#Bronx Museum of the Arts

[fishmech]

'Flowers Will Die: A live performance by Artist Santina Amato' 3:30–6PM On the 2nd Floor

She describes the 'Flowers Will Die: A live performance by Artist Santina Amato' activation of her work in 'The Biennial' as follows:

"'Flowers Will Die' is a performance using bread dough, a signature material in Amato’s work. Within the live setting, dough creates a visceral experience where the comforting smell of bread dough consumes the audience’s sense of smell.

"'Flowers Will Die' sees Amato and six other women labour in the creation of 2-300 lbs of dough. Once the flour, water, and yeast has been labored over to form the dough, each woman carries as much of this ephemeral material from its place of creation to its place of activation and eventual death.

"A circle of women sitting in waiting will receive the dough. Once all the dough is deposited within the embrace of the women, the audience watches as the dough activates the sculpture they have created with their bodies, rising and consuming their limbs and bodies over a slow period of an hour and a half.

"The audience is encouraged to meander the museum while the activation is in process, returning to the room to see the sculpture’s slow morph.

"Amato’s work with bread dough stems from a cultural history of women’s labour within the domestic environment that was passed down through the women before her. Raised in Australia by immigrant poor rural workers from the south of Italy who themselves were raised during the depression era and fascist Italy, Amato was raised to see labour as way to fully experience the human condition. Being raised in a multicultural society, it was only when Amato entered adulthood, specifically womanhood, that the realization that the labour women are asked to carry is more than just physical. Her live performances play out the physical and psychological labour women are still expected to carry."

part of the Closing Event: 6th AIM Biennial Featuring AIM Fellow Activations • Saturday, March 30, 2024 • 1–6PM

[callme-tiff]

[marywoodartdept]

Michener Art Museum

Grace, our spotlight blogger, shines her spotlight on the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown PA and their current exhibition featuring Bronx native Alan Goldstein and his magnificent show, Elemental. #MarywoodArt #PAArts

[hamletthedane]

I was meeting a client at a famous museum’s lounge for lunch (fancy, I know) and had an hour to kill afterwards so I joined the first random docent tour I could find. The woman who took us around was a great-grandmother from the Bronx “back when that was nothing to brag about” and she was doing a talk on alternative mediums within art.

What I thought that meant: telling us about unique sculpture materials and paint mixtures.

What that actually meant: an 84yo woman gingerly holding a beautifully beaded and embroidered dress (apparently from Ukraine and at least 200 years old) and, with tears in her eyes, showing how each individual thread was spun by hand and weaved into place on a cottage floor loom, with bright blue silk embroidery thread and hand-blown beads intricately piercing the work of other labor for days upon days, as the labor of a dozen talented people came together to make something so beautiful for a village girl’s wedding day.

What it also meant: in 1948, a young girl lived in a cramped tenement-like third floor apartment in Manhattan, with a father who had just joined them after not having been allowed to escape through Poland with his pregnant wife nine years earlier. She sits in her father’s lap and watches with wide, quiet eyes as her mother’s deft hands fly across fabric with bright blue silk thread (echoing hands from over a century years earlier). Thread that her mother had salvaged from white embroidery scraps at the tailor’s shop where she worked and spent the last few days carefully dying in the kitchen sink and drying on the roof.

The dress is in the traditional Hungarian fashion and is folded across her mother’s lap: her mother doesn’t had a pattern, but she doesn’t need one to make her daughter’s dress for the fifth grade dance. The dress would end up differing significantly from the pure white, petticoated first communion dresses worn by her daughter’s majority-Catholic classmates, but the young girl would love it all the more for its uniqueness and bright blue thread.

And now, that same young girl (and maybe also the villager from 19th century Ukraine) stands in front of us, trying not to clutch the old fabric too hard as her voice shakes with the emotion of all the love and humanity that is poured into the labor of art. The village girl and the girl in the Bronx were very different people: different centuries, different religions, different ages, and different continents. But the love in the stitches and beads on their dresses was the same. And she tells us that when we look at the labor of art, we don’t just see the work to create that piece - we see the labor of our own creations and the creations of others for us, and the value in something so seemingly frivolous.

