture Project, an off-Broadway theater in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood.

In Conflict, which was adapted from Yvonne Latty’s 2006 book In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive, is a collection of 17 monologues that relay, word-for-word, the first-hand accounts of Iraq War veterans.

The play was first staged at Temple’s Randall Theater and scheduled to run from Oct. 4 through Oct. 13, 2007. It was the first play in the history of Temple Theaters to have its run extended from 12 performances to 24, and occupied the Randall Theater stage until Oct. 20.

“We weren’t even done blocking the play before all the shows were sold out [at Temple],” said Tim Chambers, a 2007 alumnus who studied theater and psychology at Temple.

Chambers plays gay marine John Ball, Jr. in the play, and said the experience, which involved listening to hours’ worth of interview tapes and rehearsing every day, was draining but rewarding

The show was chosen from more than 200 initial entries to be one of eight regional contestants in The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which rewards excellence in college-level theater. The cast traveled to Pittsburgh to participate in the Region 2 Festival in early January. It will be determined in March whether or not In Conflict will be given the opportunity to participate in the national festival, held each year in April.

In addition to a possible off-Broadway stint, In Conflict will likely tour the country this summer, Wager said. He said he is also hoping the play will be shown at the 2008 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival.

Wager said one of In Conflict’s greatest assets is its ability to aid in the healing process of Iraq War veterans.

Currently, the cast is working with Yellow Ribbon Fund, Inc. to bring In Conflict to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Yellow Ribbon Fund, Inc. is a company that assists injured service members and helps them reassimilate into society.

“Aside from the creative reward of making a new piece of theater that people connect with and relate to, it was great watching the students come to understand what it means to be a citizen artist,” Wager said. “Being an artist can go beyond personal rewards and can improve the lives of people facing challenges or difficult circumstances.”

In Conflict performed alongside well-known playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith’s new solo play, Let Me Down Easy. Smith’s style of “documentary theater” – using primary sources to develop plot, characters and dialogue – is very similar to what Wager did with In Conflict, which is why the plays were shown together.

Even though In Conflict was only given one performance at the Long Wharf Theatre, that performance left an impact on both the audience and the actors.

“People seemed really inspired by what we did,” said Suyeon Kim, a 2007 alumnus who studied film and media arts and theater at Temple. Her character, Tammy Duckworth, lost both of her legs while serving as a sergeant and pilot in Iraq. “I think that a lot of the people [who attended the show in Connecticut] hadn’t heard stories like Tammy’s before.

“I felt honored,” she said.

Anna Hyclak can be reached at anna.hyclak@temple.edu.

Drama ‘Bella’ takes an emotional journey through New York

REVIEW – In the era of the big-budget blockbuster movie, it is hard to find a film that doesn’t rely on explicit sex, violence and car chases to draw in audiences and make money. It’s always refreshing to find a good film with a simple story that still has mass audience appeal. Such a movie is Bella.

Bella focuses on a young woman, Nina (Tammy Blanchard), who works as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant in New York City. The movie follows her on a day when her life has hit an all-time low. She is in the midst of a crisis, has no one to ask for help, and, to top it all off, gets fired from her job.

Enter Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), the restaurant’s chef. Jose’s brother Manny (Manny Perez) owns the restaurant, and Jose watches Manny fire Nina for tardiness and missing work without asking for an explanation. Jose, who carries some demons himself, recognizes Nina’s desperation and follows her from the restaurant.

So begins Nina and Jose’s day-long trek through the jungle of the Big Apple. The location provides a chaotic atmosphere that complements and contrasts the two characters’ turmoil.

At one point, Nina stops in front of a blind homeless man who asks her to describe the view in exchange for one of his junk creations. Nina lights up for a moment while talking about the mess of the city.

The movie is not all depressing. Arguably the best scene in the film is the family dinner at Jose’s house. The alternating funny, sweet, embarrassing and heartbreaking antics of his parents and younger brother illustrate the “sentimientos fuertes” that people associate with their families – good or bad. It is when he is with his family that the mystery of Jose is resolved, and some of the revelations the parents have about their sons provide an unexpected and emotional twist.

The enthusiasm from audiences and Hollywood hotshots regarding Bella should hardly be surprising. Monteverde impressed audiences during his undergraduate years at the University of Texas, when he set the record for the most festival wins by a student for his first short film Bocha.

