Upper East Side Moms

This week it was hard to settle on just one thing to write about. So much is happening right now for the family and myself. I could have written about the ups and downs of moving. I could have written about the absurd amount of birthday parties my kids attend and that we have to buy gifts for(which I am sure will come up again sometime in the future). I could have written about the days upon days of rain and wind that keep us cooped up inside and make us all stir crazy. I could have even written about the toy helicopter that was tangled into my hair for a while the other day.(Don't ask....still not sure how my little one managed that!) Then, as I sat and looked out the window of the nail salon while I got my spa pedicure, I thought of something I was extremely compelled to talk about. The Second Avenue Subway construction project.Let me start by saying that while spa pedicures are one of the most amazing things you could ever experience, I am no regular to them. It was a gift for my birthday next week from one of my dearest BFFs in the world. It just so happens that one of my preferred salons is Eve's Nail and Spa on 2ND Avenue and 93rd st. While sitting with my feet in the borderline-painfully-hot water, our view was that of humongous cranes and "diggers" of all sorts. It just got me to thinking that it didn't even affect me one little bit. We have been dealing with this and looking at this for years now, and sadly enough, we are getting used to it! A good majority of us on the UES have been feeling the same way. Many of us deal with the chaos on a daily basis. I happen to live and work only steps away from where all the digging and blasting happens. I can remember a time when my son was amazed by looking at bulldozers, cranes, and dump trucks. Nowadays, they are old hat to him. He is more excited these days by the "sweeper guy". Now that is something we don't get to see every day!The one thing that I can't seem to get over is the number of businesses that are closed or closing due to this chaos. I live it everyday. I work at a place that struggles, and has been struggling, to keep people coming back. It is a scary thought that one day the "for sale" or "everything must go" sign could be up on our door. I feel for those businesses. I also feel for the people who have had to relocate due to the integrity of their buildings being compromised by all of the tunneling. And let's not forget the people whose homes have lost their value since the construction had begun. Sad.In more recent days, I have been more concerned for the parents who have to calm scared children when the blasts go off! This came to a head when, the other evening, I was at work and I heard the horn warning that a blast was imminent. We then heard the double horn warning that it was about to go off. Then we heard and felt a blast that both shook the ground and our nerves, and gave many people the feeling that there was a mistake with the dynamite....or a place crash.People were making calls all over the place and people on the streets came inside. I ventured a short distance to the site of the blast and watched as orange vests gave each other high-fives and hand-shakes to a job well done. Didn't seem like an accident to me.I spoke to my husband at home who informed me that my little guy came running out of his bed into our bed, scared out of his mind! My older two were very nervous and uneasy. After-all, we had begun to get used to the blasting and now this extraordinary boom?!?! My poor little ones. I am almost 31 years old, and I was scared out of my noodle! Imagine what they felt like!Within minutes of the blast, an orange vest walked in. I immediately helped him, then dove right in and asked about the ground-shaking activity. Boy, was I one of the lucky people that evening. This wonderful gentleman spoke to me for 5 to 10 minutes and explained why the boom was so stretched out and loud. Apparently, the blasting that we had all grown to know and love was vertical blasting. These baby blasts were the ones that made holes from the surface going down. That explains why they were short, loud, and sometimes seemingly weak. This new, horrifying blast was what is known as horizontal blasting. This kind of blasting makes the holes underground, going for a short distance, to clear out tunnels going lengthwise. Makes sense, I guess. He also reassured me that this kind of blasting is scary sounding but that once that area is cleared, they move on. Of course my next question was about how the buildings don't fall. I can be obsessive and tend to carry anxiety! He immediately jumped in to how the buildings are reinforced so that they stay strong. Wow. It was just what I needed. I went home and explained to my little ones.The next time the horn went off, 3 children and I waited patiently for the booms and somewhat cheered at how cool it was. All they needed was a little explanation. Fear of the unknown can be a devastating fear. Mommy needed the explanation too! One day, we will all take rides on that new subway line and the memories of blasting, and machines, and orange vests will be distant. One day. For now, we have lost sight of how impressive our building processes and machinery can truly be. Perhaps one day "diggers" will be exciting to watch again too. Perhaps not.For those of us mommies who have little ones who are into watching construction vehicles and have the pleasure of living AWAY from it all, 2ND Avenue is a free and interesting walk when the weather gets nice again. You could even stop in to one of the struggling restaurants along the way to have lunch, and feel good about supporting a business that desperately needs all the support it can get. Although it gets to be tiring to see, I feel good crossing the avenue once in a while to do my part to keep some of those businesses alive....especially when there is a spa pedicure waiting for me on the other side!