But, maybe more importantly, she says that we only admire this piece in a museum because it happened to survive the love of the wearer and those who owned it afterwards, but there have been quite literally billions of small, quiet works of art in billions of small, quiet homes all over the world, for millennia. That your grandmother’s quilt is used as a picnic blanket just as Van Gogh’s works hung in his poor friends’ hallways. That your father’s hand-painted model plane sets are displayed in your parents’ livingroom as Grecian vases are displayed in museums. That your older sister’s engineering drawings in a steady, fine-lined hand are akin to Da Vinci’s scribbles of flying machines.

I don’t think there’s any dramatic conclusions to be drawn from these thoughts - they’ve been echoed by thousands of other people across the centuries. However, if you ever feel bad for spending all of your time sewing, knitting, drawing, building lego sets, or whatever else - especially if you feel like you have to somehow monetize or show off your work online to justify your labor - please know that there’s an 84yo museum docent in the Bronx who would cry simply at the thought of you spending so much effort to quietly create something that’s beautiful to you.

[enobullphotography]

"For my brothers with Daughters, I call This..." Whenever I think about the origin of my journey into photography, I remember the 2 main reasons for picking up a camera. One was to document the sneakers I wore daily with the intention of sharing the photos on a popular online sneaker forum called NikeTalk. The second and more important reason was to document my family. After realizing that my parents photo albums have a significant gap in photos of me and my brother, I vowed to take on the responsibility of documenting my family.

So naturally (especially in this modern world we're living in) when I became a father 10 years ago, I was reminded of that vow. There's very few people if any at all that I enjoy taking photos of more than my own daughters!

I mean, it's super obvious why, right? My babies are the most beautiful people on this planet. With smiles that melt my heart and hugs that would make a grizzly bear jealous. Lol. I've made it my business to get millions of photos of them not only on film but on my phone and digital cameras as well.

I've been a photographer for 15 years now! In that time I've gotten a large sum of photos of my family and the ones of my babies are easily my favorite. I tend not to share photos of them too often because I see them as treasures that should be protected at all cost. So I say that to say, this post is being made with the intention of giving you, the reader a treat! Lol

It was 2015 when I first picked up an analog camera. Six years after deciding I wanted to be a photographer. At the time my oldest was a curious 1 year old. It's been an honor to watch her grow into the lovely young woman she is becoming.

The youngest (the leader of our pack) wasn't even thought of yet, but she caught up and became manager of the family very quickly. Lmao.

Some of my photos are blurry, and some were exposed wrong, but that's ok! At the very least I know I have the memories of my children in my head. These prints that accompany my thoughts are just a bonus!!

Hope ya Enjoy! Eno Bull Photography

[ajl1963]

Deco Doings - November, 2023

Autumn by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest. Here is a list of some wonderful Art Deco Events happening this November to enjoy. Metropolitan Museum of Art Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s (In Person Event)      Thursday, September 7 – Sunday, December 10, 2023, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY   Poster House Art Deco:…

[nobrashfestivity]

Paula Nadelstern, Kaleidoscopic XVI: More Is More

Bronx, New York

1996

Cottons and silk

64 x 64"

Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York

Gift of the artist, 2008.21.1

Photo by Karen Bell

[visit-new-york]

New York City

New York tumblr more photos here New York City, often simply referred to as NYC, is one of the most iconic and vibrant cities in the world. Located in the northeastern part of the United States, it is situated on the southeastern tip of the state of New York. With a population of over 8 million residents within the city limits and over 20 million in the greater metropolitan area, it is the most populous city in the United States.

Geography and Layout: New York City is composed of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. The city is located on a series of islands and connected by bridges and tunnels. Manhattan, the heart of the city, is where many of its most famous landmarks are located. It is divided into several neighborhoods, each with its own distinct character and atmosphere. The city is known for its impressive skyline, dominated by iconic skyscrapers like the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), and the Chrysler Building.

Culture and Diversity: One of New York City's defining characteristics is its incredible diversity. People from all over the world have made the city their home, resulting in a rich tapestry of cultures, languages, cuisines, and traditions. This diversity is celebrated through various cultural events, festivals, and neighborhoods that showcase the heritage of different communities.

The city's cultural scene is unparalleled, with world-class museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the American Museum of Natural History. Broadway, located in the Theater District of Manhattan, is synonymous with American theater and is famous for its top-tier productions.

Economy and Business: New York City is a global economic powerhouse. Its financial district, centered around Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, is home to some of the world's largest and most influential financial institutions. The city's economy is incredibly diverse, encompassing finance, media, technology, fashion, tourism, and more.

