A taxi dispatcher (2nd L) directs passengers outside the Port Authority Bus terminal in New York. What are you complaining about? If you're a New Yorker, it's often about noise and trash and occasionally about politics or morals. Those are some of the concerns expressed over the past 300 years by citizens writing to their mayor, as unearthed by an artist recently who mined the city's archives to create The New York City Museum of Complaint. The museum is actually a tabloid newspaper reproducing 31 letters from 1751 to 1973, currently being distributed in city parks. Some letters are elegantly handwritten, others typed, and all of them complain about something. "Some of them are on the verge of paranoia, others are on the verge of genius," said Matthew Bakkom, the artist who created the project. The city has preserved complaints as far back as 1700, when the American colonies were under British rule. Bakkom discovered the archive while doing historical research and decided these disaffected voices from the past needed to be heard. "It just seemed to me something very vital and very original and very striking." The first in the collection, from 1751, seeks compensation for a series of ills. "The report of the small pox being in this city hinders the country people from coming to market," Andrew Ramsey wrote. A 1900 letter on corruption from the president of the Citizens' Progressive League decries avarice: "The only thing purely 'American' that I can find in New York City, after many years' search, is the abnormally developed spirit of money getting." The 1930s are represented by five letters, including one from 1935 that seeks a change in the law so "that girls in the burlesque shows in New York would be allowed to display their charms without more interference of the police." Bakkom has a few favorites, such as one from the London woman Mary Elizabeth Cook who, calling herself an attractive brunette of 29, wrote in 1949: "Could you possibly help me find an American husband." "I can send photographs," she added. It was leaked to the press and produced a spate of letters from lonely people looking for mates, Bakkom said.    (Agencies)

你會抱怨些什么？如果你是紐約人，噪音、垃圾會成為你經(jīng)常抱怨的對象，政治或道德偶爾也會讓你發(fā)發(fā)牢騷。 這是紐約市民們的一部分牢騷。近日，一位藝術(shù)家通過搜集紐約的歷史檔案，將300年來紐約市民寫給市長的抱怨信一一展出，一座“紐約牢騷博物館”由此誕生。 事實(shí)上，這座博物館是一份小報(bào)，上面刊登了從1751年至1973年的共31封抱怨信，目前，此報(bào)在紐約的公園里散發(fā)。其中的有些信件用漂亮的手寫體書寫而成，其余的則是打印而成，可無論何種字體，所有的信件都無一例外的在抱怨些什么。 創(chuàng)辦這座“博物館”的藝術(shù)家馬修·貝克穆說：“有些人到了有點(diǎn)偏執(zhí)的地步，而有些人則很有才華。” 紐約市保存的投訴信檔案可追溯到1700年，當(dāng)時美國還處于英國的殖民統(tǒng)治之下。貝克穆在進(jìn)行歷史研究時，發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些檔案，于是他決定讓人們聽到這些來自歷史的不平音。 “在我看來，有些聲音十分重要，見解很獨(dú)到，也很鮮明?！? 牢騷集的第一封抱怨信是1751年一個名叫安德魯·拉姆齊的人寫的，他想為一場瘟疫給自己造成的損失爭取賠償。他在信中寫道：“就是因?yàn)橐黄P(guān)于該市小范圍內(nèi)發(fā)生瘟疫的報(bào)道，人們都不來市場上買東西了?！? 一封1900年的投訴腐敗的信件來自市民激進(jìn)聯(lián)盟主席：“經(jīng)過這么多年的觀察，我在紐約發(fā)現(xiàn)的唯一具有美國特色的就是 ----- 不擇手段追逐金錢的精神。” 上世紀(jì)30年代共有5封具有代表意義的投訴信。其中一封寫于1935年的信要求修改法律，“進(jìn)行滑稽戲表演的女孩應(yīng)該能夠展示她們的魅力，不應(yīng)該受到警察的過分干涉?！? 貝克穆個人對其中的一些信件很感興趣，比如，自稱黑發(fā)美人的29歲倫敦女人瑪麗·伊麗莎白·庫克在1949年寫給市長的信中說：“您能不能幫我找一個美國丈夫呢？” “我可以把我的照片發(fā)過去，”她說。 貝克穆說：“后來這封信件被媒體知道，引來了鋪天蓋地的來自單身漢們的覓偶信件?！?BR> (英語點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯)