Community Fellowship: The NYC Nomad by Ed Casabian
Please join us and welcome our fifth Community Fellow Ed Casabian in this guest post and learn about his Fellowship project and the ways you can get involved.
Who am I?
My name is Ed Casabian, and I’m excited to be a SoundCloud Community Fellow. For the past 15 months I have been the NYC Nomad, which is a project / social experiment in which I live in a different neighborhood, with different people, every week. So far I’ve stayed in 41 neighborhoods in New York City across the five boroughs. I like to give my hosts a chance to use me as an excuse to visit new places in their own neighborhood, and share what it is that they love about the city with me. I’ve always loved traveling, but its been a very unique experience to travel in my own city.
I’ve gained a variety of perspectives during my project both through the people I meet and the places I stay. I’ve stayed with people ranging from the age of 11 months to 80 years old and my commute has included every subway line (there are 22), the bus, a boat, my foldable bike, and walking. I think New York City is a place best seen by many different perspectives, and these perspectives are a lot of what I’ve been searching for throughout my experience.
My Fellowship:
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about my project is all the different people I meet. In fact, I found out about SoundCloud through someone I stayed with during my third week of this project.
For my fellowship, each week I will search for and interview the most interesting person in the neighborhood I’m living in. Here is a recording I captured with 94 year old Bernie in my most recent neighborhood of Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan. He’s lived there since 1949.
An Interview with 94 Year Old Bernie in Stuy Town by thenycnomad
Get Involved!
Even if I am nomadic and moving every week, there is no way I can capture all of the unique stories cities have to offer. So please contribute with an interview using the record feature of the SoundCloud apps for iPhone or Android. It can be the owner of a local business, a friend, or someone who you’ve always wanted to talk to but never had a reason to. And it doesn’t have to be in New York City. I think New Yorkers are some of the most interesting people in the world, but there are stories across the United States and the rest of the world waiting to be told.
To contribute, you can check my Tumblr blog for more information or easily submit to the SoundCloud group City Stories. Please follow me on Twitter @thenycnomad (also look for hashtag #citystories) and like my Facebook page.
Thanks, and I hope to see you in your neighborhood! Oh and check out Betabeat who just published a story about my Fellowship.
Meet the other Fellows:
Evan Tenenbaum: Organic City Sounds