Travels with Amy: Brooklyn Bridge

This trip to NYC was for a week, to work the museum’s 30th Anniversary Film + Video Festival, then hold my [now] normal monthly meeting with the Resource Center staff. At the Festival, I was doing a combination of things: introducing and hosting some film sessions, which included a Q+A period with the filmmakers; talking with filmmakers about our Renewing Connections project, trying to get feedback about the museum and what we are doing (yes, one of the projects that I’m turning over); and generally assisting with whatever needed doing at the festival, since there is ALWAYS something.

Actually, this festival was the smoothest yet, by a fair amount. It was not tense, much better organized, and enjoyable. I actually felt in the way at times, which has never happened before. And this turned out well for me, as I was slammed before I left Washington—all three projects, which are in various stages of transition, developed deadlines that crashed together as I was leaving. So, I spent much of the trip when I wasn’t doing my festival duties, tied to the computer, writing grant reports and proposals, reviewing and editing project reports, trying to get the servers lined up so that I could beta-test the new site (this part didn’t happen), working on HR documents and budget reconciliations, etc. I missed the evening films every night but one, but still didn’t leave the museum until 8 or 8:30 each night, only to return to the hotel to work for a few more hours. Needless to say, I crashed hard when I got back to Washington—those 100-hour weeks will do that.

So I didn’t actually much feel like I was in the city this trip. But I did take advantage of the later start on Saturday to do one thing that I hadn’t done before—I was staying in Brooklyn, so I opted to walk to work that morning, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

It is amazing. Most people have heard of the bridge, have seen photos of it. It’s beautiful and impressive and inspiring. It’s an incredible piece of engineering and architecture. It’s a cable suspension bridge, and more than 40,000 MILES of cable are woven together to create this structure. If you stand still, you can feel the vibrations from the traffic, which travels on the lower level. As you walk in from Brooklyn, off on the left, you can see the Statue of Liberty, while the Empire State Building is visible off right. Needless to say, my vertigo did not like my attempts to shoot up at the top of the bridge. In any case, a few photos from the crossing, to share my one city experience from this trip.