Here is my love letter to New York City. It’s hard to put into words why any of us love any particular person or place. I don’t know that it can be done. But I want to try and share what it is I love so dearly about this city. So here are ten things I love about New York… [note, the numbers below are actual photos I took of NYC doorways]
This is a place of belonging
I remember hearing that New York is where people who don’t belong anywhere belong. And maybe that’s it. I love that most people living in this city come from somewhere else. And in our “outsider-ness” comes a shared truth. We belong to this city and it to us.
I love that people let their freak flags fly here
Loud and proud. People are quirky. Weird. Different. Amazingly unique. Traits that may not be prized elsewhere are accepted and celebrated here. Wanna play the tuba in the street while wearing a fluffy puffalump on your back? Done.
Wanna set up a kiosk at an open-air market offering free advice (and then charge $1.00 for it)? Done.
When I took a picture of this sign, “Doug the Neighbour” asked if I had a question for him.
He said if I didn’t like his advice, I didn’t have to pay.
A passerby tried to explain the advice was not, in fact, free if he was charging $1.00 for it.
He took no notice. He was intent on my question.
I asked what advice he could give me that would help me stay in New York.
His advice?
“Dye your hair brown and call yourself Barbara”.
The man earned his dollar.
Call me Barbara.
People here are effortlessly cool
Just plain, freaking cool. Think of a Woody Allen film.
Like these two. They are just freaking NYC cool.
I snapped this shot from far away with my zoom lens. They didn’t notice. They were so intent on each other they didn’t see me stalking them. This is what I imagine them saying:
Her: I really like the way you cut your shirt sleeves off and the bare threads dangle against your skin. And your hatty-hat (see, I’m so uncool I don’t even know what kind of hat that is) looks super.
Him: Thanks. I really like the way you put duct tape on your sleeves. And wearing a corduroy blazer in 86 degree heat rocks.
See what I mean? Effortlessly cool.
There are random, senseless acts of beauty everywhere here
I remember a friend telling me a story of a sewer cleaner who drew frescoes within the tunnels he cleaned. He knew no one would ever see them – but he created them nonetheless (they were only found centuries later).
I truly feel that’s the essence of New York.
People create beauty for beauty’s sake here.
Not because it will be seen or bought. But because they need to.
I love the way New Yorkers talk
To the point. Direct. Some may call it aggressive. I call it effective.
The sign posted on the wall below says it all.
This has to be one of my favourite signs of all time.
New Yorkers mean what they say.
[note, there was not a single car parked anywhere near this sign!]
This city takes convenience to a whole new level
Laundry is picked up and returned right to your door.
Out of milk? Craving chocolate? The local convenience store delivers 24 hours a day.
Any kind of food can be delivered pretty much at any time.
I am not proud to admit this… but I have even had McDonald’s delivered. Yup. It’s true.
I’m sorry my vegetarian friends. Look away if you must.
This city bends you to its will (no matter who you are)
Even if you own a multi-million dollar condo in the West Village, you too, will have to stick an ugly air conditioning unit into your impeccably restored heritage window.
Even if you own a sports car worth more than most people make in a year, you won’t get uptown in rush hour without taking the subway like the rest of us.
This city may bring people to great heights but it keeps them humble. In this way, the city does not discriminate. We are all equal in its eyes.
Life is happening in every square inch of this place
All you have to do is step outside to find it. Literally.
You could stumble upon a chess game underway in Washington Square Park…
or run across a baseball game in Central Park on a lazy afternoon…
or check out a game of hand-ball in Brooklyn…
[note, I don’t have a clue what this game is actually called. It’s like racquetball but instead of racquets, they use their hands]
NYC magic, baby
This city is alive in a way no other place has ever been to me.
It pulsates.
I remember a friend saying that every city has an energy.
And that New York is vibrating on a certain frequency.
To me it is equal parts energy, creativity and chill.
While the city stays up late, it sleeps in. Just like me.
And my God, it’s beautiful.
This city is pure alchemy
You see the bright light of the city and are drawn to it.
There is a power and a beauty here.
But once enchanted, the city shows you its darkness.
And it is only in traveling through this darkness that the city reveals the challenges that lie between who you thought you were and what you can become.
In reaching for it, the city waits. Testing you. Pushing you.
And in this duality of light and dark we learn what we are made of… and are transformed.
My beloved New York…