This past Tuesday, I got out of work several hours early because Josh Spear, one of the Undercurrent partners, was in a photoshoot for an ad campaign. With lighting equipment and photographers blocking any access to my desk and computer, I got to leave (somewhat blinded by flashes) around 2 pm. At a loss for what to do with my free time (because I’ve had very little this summer), I did what any good NYU student would do – I wandered back to campus and made a stop at the Gallatin student lounge before settling on a bench in Washington Square Park to people-watch.
At one point, a young woman with a European accent (in her 20s, I assume) approached me and asked if I lived in NYC. I answered that yes, I do, to which she asked if I would be willing to discuss my experiences in the city. For her research. She sat down next to me on the bench and began asking me questions – Do I love living here? What are New Yorkers like? Do I consider NYC the City of Freedom? In the process of answering these questions, I asked her own opinions of the city. I found out she was from Vienna, Austria and had been in the city for about two months, talking to people of all different ages, races, and classes – but always asking about NYC. She described her own love for the city in an enamored and giddy way. It’s, as she said, “the whole world, very little.” With such diversity, it has a “special energy” unlike any other city in the world (even Paris, she admitted, is “snobbish”). Thinking about it now, I believe New York City has so much to offer because it is, in fact, “the whole world, very little.” She also asked if I considered New Yorkers to be “respectful” of others. Due to its diversity and in comparison to other cities in the world, I think New York is more accepting of the individual. This is not to say that there is no discrimination (because there definitely is), but I think that NYC provides more opportunities for everyone – to pursue careers, find their community, just explore.
New York City possesses the charm and opportunity it does because of the people who inhabit it. I used to imagine NYC to be a person I was in a relationship with (sorry, Max) whom I sometimes hated, usually loved, and sometimes stressed me out to the point of plunging myself back into minor depression. Maybe I don’t love NYC as a person, but rather NYC as all of its different people. Before she left, she asked for my name and contact information, so I finally asked her name and what her research was for. Her name was Iva (it’s Slavic, pronounced Eva) and the research was for a book she was going to write in German. I realized after she left that I failed to mention my own blog about NYC.
(cue pseudo-relevant picture of a children’s book)