Education and Research: The city boasts some of the world's most prestigious universities, including Columbia University, New York University (NYU), and The City University of New York (CUNY) system. These institutions contribute to the city's reputation as a hub for research, innovation, and intellectual exchange.

Cuisine and Culinary Scene: New York City is a culinary melting pot, offering an array of dining options that reflect its multicultural makeup. From street food carts offering hot dogs and pretzels to high-end restaurants serving international cuisines, the city caters to all tastes and budgets. Iconic foods like New York-style pizza, bagels, and deli sandwiches are part of the city's culinary fabric.

Transportation: The city's extensive public transportation system, which includes the subway, buses, and ferries, is a crucial part of daily life for millions of residents and visitors. The yellow taxi cabs are also an iconic symbol of the city's transportation.

Landmarks and Attractions: New York City is home to an impressive array of landmarks and attractions. Some of the must-visit places include:

Times Square: A bustling commercial and entertainment hub known for its bright lights, theaters, and New Year's Eve celebrations.

Central Park: An expansive green oasis in the heart of Manhattan, offering a retreat from the urban hustle and bustle.

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island: Iconic symbols of American freedom and immigration history.

Brooklyn Bridge: A historic suspension bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, offering stunning views of the city skyline.

Rockefeller Center: A complex of commercial buildings, famous for its ice-skating rink and the Top of the Rock observation deck.

The High Line: A unique elevated park built on a former railway track, offering a serene escape above the city streets.

Museums and Art Galleries: In addition to the aforementioned museums, NYC is home to the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and more.

Challenges and Opportunities: Despite its allure, New York City also faces challenges such as high living costs, traffic congestion, and issues related to affordable housing. The city has shown resilience in the face of challenges, and initiatives are continually being developed to address these concerns and create a more equitable and sustainable future.

In summary, New York City is a dynamic and multifaceted metropolis that captivates visitors and residents alike with its cultural richness, economic vitality, and unparalleled energy. Its ability to constantly reinvent itself while honoring its history makes it a truly remarkable and enduring global city.

[cartermagazine]

What an EPIC night, Brother Jamel Shabazz received the prestigious @luciefoundation Award presented by Peter Kunhardt, Jr. Executive Director for The Gordon Parks Foundation at Carnegie Hall… So well deserved.

Jamel Shabazz is best known for his iconic photographs of New York City during the 1980s. A documentary, fashion, and street photographer, he has authored 12 monographs and contributed to over three dozen other photography related books.

His photographs have been exhibited worldwide and his work is housed within the permanent collections of The Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Fashion Institute of Technology, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Getty Museum.

Over the years, Shabazz has instructed young students at the Studio Museum in Harlem’s “Expanding the Walls” project, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture “Teen Curator’s” program, and the Bronx Museum’s “Teen Council.” He is also the 2018 recipient of the Gordon Parks award for excellence in the arts and humanitarianism and the 2022 awardee of the Gordon Parks Foundation/Steidl book prize. His goal as an artist is to contribute to the preservation of world history and culture.

It is an honor to collaborate with Brother Jamel Shabazz on the @albeesquaremall book that has been years in the making.

Another one of Brooklyn’s Finest 👑🏆🫡 @jamelshabazz

CARTER™️ Magazine

[thyunnoticedsposts]

The importance of Donnie's location in the trailer

Call me a nerd, but when it comes to location, I go all Matpat and begin to do a research. I like to use location and some canon aspects with my fictional story, for the sake of world building.

I have a feeling Donnie is the first or second character they will focus on because hes the one in the background after the trailer ends. Also, the idw comic ended with him in a way, so it's a beautiful way to start this series

So, the location of Donnie on that train is super important for his character arc. Where is Donnie? Let's look at the picture and analyze it.

We see that inside of the underground train station, the architectural design is square shape and a bit narrow. The train stations choice of light bulbs is the linear fluorescent light bulb or, simply put, the lamp type. After some digging I found out that The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, namely : the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens

At first, I thought it was Nenvins St Brooklyn. Because there, Thearthe Shakespear was nearby. Mikey would love it there. But it didn't fit the picture at all. I hear you thinking, but what about the graffiti?

So I did a bit more digging for specifically train stations that had or still have graffiti art on the wall, and I found this

This is the Sutphin Subway entrance.

