November 20 2003, a little over ten years ago, a terrified little girl stepped foot in New York City for the first time. Going from JFK to Jamaica Queens all she could think of was how clean this new city is, little did she know how drastically that idea would change.

A person who has never stepped outside of the third world country that is Bangladesh, New York City to me was nothing less than a strange concrete jungle with even stranger vicious wild animals. I was never exposed to much of the city other than queens for the first three years of my life here. When I started high school I found myself suddenly thrown into the subway and forced to navigate every single day to midtown by myself. That was my first real encounter with my now beloved city.

My initial impression of this sparkly clean city changed when I encountered rats in the subway, dirty pigeons that attacked me on the streets, and the homeless man that took up a whole train car because of his body odor. Four years of high school in midtown put me in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the New York life and soon I became part of the herd. I felt, and still feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have gotten the chance to experience the real New York life and to have felt accepted in this crazy concrete jungle.

My New York is walking around Union Square and bumping into an old friend, My New York is taking the seven train from Grand Central Station at night and eagerly waiting for that cinematic turn and getting hit in the face with the full unobstructed spectacular view of Manhattan’s skyline. My New York is going to Williamsburg every Sunday and having brunch after yoga at my regular hole-in-the-wall restaurant, it’s going to Central Park just to see the cherry blossoms every spring. My New York is a never ending love story.

My New York is a place where I was never able to fully embrace her architecture or landscape before now.  What I noticed most about My New York were the hard working people that play an active and meaningful, but thankless role in keeping My New York running and keeping her where she needs to be.  From 30,000 feet for many America is known as the land of opportunity and New York is the heart that gives it life.  New York is the hub that influences the world we live in.   It is a place where dreams rise up and goals are something that is worth fighting for.

My New York means to me everything is amplified and more intense and exciting.  It’s a place full of diversity and hearing new languages spoken is never really surprising.  My New York is filled with a carnival of ideals and ordeals.

My New York is a destination for immigrants from all over the world.  They come to My New York to experience the freedom to strive for and live out the American dream and not just survive. My New York opens her doors to people from all walks of life so that they can experience a better tomorrow in this lifetime.   

To me, My New York is a place that changed as time went on.  What used to be a symphony filled with musical interludes has now become a cacophony of loud and eclectic noise.  My New York is a place were I want to escape from in my attempt to enjoy a landscape of green trees and grass filled meadows and pastures.  My New York has become a place where I feel like I need to be released from so I can experience life feeling free.  My New York has become a cold, dark and sterile place where people don’t seem to care about each other and the daily mantra rests on the belief that it is every man for himself.  The love seems to have left My New York.  In time I know it will return; like Winter gives way to Spring, I will experience the sights, sounds and feelings of My New York again it just takes time.

My New York…….
I was born in Mexico but grew up in Albany NY. While living in Albany I was always fascinated with NYC. I would always hear that it was the city that never sleeps and that always made me wonder. At the age of 11years old was my first time visiting NYC in a school trip. The memories of that is vague although I do remember seeing the Statue of Liberty. When I used to attend Hudson Valley Community College I would often make trips to NYC by myself for a day or two just to get to know the city a little better. I would love seeing buildings such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building as well as other high rise buildings. The architectural work on some of them were awesome. I would ask people for directions somewhere an a lot of people spoke spanish to me. In Albany there aren’t a lot of people that speak spanish. NYC also have a lot of different restaurants from different cultures that I did get to enjoy. I always dreamed of going to school in NYC. In August of 2013 we moved to Queens NY. I started school in September of that year. Although having a vehicle I learned to travel on the train. Boy oh Boy the subway of NYC is something else. So I started taking the train from Queens to Brooklyn to get to school. It was a challenge a lot of the time. Sometimes the trains would run with delays, sometimes on time, and other times not run at all. I got used to it like all other New Yorkers. Now I get around the city in trains with hardly any trouble. I learned that NYC is a fast paced city. New Yorkers don’t stop to smell the roses like tourist do, they just move like they are always running late, then again they probably are. Now, when my mom comes to visit me she can’t understand all the craziness that goes on here, and I told her live in NYC for a few months and you’ll get used to it. My New York is seeing the Empire State Building everyday and never getting tired of it. My New York is going to south street seaport in the summer.

