How did The Five Boroughs Project come about?
The Five Boroughs Project is the brainchild of a guy named Gerard Giraldo who is a filmmaker and writer in New York City (yours truly)
As a child, I grew up in the Queens neighborhood of Elmhurst, where I was also born and around which I have spent the better part of my life. When I was a young boy, I was sent to live in my ancestral land of Colombia and then returned to live here in the US when I was 10. At the time, I also lived in Elmhurst, and my mother used to work in Lower Manhattan - it was a janitorial job, and would often leave her exhausted, so I would go and help her. The train ride from Elmhurst (Grand Ave) to 14th Street - Union Square on the R local train was very long to me back then - 45 minutes to an hour of commuting each way. It was then that I developed the notion that Elmhurst must be at the outer reaches of the city.
I went to middle school in Elmhurst and it wasn’t until I visited my high school to get my freshman ID picture taken that I realized that there was this whole other side to Queens that I had never even known to be there! On the MTA map, the Grand Avenue station on the R is pretty close to the end of the R line, so I always imagined that our neighborhood was at the city’s boundary. Little did I know that not only were we not in the center of Queens, but that there was an entire city’s worth of suburbia that I hadn’t even heard of. During my high school years in Jamaica, Queens, I expanded my knowledge of the city and the different cultures that thrived in it and began to explore more of Manhattan on my own. Due to an overprotective mother and a stereotyped overview of Staten Island (too far), the Bronx (ghetto) and Brooklyn (who do you know there?), I didn’t get to explore those boroughs until I reached adulthood - plus, Queens is the type of borough that combines all the elements of city so why bother?
When I was 17, my mother married a long distance truck driver based in Tampa, and against my will I was dragged there to live for 2 and 1/2 years. I had always thought of Queens as pedestrian, boring, basic. However, living in a much smaller city gave me some perspective - I longed to return to New York, and missed Queens dearly.
I returned when I was 20 years old, and got accepted into the City College of New York in Harlem - another new frontier that I for some reason had completely just obscured in my mind from ever forming a curiosity about. During college, I worked as a waiter, in sales, and as a process server handing out housing court notices to tenants all over the city. This was the point in my life when I realized that the city was hopelessly big, that I had only ever known a small percentage of it, and that it would take 8 million lifetimes to fully know the essence of New York. From the City College, I graduated with a degree in Film and Media Production in 2016.
After graduating, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I found myself working on set for TV shows, films and commercials, but never found the work truly satisfying. I would often haul props or art department materials across great distances in large trucks all over the city. I had a lot of time to myself and as I would lay eyes on the most captivating views and sceneries on the planet, I longed for a way to share everything I saw with the world. At the same time, friends of mine from Florida would come and visit New York and lay claim to the whole city through their social media platforms, posting that now they “know New York”. Of course, I don’t blame them for doing so, but in my heart of hearts I couldn’t help but think how foolish they were. Even I, a person who has driven all over New York and been to most areas of it wouldn’t dare make such a claim.
Then it hit me. My friends can’t say that they’ve seen all of New York, for the only knew the tourist magnets - but then again, neither could I and I have been living here for most of my life. Then again, who could ever say that they know the entire city? Has anyone ever been to every single neighborhood, every park and every island? All of these most basic units of community that are stitched together to form the city, each with their own little quirk, culture, pastime - has anyone ever dared to explore the entire city like they do with Times Square? and if they have, have they ever shared it with the world? Is there some video encyclopedia for the New York fanatic to search and see what life is like in every borough, in every neighborhood? The answer I found is no. A project of this magnitude has never been attempted and so the concept for The Five Boroughs Project was born - I found my calling and a way to employ my passion for film and production to make content about something which I am truly passionate about, New York.
So, with this project, I want to be able to show the world the life that teems in every community in NYC. How the city is more than just the photo-worthy attractions, the subway or Manhattan. We are the greatest city in the world and its not just because there is money here or because of a few streets with neon lights or giant screens. We are the greatest city in the world because our people carry the torch of humanity forward - New York is a leader and an example for the rest of America, and America in turn is a leader for the rest of the world. We have the highest percentage of foreign born residents of any area in the world, which means that demographically speaking, the city is an unprecedented social experiment consisting of hundreds of cultures and languages spoken every day, yet coexisting peacefully and demonstrating to the world that tolerance, respect and love for each other’s differences is possible and beautiful.
However, learning those lessons will mean examining the entire city and not just the cool parts, but also the depressed parts, the forgotten areas, the neglected and the ignored. I want you to help me and my partner Azael in making this a success.