It's possible that Donnie is at Sutphin Boulevard station (IND Queens Boulevard Line) instead of Nenvin.

New York City Subway station in Queens The Sutphin Boulevard station is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Why does this matter?

Take a look at the Google maps. We'll well well, what do we have here?

BINGO! A museum of science. It's also right next to the Zoo! We all know what happened to the Zoo animals in the movie, when Suplafly mutated. It may not be the same Zoo, but it's an interesting detail!

I live in Holland, so I am new to the train stations in NY, but I'm positive that the reason Donnie is on that train is related to the science museum. Donnie is smart and usually is the one that comes up with plans, and once he's at the science museum, he will discover his love for science and slowly become the tech genius we know and love

An honorable mention is the subway station, Washington Hights in Manhatten. This is the deepest and the most dangerous subway station tunnel. It's filled with amazing graffiti art, and I can only imagine the amazing fight scenes that could take place here.

All in all, it's just a shot in the dark because it's a theory, and I could be wrong.

[racefortheironthrone]

Who do you consider to have been some of the most important / formative mayors of New York?

This is a great question, and actually rather difficult to answer, because for the longest time both Tammany Hall and the Whig/Republican machine tended to prefer mayors who were dull but reliable non-entities. Starting in 1824, NYC was divided into wards that elected Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen to the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Assistants, who together made up the bicameral Common Council. This led to a system whereby the real political action was shunted to the local level, where the ward's Aldermen and the ward boss (and his precinct bosses) ran the show.

The downfall of Boss Tweed led to some reforms, with the bicameral Common Council replaced by a unicameral Board of Aldermen who were elected from larger State Senate districts or at-large, as part of the Whig Party's drive to dilute the power of Tammany's Irish Catholic voting base. This would change somewhat when the five boroughs were consolidated into Greater New York in 1898, which added the borough presidents and the Board of Estimate into the mix, and then again in 1901 and so forth.

However, the overall trend was a weak mayor system where real political power was fairly evenly distributed between aldermen (who were not only the city's legislatures but were also represented on the Board of Estimate through their President), the borough presidents, the mayor, and the comptroller.

So the major players in NYC politics tended not to be mayors:

Dewitt Clinton was incredibly transformational, but despite serving three terms as mayor his real mark on New York was as governor where he was the driving force behind the construction of the Erie Canal.

Andrew Haswell Green, the "Father of Greater New York," was responsible for the creation of Central Park, the New York Public Library, the Bronx Zoo, The Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Riverside, Morningside, and Fort Washington Parks, Columbus Circle, and the consolidation of Greater New York - but he never served as mayor. The original Robert Moses, Green's political power came from his leadership of the Central Park Commission, the Greater New York Commission, a six-year stint in the Comptroller's office, and his position on a number of NGOs.

But if we're talking transformative mayors, there is one name that rises above all the rest: Fiorello goddamn LaGuardia.

There had been other reform mayors before him - Seth Low had established the Civil Service, John P. Mitchel brought scientific management to city government - but none of them had ever been able to get re-elected. Unlike the wealthy WASP reformers, LaGuardia knew how to beat Tammany at the ethnic politics game. Tammany's strength had always been in the Irish wards of the city, and while they had tried to divide-and-rule by promoting the naturalization of Russian and Polish Jews in return for them voting for Irish-American politicians in the Lower East Side while noticably neglecting the naturalization of Italians, the emergence of second-generation Jewish and Italian voters meant that this strategy had run its course.

Born to a Sephardic mother from Trieste and a lapsed Catholic father from southern Italy, Fiorello had an astonishing knack for transcending ethnic political boundaries in New York City - he spoke Italian, German, Yiddish, and Croatian, but he was also a progressive Republican and Episcopalian (which meant he could speak middle-class WASP too). LaGuardia won the 1933 mayoral election by bringing together a Fusion coalition that brought middle class German-American Republicans together with Italians and Jews, a coalition that he would expand in 1936 by bringing socialists, unions, and black voters together into the American Labor Party.