New York is extremely fast paced in my eyes. People are always doing some activity and in constant motion. There is never a dull moment in New York. I’ve been here since I was born. You can see a big difference when spending time in New York City and spending time somewhere else. New York has the most interesting structures and is the most memorable city. This is where people go to start a career and become known. What is great about New York City is that it has a little bit of everything. There are parks, laid back areas, very quiet suburban areas, busy party areas, and beaches too. Cultures from around the world are settling in New York City and evolving.
New York is always changing. Things are being added to New York everyday which makes it such a tourist attraction. Im always visiting New York. Their are performers in Manhattan, always putting on a show for each individual person. Manhattan has so much history and cultural diffusion that it is considered a place for everyone to become comfortable. My first impression of New York was that their was so much to do. I tried to replace each negative thing i saw with a positive. Yes, New York has it’s flaws, but at the end of the day we see its natural beauty. People can really spend a full day in the city and just walking around is relaxing enough. You feel safe at home because it is very congested. My current neighborhood is very quiet and isolated. I travel to Manhattan every weekend to spend time with friends and family. The time I spend in Manhattan makes me wish I actually lived their but I consider myself a New Yorker anyway because of all the time I do in fact spend their. I notice people who live in New York act differently. We see hard works, designers, craftsman, people that work hard to show that New York is a hard working home. We build such skyscrapers that no other place has, to be beautiful and such an inspiration to millions. This is my New York. -Daniel Savoca

Everyone thinks New York is where all dreams come true; The American Dream; the city that never sleeps.  All of which may be true, but it doesn’t come that easy.  Dreams can come true, but you have to work hard to get there.  New York isn’t exactly what the movies portray it to be. People from all over the world come to New York for a better life, for what they believe the American Dream is, but do get disappointed after experiencing what it truly is. 

I was born and raised in New York, but my parents weren’t.  They came from Guyana, moving here to the city believing it to be where their dreams will come true.  When they first came here to the country, it was hard for them to find a job.  They thought it would have been easy, but unfortunately it wasn’t.  They eventually got where they wanted to be and worked really hard to get there.  At first they did miss their country, but they grew to love New York; it was their new home.  Going back to their country to visit wasn’t the same anymore.  They couldn’t imagine themselves ever going back to live there again.

I’ve always lived in Queens.  I rarely went to Brooklyn or Manhattan, the actual city of New York until I started college.  Going to Brooklyn or Manhattan meant traveling in a train or a bus if you didn’t have a car.  Even getting around in queens meant taking the bus.  It terrified me; traveling with complete strangers, getting lost.  Even though I am from New York, it didn’t feel like it.  I felt like a tourist.  Every time a tourist would ask me for directions I always say I’m not sure.

When I was little, I was terrified of public transportation.  I never understood how people used to do it as their daily routine.  I’ve always been driven everywhere with a car.  I always remembered my first time in a train; I was about 8 years old traveling to Brooklyn with my aunt.  I thought the train smelled bad and was extremely dirty.  There was writing everywhere.  Everyone around us was strangers.  The cart keep moving fast and we were all shifting.  I couldn’t wait to get off the train.

I guess I am different from any other New Yorker.  If you ask an average New Yorker how they feel about public transportation, their response probably wouldn’t be like mine.  They might think it’s a silly question because it was ordinary, but to me it wasn’t.

Now that I’ve started college, I feel like I’m an expert of the A train line.  I now memorize all the stops from Queens to Jay Street, Brooklyn.  Further into the city, I don’t.  Traveling daily made me overcome my fear with public transportation.  Now I feel more like a New Yorker.

Now, I go to Manhattan to shop or go to parties/ bars.  I take the train as well.  I do feel more confident, but at the same time afraid.  Manhattan is indeed the city that never sleeps.  It’s chaotic.  There’s always traffic with people and cars; people bumping into each other, homeless people on every 2 blocks begging for money, smugglers trying to rob you, solicitors trying to sell you stolen accessories, people dancing or singing for money, and etc. The buildings are quite tall and jumbled together.  To me, there is no space to breathe.

New York is known for its skyscrapers, the empire state building, Time Square, the statue of Liberty, and the twin towers. For my whole life of living in New York, I’ve never been to the Empire state building or the statue of liberty. I do plan to one day; it really is a shame.

I love my New York.  I still don’t love the public transportation or the weird people you find on them, but I’ve overcame my fear with it.  I can travel just about anywhere by myself.  I am more confident and I am proud to feel that way.  I still am afraid of getting robbed, and of the weird people on the train, and the homeless people, but I’m used to it now.  “New York is MY New York”.

For a majority of my life living here, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I know about New York, yet I don’t “know” New York. As a child I was born in Brooklyn. I lived in a quiet suburban area and once in a while I would go with my family to visit Manhattan. I did not think much about the city then when I was a child. As a child, Manhattan just seemed like a mess of tall buildings to me. I did not think too much of it at the time. At around ten years old my family moved to Staten Island, where visiting the city became less of a simple trip and more of a chore. For the latter part of my teenage years, I rarely had time to go out to the city. It wasn’t until after I graduated High School that I got my chance to revisit my old vision of Manhattan.

