This was another year in which the city felt very near (because I live in it, which is a survival technique) and very far (because I stay away from it, which is another survival technique). I did go downtown a handful of times over the course of the year. Mostly I took short-term rental e-bikes (Citibike), which is my 2022 Survival Technique of the Year (TM).
E-bikes should be a survival technique for everyone. They’re easy to ride, they’re relatively fast, but they still feel like bikes (as opposed to motorcycles or scooters). They’re obviously safer and better for the environment than cars. Ranting about cars and the space they take up in the city, while moving (dangerously) and while in storage on public property (aka ‘street parking’) has been another survival technique of 2022.
Back to e-bikes, the infrastructure for biking (and e-biking) remains terrible in New York City, however. Most bike lanes are painted on the road next to parked cars, and protected lanes are often blocked by whoever feels like parking there and especially police cars. Having biked around the city, it’s clear to me that cops like to troll bikers by parking in bike lanes and generally harassing them. Guess what? I get it. There’s a minority of bikers who are very annoying. They have flashy, expensive gear and they go too fast in bike lanes that are shared with runners and walkers. They scold you a lot. They vote for neoliberal politicians, even now. But this minority should not dictate the behavior of the police or the many, many more obnoxious drivers who think it’s fun to drive within inches of a biker (or worse). I dream about having a mayor who can mobilize her (because it will probably be a woman) administration to radically overhaul city streets, so that e-bikes are a viable means of getting around throughout the year.
Also, can we stop spending money on useless advertising campaigns such as this one? Is there a single driver in 2022 who saw this ad and thought ‘you know, I really do need to slow down’? The solution to speeding drivers is enforcement by way of speed cameras and serious penalties against the increasing number of drivers (including 98 percent of cops and firefighters) who bend or deface license plates to avoid detection by speed cameras. Anyway, cars and their drivers are a major problem in New York City, and they should be heavily regulated. I look forward to complaining about them more in 2023.
Moving on from cars, Fort Tryon Park continues to be a big survival technique for me. why aren’t we investing more in parks?
I keep this image on my phone and laugh at it sometimes, which is a survival technique. Which speaking of phones reminds me: another survival technique of 2022 was turning off all notifications (sound and visual) for texts and phone calls, and especially social media apps. I’m not sure I logged onto my FB in 2022, though, which is another survival technique. That and gloating about the demise of IG. I’ll never understand why so many people are like ‘FB is evvvil — I would never! — but oh btw here’s my Insta.’ Ranting about social media is a perennial survival technique.
Let’s return to the park. Its beauty speaks for itself, n’est-ce pas?
Last year at this time, I wasn’t able to get to the park because I injured my knee pretty badly, which brings me to another big survival technique of 2022: physical therapy. Thank you, PT, for getting me back into running shape.
And thank you, Feldenkrais, for making me more aware of how I move. You might be surprised to learn that even if you don’t go downtown all the time like you used to do, you still tend to move around a lot, and there are ways to do it that bring more and less pain to your body. Thank you to my mother for getting me started in Feldenkrais. (Survival technique: listen to your mother — survival technique — sometimes.)
Running is generally a safe activity in the city, with one caveat: there are a lot of bumpy sidewalks that inevitably lead to comical (to observers) but painful (to participants) face plants when your toe catches on the edge of a raised square of concrete. (This is something else that should be fixed when they #bancars.) Feldenkrais has been a good survival technique during these unfortunate moments because in addition to teaching me how to sit and stand, it has taught me how to fall.
Moving on to our next category, gardening continued to be another big survival technique for me (and I’m sure it’s safe to say, Stephen) in 2022. As it’s something I regularly write about here, I won’t talk too much about it other than to say that we recently had a visit to our garden from a hawk, who made a meal of a pigeon while the cats looked on in awe through the window. With condolences to the pigeon, this is peak gardening, and I look forward to more of it in 2023.
I’m sorry, I forgot to post some of the ten thousands pictures I recently took in the heather gardens of Fort Tryon Park during the recent polar vortex.
Parks, gardens, heather: all should be considered survival techniques as we head into 2023 and beyond.
And elm trees.
And cats. I want to make a special mention to Zephyr, who despite having kidney problems turned sixteen this year and has been a critical player in my survival-technique strategy for his entire life. What would we do without cats?
And finally, in addition to Clio being cute — another survival technique for both of us — here’s my final DeathCulture@Sea survival technique (aka ‘song’) of 2022.
Link.
Like every song I’ve ever written, it’s about getting through another year and finding some beauty along the way :)