Over his twelve years as Mayor, LaGuardia was almost pathologically active (in a way that's oddly reminiscent of Henry II), transforming almost every aspect of New York City:

Jobs for the Unemployed:

LaGuardia's immediate mission as mayor was to fight the Great Depression that had had left a third of the City unemployed. He did this by forming an enduring alliance with FDR in which the New Deal would provide NYC with unpredecented level of federal support in exchange for NYC becoming the New Deal's model city - the first of the "Little New Deals." In his first hundred days in office, LaGuardia convinced FDR to give New York City a full 20% of the Civil Works Administration's work relief budget. This put 200,000 New Yorkers back to work - and this would only be the beginning of New York City's experiments with direct job creation.

As part of Fiorello LaGuardia's "Little New Deal," LaGuardia's new Parks Department employed 70,000 workers - paid for by CWA and later WPA money - to rebuild New York City's parks, constructing the Central Park Zoo and 60 playgrounds in the first year.

When the New Deal created the Works Progress Administration in 1935, LaGuardia once again lobbied FDR to put NYC first in line. This culminated in some 700,000 New Yorkers - a tenth of the city's entire population - getting jobs through the WPA and other New Deal programs. Together with the Parks Department, LaGuardia and Robert Moses would mobilize this workforce to completely transform the city.

Public Works:

This is where we have to discuss Fiorello LaGuardia's fateful decision to make Robert Moses his master builder. While Moses was in the process of becoming the "Power Broker" before LaGuardia - he had already been made president of the Long Island State Park Commission and chairman of the New York State Council of Parks - LaGuardia enabled his ascent to the heights of power by making him Parks Commissioner, Commissioner and then Chairman of the Triborough Bridge Authority, Commissioner of the NYC Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Emergency Public Works Commission.

The pact between them was simple: LaGuardia would give Moses the public appointments he needed to consolidate public works across the city and would steer New Deal public works money through Moses' agencies, and in exchange Moses would be LaGuardia's master builder with a mandate to "build it quickly and build it well." This was not an easy task, because Robert Moses was a political enemy of FDR and FDR tried to bar him from being given any WPA or PWA funding, but the mayor was able to persuade Roosevelt that it was more important that LaGuardia's proposed $1 billion public works program for NYC be carried at speed and administered efficiently.

As LaGuardia's workhorse, Moses would oversee almost all of NYC's public works, including the West Side Highway, the future FDR Drive, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the Triborough Bridge, the LaGuardia and future JFK Airports, and Jones Beach Park, among others. LaGuardia would also construct the Sixth Avenue Subway line, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel without Moses (who was completely uninterested in mass transit and who always preferred bridges to tunnels).

In addition to these major projects, LaGuardia with and without Moses built the city's first municipal power plants, 37 sewage treatment plants, 9 fire houses, 142 elementary schools and 22 high schools, half of NYC's then-23 municipal hospitals, eight District Health Centers to provide preventative, specialized, and public health immunization care, and the first 14 of the City's public housing projects.

City Government:

To dismantle Tammany's patronage system, he began to massively expand the civil service to eliminate patronage jobs, and then when Tammany beat him on a government reform bill in 1934, he simply kept pushing. He pushed through the LaGuardia Reform Charter of 1938 that abolished the Tammany-dominated Board of Aldermen and replaced it with a City Council elected by Single Transferrable Vote, established the Board of Estimate as a central administrative body with powers over the city budget, public contracts, franchises, and land use - crippling Tammany's ability to raise money through graft and kickbacks.

To transform New York City into a "strong mayor" model, he undertook a campaign of transforming independent agencies scattered across the five boroughs into a system of unified citywide departments or public authorities that answered directly to the mayor and gave him unprecedented state capacity. In 1934, he formed the Parks Department and the New York City Housing Authority; in 1936 he formed the Department of Buildings and the City Planning Commission; in 1938, he restructured the Department of Welfare to run the city's social welfare programs and a massively expanded public hospital system; in 1940, he took over the IRT (operating the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), and the BMT and IND (operating the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, Q, R, W, and Z lines), unifying the NYC subway system for the first time.

To deal with police corruption, LaGuardia appointed Lewis Valentine to purge the NYPD so that the mayor could use it (and Thomas Dewey) in a crusade against the mafia's gambling, racketeering, and vice operations. This marked a rare period of honesty and effectiveness in the NYPD, although after WWII the system of protection rackets and mafia corruption would eventually re-establish itself.