He later broke that record with Waiting for Trains, which won awards at seven major festivals, including the New York International Film Festival. Bella surpassed both those honors when it captured the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, beating out such films as Babel and Borat.

Even after positive audience responses at the festival, major Hollywood studios doubted the movie’s profit-making ability. To prove them wrong, the filmmakers used grassroots campaigning to spread the word about Bella. The movie has sold out in theaters across the country.

At its heart, Bella is a story about relationships and the bonds of family – and what happens when those bonds are broken. At the movie’s start, Nina and Jose are wanderers. Both characters are looking for ways to cure their pain, but each person approaches it in different ways. In reaching out to each other, they are able to find some sort of peace.

Mary Elizabeth Coyle can be reached at mary.coyle@temple.edu.

Day Trippin’: Sick of South Street? Travel to New Hope

New Hope is a place that keeps you trailing from store to store as the day flies by. Piercing and tattoo venues are everywhere. Cuban cigars, bumper stickers, Bob Marley T-shirts, hemp purses and vintage clothing fill the Main Street stores.

New Hope is similar to Philadelphia’s South Street, with lots of people walking around outside and motorcycles at every parking meter. However, it’s more secluded than the city. It is surrounded by trees and located right on the Delaware River.

About 40 miles north of the city, New Hope is easily accessible by I-95 and you can take the R3 train to Yardley or West Trenton, the closest train stations.

The first spot I visited along Main Street was the famed Love Saves the Day. This store sells everything from cowboy hats and colonial outfits to angel wings and fur coats. The shelves are also full of sex toys, gag gifts and posters. It’s a combination of Condom Kingdom and your dress-up closet.

Store employee Cleo Guyer said they sell “whatever the owner [Leslie Herfon] likes. It’s the owner’s way of expressing her art through an eclectic store.”

Love Saves the Day was founded in New York City in 1966 and still exists in the city’s East Village, as well as on Main Street in New Hope. Cleo said stylists and designers from the New York shop frequently shop at the New Hope location. Other buyers throw costume parties or simply enjoy unique items, since the store’s collection

includes mustaches, velvet capes, lace and ballerina skirts, masks and more.

One such item is a three-inch doll called “Grow a Girlfriend,” which expands to life-size when submerged in water. They also have insult gum that says when your breath stinks and action figures modeled after Sigmund Freud, Edgar Allen Poe, Vincent Van Gogh and Albert Einstein.

They sell coffee mugs that mock the president as well as numerous vibrators. Most merchandise sold at Love Saves the Day isn’t mass-produced, which makes it a perfect fit for New Hope, a primarily non-commercialized, liberal town.

New Hope is a major hang-out for bikers, especially since long stretches of open road that are uninterrupted by traffic lead to the town.

The clothing shop After the Ride carries all things leather, from skirts to jackets to dog collars. Next door is Mystical Times, which sells candles, incense and instructional tarot card books. They also offer in-store palm readings.

Nearby is Primal Urge, a well-known, extremely clean piercing place. Keep walking and you’ll see Medieval Gallery, which features replica armor attire, women’s corset tops and men’s medieval-style clothing. Their main attraction is their sword collection, which ranges in price from about $15 to $250. They even offer a treasure chest filled with swords for $20.

A few stores and a pizza shop down from that, there is a store called Three Cranes on Main. Here, you can find wooden dragon statues, Buddha figurines, bongo drums, girls’ shoes, head bands, skirts with salamander patterns, wall hangings and acoustic Brazilian CDs.

After shopping, you might get hungry. Luckily, there are tons of places to eat, all with outdoor and indoor seating. Havana serves world cuisine until 11 p.m., as well as drinks like the South Beach Mojito, Voodoo Juice, Rasmopolitan and Jamaican-me-crazy. They have a wide selection of imported and domestic beer, including smaller brewing names like Flying Fish and Magic Hat.

If you’re a smoker, don’t forget that this is Bucks County, not Philadelphia. You can always smoke inside Havana. There are couches and full screen TVs, plus a stage where local bands perform.

Havana offers live music Thursday through Sunday from 9 p.m. to midnight. A DJ dance party takes place on those days from midnight until close. Monday nights draw a huge crowd for karaoke and Tuesday nights are open mic nights. On Wednesdays, they host Kinky Quizzo, which features sex trivia games with erotic prizes.

Bartender Lindsay Hudock said that she loves to work at Havana “mostly because of the clientele. The locals are so extremely nice, and the management is phenomenal.”

