Jacob Dilnot Time: Metropolis Project 1: Still to Moving: Time distortion in an
Emotional City
After living in New York for 12 years i have definitely noticed the ways in which such a
unique urban environment can heavily distort an individuals sense of time. Lots of the
time it can feel like time is literally flying by and that whole days can vanish just by walking
around Manhattan. In the midst of all this fast paced action that goes so quickly, i have
always found food to be the one urban activity that slows down time instead of speeding it
up. Food is unique such that everyone has to eat at some point and to do so they have to
stop moving or at least slow down. For many New York workers lunch breaks are the only
time of the day they are not moving around or doing work. Every restaurant offers
different food that requires different amounts of attention and time to be consumed. Thus,
what you eat affects how much time you will devote to eating that food. Papaya Dog has
always been a favorite spot of mine becasue at any hour of day and any state of mind
Papaya Dog offers many New Yorkers the food and slowing down of time they
desperately require. Now that i live at the Stuy dorms Papaya Dog holds even more of an
appeal to me. I find myself there on busy days or nights needing food and incidentally
finding moments of zen peace within all the chaos around me. It is the physical act of
eating that requires us, even for a split second to stop and do one thing at a time.