Ironically, this exhaustive list of accomplishments really made it hard for later mayors to distinguish themselves, because mostly their task was completing, managing, or mis-managing the system that LaGuardia had built. After LaGuardia I would say that Robert Wagner Jr. (established public sector collective bargaining, created CUNY, Lincoln Center, Shakespeare in the Park, and dealt the killing blow to Tammany) and John Lindsay (see my previous post, but chiefly scatter-site housing, the civilian complaint review board, and the Knapp Commission on police corruption) are on my list of formative mayors.

After them, there have been long-serving mayors and good mayors, but unfortunately not the two combined.

[fishmech]

Michael Richards exhibits at the Bronx Museum of Art

[callme-tiff]

[mmhcs]

E1610! Miles x Bronx! Reader

A/N: Because I don't know why we haven't thought of this yet! P.S.: I'm not a Brooklyn-native. P.P.S.: I tried my best to make this as gender-netural as possible!

Y'all most definitely argue over which borough is better. Miles, of course, proceeds to list a million and one reasons as to why Brooklyn is better.

He's fascinated by the differences in the way you two speak. He loves it when your "accent" is audible in the way you speak.

Miles tries his best to indoctrinate introduce you to Brooklyn culture. He takes you to hotspots (Coney Island is one of the first that y'all hit up), but mostly sticks to local, Brooklyn-exclusive places (i.e. his favorite pizza spot, some of his favorite places to graffiti, that one small, Black-owned business that he gets some of his favorite clothes from).

Miles most definitely loves the South Bronx better than the North due to its street culture and abundance of unique graffiti. He literally drools when he sees a beautiful mural on the wall of a bodega or deli. He goes inside and asks the owner about the artist, get said artist's name, looks them up so that he remembers, and then proceeds to go back outside and take an abundance of photos of the mural before taking the next ten minutes to study it like a museum exhibit.

If you live in the North Bronx, Miles still finds to things to love. He still goes feral for any street art that he sees, and he'll make an effort for y'all to go out on adventures where you show him and/or discover new places in your area.

If y'all go to the Bronx Zoo, Miles takes a billion pictures in front of the entrance, claiming that he has to because this is an "infamous New York location!"

His favorite Bronx stops on the train are probably Simpson Street and Prospect Avenue.

I feel like Miles's dad, Jeff, and his Uncle Aaron used to spend their adolescent years out and about on the streets of New York. They grew especially fond of the Bronx, leading to them starting to visit the borough regularly and establish friendships and connections. However, Jeff ultimately fell out with this affinity after he started attending police academy. Aaroon kept up with it, though.

^Despite his shock, pain, and grief over his uncle, Miles forced himself to go through his uncle's apartment after his death. There, he found some old-school records and mixtapes, the latter mostly by local, underground artists from across New York. Miles kept them and has them stored somewhere safe in his room (probably his closet).

^^Y'all go through the collection, listening avidly as you study the flow of each of the artists, analyze the album cover, and the artists' styles.

^^^Most of the mixtapes feature Bronx-native artists.

^^^^Miles, refusing to accept this, runs out of his room and into the living room where his parents are sitting. He begins to explain the situation and asks Jeff to tell you that Uncle Aaron loved and represented Brooklyn through-and-through.

^^^^^Jeff laughs, a bit nervously because he's always raised Miles to take pride in where he's from (yes, the borough representation is real, people). He then explains that, yes, while Uncle Aaron loved Brooklyn, he loved the Bronx almost, if not just as much. He loved traveling to and from, made a lot of good friends and connections there. The Bronx is also where a few of his greatest and most memorable "honeys" are from.

^^^^^^Okay, I know that this is supposed to be a Miles Morales headcanon, but: when he wasn't out, working as the Prowler, Aaron was actually "away from a few days" as he says in his voicemail. He would travel to the Bronx to hang out and see friends. He was actually pretty well-known in some parts of the borough.

^^^^^^^Before his death, Aaron was serious relationship with a woman from the Bronx. Despite them seeing each other steadily for a year or four, he didn't tell Miles because he didn't want to introduce to him to someone that he would love, care for, and cherish, only to have it go up in flames. He most definitely gushed about her to Jeff and Rio on the down-low, though.

^^^^^^^^Aaron also thought about moving in with her and even marrying her more than once. Major Jabari x Meadow vibes.

^^^^^^^^^Uncle Aaron looking down at Miles with a smile because he's taking after his uncle.

^^^^^^^^^^"'Dem Bronx folk, man. They'll do that to 'ya."

