Saturday, May 4, 2024

Tenting Tonight

Now anyone who knows me knows that I have a great disdain for conspiracy theories.* I admit, however, there is one conspiracy I do believe exists: Jewish cooking is a conspiracy to make us eat carrots. Now, recent events may have forced me to believe in another.


*


Between the years 1954 and 2000 I spent my life (for better or worse) on college campuses. At no time, as student or teacher, did I ever have a tent as part of my impedimenta. And, I think I may safely say, that I never noticed any of my colleagues or students with one. Books, pencils, computers yes. Tents no. So, upon seeing a picture like this




I had to ask myself, Where did all these tents suddenly come from?


Tents were not de rigueur at previous protests; there were none, for example at my college during the protest over the shootings at Kent State in 1970, and I don’t recall seeing tents in pictures of the famous 1968 anti-Viet Nam war protest at Columbia University. So, I ask again, where did they come from this time? Are tents now, unlike in the past, brought from home when leaving for college and stowed away somehow in one’s small dorm room? 


Or did the students, feeling the need to protest, decide to go foraging for tents through Manhattan (an unlikely outdoorsy equipment venue, I would think) in advance of the signal to congregate on the campus lawn. In pursuit of the latter thought, I decided to go foraging myself for tents in Manhattan via Google Shopping (“Tents Manhattan near 116th St.”)  Here’s what I found: 


Store: Target


Upper West Side 98th and Columbus

1 mile

Not sold at this store


Bronx Terminal

1 mile

Pick up here

In stock

Ready within 2 hours for pickup inside the store

Open until 11pm


Edgewater NJ

2 miles

Pick up here

In stock - only 2 left

Ready within 2 hours for pickup inside the store

Open until 11pm


Upper East Side 86th and Lex

2 miles

Not sold at this store


Manhattan Washington Heights

3 miles

Not sold at this store


Upper East Side 70th and 3rd

3 miles

Not sold at this store


Upper West Side 61st and Broadway

3 miles

Not sold at this store


North Bergen Commons NJ

4 miles

Pick up here

In stock - only 2 left

Ready within 2 hours for pickup inside the store

Open until 11pm


Manhattan Hells Kitchen

4 miles

Not sold at this store


Times Square 42nd Street

4 miles

Not sold at this store


LIC Court Square

4 miles

Not sold at this store


Manhattan Herald Square

5 miles

Pick up here

In stock - only 4 left

Ready within 2 hours for pickup inside the store

Open until 11pm


Bronx Fordham Road

5 miles

Not sold at this store


Bronx Riverdale

5 miles

Pick up here

In stock

Ready within 2 hours for pickup inside the store

Open until 11pm


Kips Bay

5 miles

Not sold at this store


Manhattan Union Square

6 miles

Not sold at this store


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Store: Walmart


North Bergen Supercenter

2100 88th St, North Bergen, NJ 07047

 Open·until 11pm

3.1 miles away


Secaucus Supercenter

400 Park Pl, Secaucus, NJ 07094

 Open·until 11pm

4.8 miles away


Teterboro Supercenter

1 Teterboro Landing Dr, Teterboro, NJ 07608

 Open·until 11pm

6.6 miles away


Garfield Supercenter

174 Passaic St, Garfield, NJ 07026

 Open·until 11pm

8.5 miles away


-----------------------

Store: Ace Hardware


Rainbow Ycs

1449 1st Ave

New York, NY 10021-3002

Open until 9:00 PM

0.2 mi

In stock. Get it today.


Sort by earliest available


Brickman's Columbus Ave

610 Columbus Ave

New York, NY 10024-1403

Open until 7:00 PM

1.5 mi

Ships to store. Get it Wed, May 8


Scheman & Grant Hardware

545 8th Ave

New York, NY 10018-4307

Closed

2.1 mi

Ships to store. Get it Fri, May 10


Brickman's 18th Street Ace

312-316 First Avenue

New York, NY 10009

Open until 8:00 PM

2.8 mi

Ships to store. Get it Wed, May 8


H Brickman & Sons

55 1st Ave

New York, NY 10003-9400

Open until 8:00 PM

3.5 mi

Ships to store. Get it Wed, May 8


H Brickman & Sons

125 W 3rd St

New York, NY 10012-1289

Open until 8:00 PM

3.5 mi

Ships to store. Get it Wed, May 8


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Store: The Home Depot



--------------------------------

Store: Dick’s


DICK'S - Middle Village

8.53 MI

73-25 Woodhaven Boulevard


*


So what did I make of my search? That a handful of tents are available in Manhattan—though none on the West Side near Columbia. You could travel all across town to First Ave. or down to Herald Sq. Or up to the Bronx and Riverdale or to the wasteland of Middle Village, Queens. Or in real desperation, cross the Hudson to the neverland of New Jersey. Not something one would spontaneously do in anticipation of an afternoon of parading and chanting, I imagine. And we can rule out those that need to be shipped.


So, I ask again: Where did the tents come from?


*


Here’s someone who smells something rotten.



Should I go along with Uri’s suspicion about a possible conspiracy?


I have another idea in mind that explains the presence of the tents at the University: What if the tents were matriculated at Columbia? 


*** 



2 comments:

  1. a) As a member of The Brooklyn College Open Road Club from 1965-69, I bought my first tent in 1966.
    b) There is a large Recreational Equipment Inc. store on Houston Street (I have been an REI member since 1966.). They sell lots of tents.
    c) However, I am equally suspicious as Uri is about the sameness of the tents in the photo.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jon, for that info on REI. I just checked their website; the cheapest tent (@$54.73) is not available on site, but needs to be shipped or picked up about 5 days later. So that doesn't really change anything I said before.
      When I first checked Google, REI results did not show up. Fiddling around with a different promp, REI results showed up with tents priced $200 and up.

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