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While it may be cool to be a Brooklyn or Queens kid and hate on Manhattan, I will tell you what, nothing quite fills my soul like taking the train into the city to literally walk around. Cross town, uptown, downtown, diagonal town. I love to peep streets, stroll a museum, wander into a coffee shop, talk to a stranger and fully romanticize living my damn big city life.
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I recently made the very (self-proclaimed) avant garde decision of leaving lower Manhattan and moving to midtown (k-town to be exact), and, while I know this may be shocking, I love it. The Empire State Building, while I have never technically visited nor entered her, is very fun to proclaim one’s residential proximity to. Walking outside, I am not at risk of running into anyone, and not because I live in a residential strollers-and-young-parents way, but because like, truly no one goes there without a work or errand related reason. All the loud, absurd, hectic New York you know, without the downtown overlappy social geography you (pretend to) hate.
Jun 16, 2022
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It is physical - You will sleep like a damn log your first three months. You will be moving and your senses will be overloaded. walking, walking, and more walking, going up and down subway stairs, running to catch the bus, third floor walk up, fourth floor walk up, dancing, carrying bags, hauling groceries, dodging tourists. We are in the elements. We are not going from big box store to work to farmer's market in our heated or air conditioned cocoons on wheels. We are *in it*!
Headphones - I break this rule a lot, because walking around Brooklyn with a soundtrack is a beautiful way to spend a day, but generally I keep headphones in on the subway to protect my precious hearing from the grind and squeals of the trains, but when I'm walking around I take them out. Not really for safety, although it is a good habit for safety, but more for the great things you could hear people say or the tunes your neighbors/restaurants/drivers are putting out there. It keeps you more connected to your community.
It’s ups and downs - One moment you could be getting romantic about the city, the characters you encounter, sunsets so beautiful you start to actually appreciate air pollution, watching a violinist make a kid smile and clap in wonder as she plays La Vie En Rose. The next minute something doesn’t work, or someone gets angry, and you’re late for your thing and you’re thrown into bouts of hot frustration by a subway system that borders on myth. Sometimes it feels like a cage and but most of the time you don’t know how you could live anywhere else. Sometimes you want to escape and then after a few days you want to come back and when you do it feels like home.
I could keep going, but I'm jealous you have so many new things ahead. As sofi said, don't give up!
Feb 22, 2024
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Literally what is the point of living in a walkable city if you aren’t gonna run around. Galavant. Go into random places. Live.
Jan 26, 2024
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I told a friend the other day I tried rolling up to the box office at MSG for Charli XCX's sold out show and my friend responded "what are you on Seinfeld?". Tea. But going to the box office is something that this digital age does not always consider. I have had much luck at any other "sold out" show in NYC by going to the box office on the day of, purchasing a ticket at face value, and strutting on into the venue. Typically the venue holds a row or so for the occasion. Unfortunately, the box office in reference at the top of this rec, did not deliver on my hopes and dreams of being Brat.
Sep 26, 2024
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What is more satisfying? It's almost a less vulgar but more brazen way to say FU. The 'F' bomb in physical form. It feels so good and makes a greater impact on the recipient. Sometimes, actions do speak louder than words.
Sep 26, 2024