Prior to living in New York City, I had always been surrounded by open spaces in the form of land or water. At home in Connecticut and at Hamilton I have surrounded by vast skies, and have had a sense of freedom that accompanies these open spaces. Upon arriving in New York City, I instantly felt smothered and contained; yet I had difficulty accounting for these feelings because when I take a moment to look up at the sky or find the horizon at one end of Manhattan, it is the same sky that I see standing in my front yard at home, and the same horizon I see looking off the Hill at Hamilton. However, something is different. The sky in New York City is so much smaller and the horizon so much narrower.
Working in the vicinity of Times Square and spending a great deal of time surrounded by skyscrapers has made me far more appreciative of open spaces. As a result of my increased awareness, I have grown to value the location of our apartments. Although the Battery Park area is isolated from much of the action in New York City, it possesses one valuable characteristic that is lacking in those livelier areas: open spaces. When I look out the windows of our apartment, I see a large body of water and a wide horizon as opposed to the cement structure that blocks the sunlight that I see when I look out of the windows at work.
I recently ventured onto the rooftop of our building and have finally found a place where I can fully integrate my need for open spaces with my environment. From the roof, the sky seems as large as it does at home and I am able to briefly escape that claustrophobic feeling. The water is expansive even from that height and the horizon is enormous. It is rare to have a place to escape that overwhelming feeling in Manhattan and I am pleased that I have found a place to incorporate my need for open spaces with this New York City experience.