The New York of today can only be described as fast and furious, particularly the city of Manhattan. Manhattan is often seen as the main “face” of New York, as most tourists refer to Manhattan whenever anyone discusses the Big Apple. Compared to Manhattan, the other 4 boroughs of New York are much tamer and peaceful. The unique essence of Manhattan is often recognized for its fast paced and chaotic nature. The people of Manhattan have a distinctive sense of spirit, which can often be mistaken for aggression or impatience. Since the construction of higher buildings and successful businesses, Manhattan has become a very busy city.

However, despite me not being up to date with the current mentality of Manhattan, I do enjoy this side of New York compared to the much slower and peaceful boroughs. The energetic nature of Manhattan can be viewed as a learning curve before being able to appreciate it for what it is: A chaotic yet engaging form.

When you hear “New York” you think, bright lights, crowds, Broadway, the city that never sleeps. Tourist from all across the world visit New York imagining it to be a lifetime experience. Wall Street, Times Square, The Statue of Liberty, all amazing themes that tie up New York City.

Born and raised in two of five boroughs in New York, I can say Ive seen it all. Ive lived in the big apple for all of my child hood. Born in Brooklyn, later moved to Staten Island. I have experienced good, bad, and even not expressible experiences all around me. The twin towers accident, the NYE ball drop, government shut downs, Hurricane Sandy, and many more. Over the years I have realized New York is not what everyone makes it seem. Its not perfect, were far from it. We have problems, lots of them. I grew up in a fast pace city. People always rushing, yelling, pushing, attitudes were always very obvious.

Growing up around it you finally notice all the flaws. People are mean, and only care for themselves. People steal, argue and fight everywhere you go. The problem is were too caught up in everything we have, that we don’t realize what we have.

When I first arrived to NYC ,it was during my summer vacation, when I came to visit my family. The first place I went to Time Square. I was amazed by the skyscrapers, the lights, and the rhythm of the place along with the amount of people walking there at the middle of the night. Also, in Times Square there are many irregular building made out of glass, with a lot of lights coming from them. As I was visiting many well known landmarks such as, The Statue of Liberty, The Wall Street’s Bull ,and The Empire State Building, I couldn’t believe how many cultures there are in one place. As I went to museums, I learned about the history of the city, its customs, and way of life. Also at the museums I learned about the way that New York is so much different from other virtual countries/states/cities.

In addition , the combination of green parks, lakes, and carriage horses, by the side of huge buildings seem to me so special, that I didn’t want to go back home and imagined myself living the NYC life.

Today after living in New York for 4 years and exploring the city from different aspects and points of view, the city seems to me too dirty and loud, and the air is not clean. After visiting upstate, and enjoying the fresh air, the green environment and calm atmosphere, going back to the city changed my whole experience and my opinion on the life style of the and loud city.

However , although I usually stay away from the city , I enjoy being part of the beauty and cultural diversity in the city. I find that those aspects are the ones that make New York City known for and so special.

My first visit to New York was a little over 3 years ago, it was November and I took a bus from Baltimore (where I was visiting my brother). It was evening, and I remember being so excited when we were crawling toward New Jersey, because from a distance I thought that it was New York City, and as we got nearer being so disappointed. We sat in traffic for at least an hour more before getting to the Holland Tunnel and approaching NYC from dark side streets. The bus let us out near Madison Square Garden, and meeting me there with a coffee was James. He was the guy I came to see, an old crush/friend from back home in California who moved to NYC five years before. So despite the cold, I had a very pleasant first experience here because we were in love. We went to the High Line, rode the Staten Island Ferry, went to the Met, went ice skating in Central park etc. When I moved here that summer it was Memorial day weekend and it was early morning, and raining. I remember the couple sitting next to me played ‘Empire State of Mind’ on their phone, and I was just so elated to be here, starting a new chapter of my life. I remember that I thought I needed a jacket, I assumed that the rain would be cold like back home in the Bay Area but it was already around 75 degrees that morning. When we went back to his studio in the financial district, to live, the reality of New York hit me. The constant grey haze, the garbage stacked high, the rats and roaches, the dirtiness, the aggressiveness, the general disregard of rules, the bad drivers, the lack of recycling, the bad produce, the crowds, the apparent sense of superiority New Yorker’s seemed to have, etc. But after time I got used to it, and the scary thing is that I’m acclimating to it here. When I go back to California it can seem too slow, the homeless gross me out, public transportation seems lacking, people seem too wishy washy and too politically correct… but it’s beautiful there, and relaxing and I need to leave the city every so often to keep my sanity. We live in Brooklyn now, Park Slope, and it’s nice to be so near Prospect Park; we take our dog there on weekend mornings. We are also near the central library, farmer’s markets, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Brooklyn Museum, Union Hall, or if it’s too far to walk can just hop on a train or ride our bikes when it’s warmer. I have to remind myself every so often that I am very lucky to be here and that there is so much to do, and to take advantage of it all because we probably won’t stay and it would be a shame to only focus on the negative.