Watch out for the Bloods they are targeting women....

I survived my week in Manhattan. Overall it wasn't so bad. I survived taking the bus in Brooklyn. Though there was one point when I thought I had missed my stop so I got off and luckily I was only one block off. Good thing for navigation on my phone! It was a worth while trip...the NY State Assemblymember I met with was very supportive and his staff helped me get on the right bus back to the subway. I really only had to ask for help one time when I was looking for NYC Police Department. It was nestled back behind some other buildings. Getting into some of the offices in NYC is way more difficult than here in DC. They take your picture, you then go through security and then through another secure gate. I guess after 9/11 they have to be pretty strick.

I walked past a bunch of paparazzi on 13th Street one day at lunch...not sure who they were waiting for but it was weird. I wonder how they find out someone is about to walk out of a building and how they get there so fast...
I also saw them filming a scene for law and order on the steps of the NY Supreme Court building. I love that show.

One of my last meetings on Friday was with a NY City Councilmember and she was awesome. She kind of reminded me of myself. She went to law school, then worked as an organizer for tenet rights. It is alway nice to see strong minority women in such high elected positions. Her family came to America from Puerto Rico. Anyway...she warned me that the gangs were having initiations the last few days and in particular the bloods were targeting women! I told the chief of staff today that I wanted a raise for all the danger I was in the past week! LOL..really though I think Manhatten itself if relatively safe and I did not feel threatened at all. Well except for the guy on the subway who was yelling for them to close the doors and that was why he was always f*#&ing late for work! He is the kind of guy who shoots up a place out of anger...lol.

Before I left I had some awesome chinese dumplings, hit up chinatown and got a new purse for $32 (the real thing is priced at $1,245 see pic- just about one months rent for me - I will post a pic of the the one I picked up later- they look exactly alike - I love it), and finally grabbed some cupcakes from Magnonlia bakery before hitting Penn Station.

Unfortunately all the train, subway and bus travel wore me down and I got a cold! I was asleep by 10 on Friday...so no girl scout costume for me :( Awwww...maybe next year...