Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Finally!

The Brooklyn Bridge!

Yay Baby!

You know how some people say you should do something that scares you every day?  Well, I took this to heart before I got off of the subway to get to the Brooklyn Bridge.  I hate bridges, I hate bridges a lot!  It isn't the height or the bridge itself, but rather the whole water thing that bugs me.  I really am terrified of deep water which mystifies some.  Look everyone is afraid of something so I have learned not to judge people based on their fears, but some just can't understand the fear of water.  I can’t explain it, it is just reality!

After exiting the R train at City Hall, the bridge was several blocks away giving me time to rethink the whole bridge crossing thing.  My friend Noah knew what I was up to as he saw the whole caged animal looked written all over my face.  He told me I had wanted to do this and it was high time I did it! 

Woo Hoo the Verizon Building!

Slowly the bridge came into view as we past City Hall.  Look, it is a great bridge not my favorite as that honor belongs to the Verrazano Bridge, but it is a close second!  The walk towards it wasn't all that bad and I didn't really feel as if I was on a bridge at first.  But as the notorious wires came into view, I knew there was no turning back.  The only way to get over the fear, get an adrenaline rush by doing a big jump photo!  And I did!  I did the mother of all jump photos!  After that, I was ready!

First off, there were five billion people on the bridge, mostly tourists.  Not really a problem as it is a very touristy activity, but I didn't think it would be as crowded as it was, it was mind blowing! The second thing to note is that there are a lot of joggers running on the bridge and they get pretty pissy at people for walking on the bridge leisurely or for stopping to take photos.  This has always struck me as odd in NYC.  I used to run track in school and one of the worst surfaces you can run on is concrete, it is bad for the knees.  Next, you live in NYC, don't get annoyed with people for walking on the sidewalks, they are there for walking, not jogging, especially at rush hour.  And lastly, when you run, you take in large amounts of oxygen.  Why would you want to run in a congested place with tons of traffic just to inhale fumes deeply into your lungs when you could just go to the park?  This defeats the whole heath benefit aspect.  Rant over...but be aware, there are a lot of cars going across the bridge as well, they are just on the lower level, but you will smell the lovely exhaust at times.Just a note, because of the cars below, you never really come close to being near the edge by the water on the bridge which made it less painful and almost fun for me.  The bad thing is that when the traffic gets going you can feel the movement from time to time or maybe I am just a big baby!

I Survived and Got a Decent Pic!

There are two areas where you can pull over and get great photos of the skyline without pissing anyone off.  That is where you will find many tourists getting photos with the Empire State Building and the iconic Verizon Building.  I even got a photo to prove that I had survived my walk across the bridge.  Yay!

In the end, I think that walking over the bridge is great thing to do while in NYC, but be aware that it is windy a lot of the time which is great during the summer months, but bad news during the winter months unless you are a real thrill seeker.  At the end of the 45 minute walk a great time was had by all, and maybe just maybe if asked again, I would go if only to get my photo with the Verizon Building again.

International Pillow Fight Day 2011!

It Begins

Ah, there was excitement in the air as today I would be attending the annual International Pillow Fight Day!  Unfortunately, due to an early morning Geology class, yes Geology, I had to be up by 6:30AM making me pretty damn tired!  So 6 hours and a big ass coffee later, I was ready to meet my friend for the main event!

Heading down to Union Square I couldn't help but be pleased with the weather.  It was a little chilly, but still the best weather we have had for a long time.  I eventually found my friend and was surprised to see he had bought full body pillows which seemed pretty damn lethal!  Apparently they were the cheapest thing at the local .99 cent store yet they cost 5.99!  Ah, I love a good mystery!

Wee, Let's Kick Some Ass!

Before entering the arena, you get checked by an officer to make sure you have a pillow and nothing inside it to hurt anyone.  I have a feeling that most police officers wouldn't mind working this gig as you get to see a lot of idiots assaulting each other with pillows and you don't need to step in but just watch the action.
Stepping into the arena, everything seemed innocent enough, but I did feel a little like an extra in Gladiator.  Well, except I had a stupid bag over my shoulder that included a laptop to take notes in class.  Trust me, Maximus would have used it if he had one!


It started out innocent enough.  Everyone stood around chatting waiting for the big countdown to occur.  Once it did, you could see everyone taking their stance pillow above head.  As the countdown hit 0, all hell broke loose. 


Immediately, a crazy frenzy of pillow hitting enveloped the group and I soon lost sight of my friend.  As I got pummeled by 3 pillows at one time, I realized that I may never see him again and after battling my foes, and nursing my wounds, I may have to skip dinner at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant and head back to Brooklyn by myself hoping he made it out okay.


Apparently, it had turned out that he wanted a little more action and headed into the center of the arena in search of the crazies pillow fighters from hell as he apparently had some pent up aggression he needed to get rid of.  Let me put it this way, he has four brothers, he is use to receiving and inflicting large amounts of pain.

Punk is Going Down

I remained on the outskirts of the arena but I soon learned that this was not a happy fun event for the faint of heart.  People were hitting people full force and had even hidden heavier items in their pillows to inflict more damage.  People were getting bruised pretty badly due to these imbeciles who enjoy taking it to the next level.  I eyed a bunch of parents with small children from the corner of my eye.  They soon realized that unfortunately in NYC events like this can take a change for the worst due to idiots who don’t want to play fair.


I did stay in the action for a good 15 minutes before realizing after being kicked in the shin full force that it was only going to get worse as the adrenaline got pumping higher.  That and my stupid laptop was holding me back from swinging the pillow over my head full force.  I know how to wield a pillow trust me, but I also needed those notes for finals if I ever had any hopes of getting into graduate school.  Priorities my friend! So in search of my friend, I pulled over to the side of the arena. There I spotted a few small children and decided to have a little fun whacking them with tiny hits so that they could get into the action with someone who was not out to kill anyone.  You haven’t lived until you are ganged up on by a group of 5-6 six year olds.


After another 10 minutes, my friend finally came over red in the face with a look of satisfaction.  He apparently had kicked the hell out of several punks who were loading their pillows with extras when they tried to gang up on him.  He knew what to do, again he has four brothers.  I was raised around all brothers too, but for some reason this was just way too crazy for me.

Getting the Aggression Out!

As we walked out of the arena, I asked him if he would do it again knowing what it was like.  The photos online make it seem like this happy little childhood place of happy pillow fights and puppy dogs.  It is not.  It was more like a scene out of some crazy prison movie!  He said he would definitely be back next year as he thought it was a lot of fun to beat the hell out of people with pillows, especially the punks.  Me not so much.  Maybe I was just made to be a spectator in the wonderful world of pillow fighting.


So know the facts before you go to Union Square.  It is nothing like the photos!  It is pure chaos and there are punks in the group looking to hurt other people because they suck.  I wouldn’t advise bringing small kids here, I really wouldn’t.  Just know that once you go into the arena, you will be hurt in some way unless you really didn’t participate.  My bruise finally healed after a week and a half.  


But there are some fun aspects as well.  It is a freak show in the greatest sense! People come in full costume to partake in the madness which adds to the surreal experience.  You can tell that these people have been to the event many times before and had no hesitation getting into the mix.  Also know that if someone gangs up on someone too aggressively goodness will prevail as many strangers will band together to kick this person’s ass.  That was a lot of fun to watch as many had watched these punks take out people who couldn’t defend themselves with packed pillows.  We watched in satisfaction as they got nailed by 5-10 bystanders who didn’t like the way they played.  Good will always beat out evil, even in pillow fights!