If You Attend Visions Academy:

If you attend Brooklyn Visions, Miles texts you from the moment that he wakes up in order to make sure that you wake up with enough time to comfortably do your morning routine, get ready, and catch your train(s) with added flexibility in case of train delays.

^He never used to wake up early before, but he doesn't want you to be late. Not that it's a big deal (Miles has been late more times than he can count) but he doesn't want you to have frequent lateness on your record. Plus, the earlier you get there, the more time you two have to talk and prep for the upcoming day.

Often asks if you feel homesick. He can't imagine how it must feel. He only lives a few blocks away and yet he feels so far from home (hehe, get it?).

^^Does his best to make you feel accustomed to Brooklyn. He makes it a point to take you out and show you around so that you develop a sense of familiarity and don't feel out of place or lost.

If someone says that Brooklyn is the better borough, Miles will occasionally chime in with a reason or two as to why the Bronx is superior.

^You owe him a Brooklyn-based adventure after this, though.

^^If y'all are dating, you owe him kisses and cuddle-session in addition to a Brooklyn-based adventure.

Best believe that he's at the train station with you ever Friday and Sunday, helping you lug your suitcase and additional bags to and from Visions.

If You Don't Attend Vision Academy:

Y'all video call regularly to discuss your respective days as well as plan an in-person meet-up.

Y'all often meet-up in Manhattan because neither one wants to give the other the satisfaction of traveling to their respective borough for your meetups.

You two mainly meet up in the expensive, upper-class parts of Manhattan, though because Miles's parents threatened to ground him for two years if he was ever caught hanging around 125th Street.

^Miles takes that threat very seriously because he knows that, as the captain of the NYPD, his father has eyes everywhere.

When y'all get tired of watching the rich, expensive, and privileged go about their daily lives, y'all quite literally spin a wheel to see whose borough you're meeting up at next time.

Miles uses the times that you visit him to show you his life, starting from Brooklyn Middle, to Visions, and then his house.

He uses Brooklyn-exclusive menagerie to subtly flex and persuade you into admitting that Brooklyn is the best borough.

^ "They don't pizza like this in the Bronx, eh, mami?"

One time Miles suggested that you two visit Staten Island.

You looked at him for a moment, confused, because What's Staten Island?

Once you remembered, you gave him another look. He thinks he's so damn funny.

Y'all actually did end up going and had an above average time, surprisingly.

The next time Miles gets on your nerves, though, you threaten to banish him to Staten Island.

^His parents like the threat and start using it, too.

Bonus: "Hey, Miles, how come Brooklyn has a friendly neighborhood Spiderman but the Bronx doesn't?"

"Well, you see..."

A/N: Hi, hope y'all enjoyed! This was all in good fun and we love and support every borough (yes, even Staten Island).

[mtaartsdesign]

It is our great pleasure to announce that “Contemporary Art Underground,” a new book by MTA Arts & Design director Sandra Bloodworth and deputy director Cheryl Hageman, will hit the shelves this April!

The book is a celebration of the more than 100 #MTAArt works completed between 2015 and 2023. The Arts & Design collection has made museum-quality experiences part of the daily commute for NYCT, MNR, and LIRR riders. Focused on MTA Arts & Design’s most recent projects, “Contemporary Art Underground” is an exploration of the collaborative process behind this collection (now with nearly 400 permanent projects!) – from artist selection through the translation of original artwork into a site-specific installation – including proposal images, behind-the-scenes insights, and lots of photographs.

Take the journey with us across the city’s boroughs, from Manhattan and Queens to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and beyond. Learn how art in MTA stations and reconstruction initiatives uniquely engages with and informs its surroundings. View the fabrication of art in materials chosen for their resilience in the transit environment. Discover new appreciation for these incredible artworks and a diverse collection that has become symbolic of New York City.

#ContemporaryArtUnderground is available for pre-order now! https://www.phaidon.com/monacelli/art-and-photography/contemporary-art-underground-mta-arts-and-design-new-york-9781580936422/

[mybeingthere]

Corydon Cowansage

b 1985 Philadelphia, USA

Lives and works in New York

Corydon Cowansage (b. 1985, Philadelphia) received an MFA in painting from RISD and a BA in art from Vassar College. She has participated in residencies at the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Yale Norfolk School of Art.