“New York Scenes” by Jack Kerouac
“New York Scenes” is a valuable literary work for it details various Beat hangouts and sites in New York from the perspective of Kerouac. Kerouac describes famous hang out Beat joints like The Cedar Bar, The Five Spot, and Bick’s Cafeteria. The writer also speaks of his experiences with popular Beat New Yorkers like Lester Young, Ginsberg, Corso, Orlovsky, Bill Heine, and Amira Baraka or LeRoi Jones. This analysis explores the writing that appeared in the 1960 “Lonesome Traveler.”
Reading through “New York Scenes” reveals that Kerouac’s intention of writing the piece was to give an exposé of New York’s street life, especially the hang out joints. This is because from the first paragraph, Kerouac indicates his mother has been requesting him to pass by each month to escort and keep her company to Radio City (104). Each time Kerouac comes home, his mother waits for him with clean sheets, a clean linen dresser, and a place to stay while he meditates, writes, and walks through Manhattan. Therefore, the implication made is that Kerouac wrote “New York Scenes” as his experiences with his hometown, the “walks around beloved old Manhattan” a mere half-hour drive from his home. Just as he was comfortable at his mother’s house, Kerouac is comfortable in New York, an extension of home. It is for this reason he writes passionately about Time square, the bridges, the streets, cafeterias, waterfront, and his fellow poetic “beatnik” friends. These are the friends he walks the streets with, his fellow writers, and lovers of New York’s Beat. Therefore, this leads to the description of 1950s New York from the point of view of Kerouac, a writer and lover of Beat.
The New York Kerouac describes about has a State Building that has a magic spell set back on the backwoods of old and ratty houses of the city (108). In describing this building in such a manner, Kerouac is using figurative language to indicate the sharp contrast between magnificent and outstanding buildings that overshadow the old outskirts of the city. For Kerouac, this represents the distinct difference between the rich opulence of the city and the poor and neglected found in the dark alleys and backwoods.
Kerouac describes the street of the greatest city of the world as one full of activities and people. From his vantage point in a telephone booth, he sees throngs leaving the movies, basketball games, roller-skating, and businessmen rushing to and fro the Times Building (108). Kerouac describes the bustle of people and activity as a beautiful, yet the picture created is that of a city full of beatniks. These beatniks seem to have nothing to do as they fill up the streets and stand at street corners. Kerouac uses a quote from the poet Gregory Corso to imply that New York’s beatniks wait for power. Therefore, the beatnik businessmen look up to Times building neon lights for power, the young girls looking for love look for it in the movies, while the other look of it gambling basketball, skating, and baseball games. New York is made up of different types of people, from the young, to the old aristocrat Russian women in fur coats and hats attending festivals and social events. The city is also lined with soldiers with duffle bags in post war America, and the harmonica players often in freight trains (109).
Apart from the people, New York is about places like the favorite Grant’s Dinner, where the beatniks get a plate full of fried clam and fried French potatoes at 65 cents. New York has everything for everyone, for it offers the migrant a hotdog (109). It is a city that offers ten-cent sandwiches, and two liquor bars, where police officers receive free meals and saxophone players drink. The city is a place where little corner diners like Grant’s receive thousands of customers in a day, and operate twenty-four hours a night (110). To Kerouac, the city is bustling whether during the day, or night, in winter and rain. New York from Kerouac’s point of view is a busy city with different people from all regions and lifestyles. In describing the City in this manner, Kerouac is associating New York with the Beat rhythm that is fast, varied, and rich. The city’s streets and people are as diverse and varied as the rhythm of Beat music.
In this, Kerouac indicates a passion for Beat music, which were characteristics of the 1950’s. The writer identifies several major clubs and nightspots that danced to beat music. It is to these places that he recommends the street beatniks to attend and stop standing by street corners (108). Kerouac identifies the diversity and lifestyle of clubs as a reflection of the streets and life in New York. To Kerouac, Jazz or beat nightclubs like those in Greenwich Village like the Village Gate, Village Vanguard, in which famous performers like Lee Konitz performed were too high priced and killed the enjoyment of Jazz (114). Overall, Kerouac describes his experiences of the city, his love for the streets, the food, and music, and rejects the opulence of the highlife clubs, music, and concerts. From Kerouac’s street vantage point, the reader is introduced the sounds and sights, that are beyond the skylines of the Times and State buildings.
Work Cited
Kerouac, Jack. New York Scenes. In “Lonesome Traveler: A Novel.” New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1960.
