Why I <3 NY

It has been quite some time since my previous post, and for that, I apologize. Things have been very busy for me recently, my weeks just seem to fly by. I'm up to my ears in laundry and still cannot find the time to go and get it done.

It has now been just over four months since I have moved to New York City, and while I feel that I have learned and seen a great deal since moving here, I know that I have not yet begun to even scratch the surface. A recent conversation in which I proclaimed that New York was the greatest city in America has caused me to step back and really critique why I feel this. Every morning when I hop on the subway, still bleary-eyed from my resistant acclimation to the working week, I feel a nervous, raw energy as all of the people rush on and clamor to their seats. As I bounce around on the train, fading in and out of consciousness, I feel the continual movement of people getting on and off, and up and down, carrying out their daily routine. Arriving at the station I ascend the stairs onto Canal Street and enter into the flow of pedestrians darting in and out of taxicabs on their way to the jobs that they proclaim to hate. Crossing 6th Ave I am always struck with awe at the sheer amount of people moving about the city, many with cups of coffee, and many stylishly dressed in the latest designer duds, all doing the same thing that I am doing. I do not feel alone.

Arriving at work I am greeting with a cheerful good morning from the two principals of my firm who happen to sit right next to me, and enter into a sarcastic conversation about how the organizer of the most recent office pool fixed it so that she would win [she came in dead last]. In passing I am told that there are pastries from a local 'magic-bakery' down the street, world renown for their delicacies. I cross onto the other side of the office to the water cooler where I say hello to two Asians, one German, one Irish, one Panamanian, and one Cacuasian, many of whom went to prestigious schools such as Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Throughout the morning I work on various tasks, ranging from building a 3-d model of a space high above midtown that I have visited over a dozen times [the view is stunning], calling a furniture rep regarding a particular type of veneered finish to be applied to their workstations, or field pushy emails from an extremely rich and famous client who has surprising good taste.

Lunch will occur sometime around 1:30 when my entire office will head down to the local market where one can get a plethora of goods ranging from sandwiches, soup, sushi, fruits and vegetables, etc. Or, sometimes we will head to a more specialized restaurant, one that has been featured in the NY Times for its fabulous pulled, slow-roasted pork and cabbage, or a cheap, delicious northern Chinese sandwich joint that has great atmosphere. There are times even when the principals will buy the whole office lunch, and once recently we ate at Brassiere, a very famous restaurant in the basement of the Segrams building, recently redesigned by Diller and Scofidio. [Of course, we were the only people in there critiquing the space.] I will sit with my coworkers and absorb all of the things that they talk about, many of which I never knew existed until I moved to this vast new city [Ernest Sewn jeans, the Zaha Hadid exhibit at the Guggenheim, and the free concerts at McCarren Park pool, to name a few].

Work will continue on until around 7 or so and I will make the hourly trek back to Astoria. The change between Tribeca and Astoria is quite noticeable, as when I return home I am greeted by the smells of fried chicken, falafel, and pizza. Sometimes I will stop in to a local Mexican joint that is run by a Chinese family and will grab my two #8's and one #4, or I will cross the street and will be greeted by a thick Queens accent asking me if I want my greasy two slices 'here or ta go'

And while some of these new experiences can get to be annoying and extremely irritating, I enjoy every last minute of them. I think that the reason I feel that New York is the greatest city in America is because of the people who live in it and the opportunities that are granted to me. While the people can be excruciating cold-hearted on the outside, once you get to know them you find quite the opposite. With so much diversity , from the insanely wealthy Upper East Side, to the fashionista queens of Chelsea, to the hipper than hip Williamsburg-ites, to the ethnic meccas of Astoria and Flushing, there really is a little bit [or a whole lot!] of everything in this city. I can find anything I want and a lot of stuff I have never heard of, and the experiences are so rich thus far that they are like nothing else I have ever experienced in any American city. No where else could I live where my co-workers would be able would be able to scribe the names of Meier, I.M. Pei, and Tschumi on their resumes. And with people paying exuberant amounts of money to live in tiny apartments where dishwashers and laundry facilities are the luxuries of the rich, I have found that I am not alone. I am not alone. In New York, you are never alone and there is always more to learn.