Right across the street is a bar called 90 Main, which is smaller than Havana but has a similar atmosphere. They play ’80s music, hip-hop and rock and sometimes showcase live bands, acoustic guitarists and singers. They serve tapas, pizza, sushi, burgers, wine, martinis and beer. Like Havana, they have both indoor and outdoor seating.

While in New Hope, you can shoot pool, eat, drink, get psychic readings and pick up T-shirts with unconventional, funny logos. This is a relaxed town that makes for a very promising and eclectic day trip.

Annette Gollan can be reached at annette.gollan@temple.edu.

Self-love next step for City of Brotherly Love

When Philadelphia is down, the kicking begins.

It kills me to see my beloved hometown be the subject of so much negative coverage and ridicule over our high murder rate. I’m betting that New Yorkers are glowing about the fact that their city’s murder rate is lower than ours. When it comes to sports, Philadelphia has had a strong rivalry with New York City for years. So knowing that our most rivaled city has yet again claimed victory over something else leaves us a little bitter.

Whatever New York is doing to keep crime in check, it seems to be working and deserves applause. According to the “Philadelphia Daily News,” as of March 25, the New York Police Department had reported 84 murders.

Compare this number with Philadelphia, a city that is one-sixth the size of New York, that had 129 murders as of last week. While cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles seem to be dropping in their murder rates, Philadelphia continues to fall through the cracks.

As the city’s murder rates reaching devastatingly new heights, it’s heartbreaking to watch a city so steeped in rich history and landmarks drown in bad press.

While Mayor John Street tells us to not sound the death toll yet, it’s hard to believe him. After all, crime and corruption sky-rocketed during his tenure.

When the “Allentown Morning Call” reported that District Attorney Lynne Abraham said we need to “do something” about the murder rate during a recent press conference,
she was looking at you, Mr. Mayor.

Maybe there’s more to our city’s problems than simply cracking down on crime and taking guns off the street. It’s quite possible that Philly has simply forgotten how to love.

While we pride ourselves on being a welcoming city, the nickname “Killadelphia” doesn’t reflect that. People need to remember that living here is special. I’ve grown up here my whole life and I was taught to take pride in my hometown.

Yet while we struggle to acknowledge our self worth, the citizens of New York continue to flourish. It’s not just the Big Apple’s strong economy and high-priced real estate that make that city so grand. It’s the self-love that it showcases.

I’ve never been to New York, so my jealousy of anyone who gets to live there might be skewed. But from what I’ve heard people say and from what I’ve seen in old “Sex and the City” episodes, it’s not hard to see the strong ties people have to it. There’s a connection that unites New Yorkers, regardless of their backgrounds.

The greatest example in recent times of course would be the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Though most other cities would have united in a similar fashion, New York seems to stand out in its resilience.

Philadelphia can learn from other typical acts of heroism that have occurred in New York. Last January, Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker, jumped onto the subway tracks to rescue a fellow New Yorker who had fallen off the platform when he had a seizure. It’s unfair to say that if that had happened in Philly someone wouldn’t have done the same thing. I’m only saying that despite its tough image, New York still represents itself better than we do.

To change people’s negative perceptions of Philadelphians, we need to show the rest of the country that we truly are “the city of brotherly love.” The murderers don’t speak for all of us Philadelphians. Philly can be reformed to greatness again.

I don’t have the solution to ending the escalating violence that caused a dark cloud to form over Philly. I just think that our great city needs to start setting higher standards for itself. A little self-love can go a long way.

Megan Suermann can be reached at megan.suermann@temple.edu.

Sneaker Culture: New York VS. Philadelphia

Philly has Sneaker Villa. New York has Niketown. Philly has UBiq and a handful of skate shops and shoe boutiques. New York has Soho. In the City of Brotherly Love, sneaker affection comes close, but can’t compare to New York’s kicks.

Here’s why:

SneakerHead Mecca

“Go to downtown Soho … [and you] can see all these kids roaming around going from each shop, getting their T-shirts and different sneakers,” said Jimmy Gorecki, manager of Afficial, a specialty shoe shop, at 608 S. 5th St., in Philadelphia.

When sneaker boutique UBiq opened in 2003 with its sleek, NYC-inspired layout, it was ahead of it time because Philly still was not really in tune with footwear frenzy. Now, the city is slowly catching on.

