Painting and Essay by Robert Beck

A “typical” Upper West Sider is a composite mush of two hundred thousand people that can be tapped to represent whomever and whatever one wishes to express.

Variety is what makes this place tick, and it’s everywhere. Need a rags-to-riches narrative? A crankypants neighbor? A heart of gold? A precocious kid? There are as many unique renderings as there are doorbells and destinations.

So much is happening on the UWS that you have to use filters. When I come to a cross street, a system in the back of my brain checks the color of traffic lights and walk signals against which way and how fast the cars are going, with the proximity and paths of bicycles, strollers, dogs, emergency vehicles, and package carts (God help us if we get drone delivery). If my Inter

See Full Page