Empire of Exclusivity

“New York has more option in the choice … [with] the exclusivity and the availability
of sneakers,” said Anthony Gilbert, senior writer at “Sole Collector” magazine.

NYC is one of the “Great Eight,” a list of cities with a special Nike account to receive specific designs at specific stores, including Nort, at 359 Lafayette St., in Manhattan, and Stussy, at 140 Wooster St., in Soho.

New York City Gets Lined Up

“Even when you are not looking for exclusives in Philly, you can find them,” said Gilbert. But in NYC on the eve of a sneaker release, hundreds of people will wrap around a Footaction or specialty store. Some stores even distribute wristbands to monitor people’s place in line.

DAY TRIPPIN’ : New York

It seems that everyone in New York City knows exactly where they are headed – except you.

Marching out of Penn Station, there is a sense of being thrust into this large city. Billboards plaster the skyline, buildings have extravagant window displays and suits stomp by sipping Starbucks while chatting away on their cell phones.

Don’t panic – while New York City is the largest city in America, it is easy to navigate and can be cheap if you know where to go.

The first rule about NYC: don’t drive there. Parking can cost up to $40 a day. Chinatown buses are a cheap way to get to the city, costing between $12 and $15 per trip, and offering discounts for round trips. The jaunt takes around two hours from Chinatown to Chinatown. For the cheap price and convenience, it is worth it to pack an iPod, good read and holding on for the ride.

New Jersey Transit trains also provide transportation into the city. Travelers must first take the SEPTA R7 train to Trenton and then the New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor Line to New York Penn Station, located in the heart of the city.

The trip altogether costs $18.50. This route is easy, because you can leave right from the Temple Regional Rail Station.

While in the city, the best way to get around is the subway, which offers a $7 unlimited day pass. Trains come frequently and run late into the night. You should know the locations of attractions and subway stops, so you don’t have to spend unnecessary cash on taxis. Most of the city is laid out in a grid, with numbered streets running east to west, and avenues running north to south.

The ideal way to explore New York City is with friend who is a New Yorker and knows the best way to get around and the cheapest places to eat. If they let you crash at their apartment, you will save hundreds.

Greenwich Village

While nearly every neighborhood is pricey, the Greenwich Village area is always friendly to students. At its center is Washington Square Park, at 5th Avenue and 4th Street. The park is a hangout for New York University students, local artists and musicians.

The Village is known for its bohemian culture, boasting the scene that spawned Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Allen Ginsberg, among other artists and poets. The area, like the rest of NYC has changed much since the 1960s, becoming more upscale but still retaining its unique clothing and record shops.

The Village also has great inexpensive food. Mamouns, located at 119 Macdougal St., is open late into the night.
There are lines at every hour to buy a $2 falafel, served in assembly-line fashion. Gray’s Papaya, at 402 6th Ave. is another favorite among locals. The recession special is two hot dogs with a fresh fruit drink for $2.95 and 25-cent coffee before 11 a.m.

Central Park

Possibly the most astounding thing in the city may be the paradox of Central Park, which is a serene wilderness of commons and trails that lies smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle of its urban surroundings.

Between 59th and 110th streets and from 8th Avenue to 5th Avenue, Central Park is 843 acres. Strolling through the park along the lakes, it is easy to forget that you are in the city.

Midtown

The general area south of the park is known as Midtown Manhattan. The best advice
for this area is: look but don’t buy. The corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street could keep a wandering mind busy for days. It hosts New York City’s Apple store, an underground futuristic store selling i-Everything.

Next door sits FAO Schwarz, which sells thousands of unique and exotic toys. Countless other designers have shops on the ritzy 5th Avenue.

Times Square, the brightest place in the city, is at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Broadway, from 42nd to 47th streets.
The area, which is lit with electronic billboards that scream of commerce, is home to many media companies such as MTV and Viacom.

The Virgin mega-store at 1540 Broadway
has three floors of every music item or movie imaginable. There is also the Hershey’s store, a mecca of candy and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company among many other shops.

Downtown

It’s worth taking the subway to the southern tip of Manhattan to see Ground Zero and Wall Street. From here, you can walk through Little Italy and Chinatown to get some food on your way to the bus. By this time, you’ll be tired and ready to sleep on the bus ride home.

Now that you’ve gotten a sampling of the city, you’ll know what to do next time. And hopefully you won’t spend your bus fare home on 10 lame “I heart NY” shirts.

Stu Jerue can be reached at stujerue@temple.edu.

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