94. “Things I love about New York:
1. picnics on the great lawn in central park
2. inconvenient parades and the chaos that follows… drunk pple wandering the streets
3. barney green grass on the upper west side
4. 24 hr delivery
5. saigon grill (even though they fired their traumatized delivery men…people still line up for the food!)
6. the fact that 68th and broadway movie theater is the most used theater in the country and more chaotic than jfk on thanksgiving weekend
7. deli ice coffee.. not just starbucks (columbus cafe on 87 & columbus)
8. fresh cold cuts/sandwiches at zabaars
9. when a store is out of your size they can call their other locations that are within walking distance
10. you can make friends and business connections on the subway
11. people respect you instead of tease you for wearing a lot of black
12. fur and stilettos can be acceptable
13. pop burger (best time to meet people is 4 am around a hot dog stand or pop burger)
14. the flower power taxi cabs
15. brownstones
16. the met/its rooftop cafe&bar/those big outside steps
17. cafe havana
18. french roast
19. jakes’s dilemma
20. massive amounts of Asian food
21. all the dogs
22. clubs are filled with bankers instead of celebrities like LA
23. Shakespeare in the park
24. street fairs/craft fairs/markets
25. cafe la lo on the uppper west side where you’ve got mail was filmed
26. the enchanted forest (best toy store /stuffed animal/and random adult stuff store… off prince street)
27. lotus (its not cool anymore but i’ve been partying there since high school.. its like my childhood)
28. cobble stone streets that make late night partying a death trap for girls in heels when it snows, but reminds you how old the city is and unimportnat you are
29. the fact that you can always pick up a stretch limo if your heart desired
30. fish bowls at brother jimmys
31. times square, its not just for tourists (espn zone!)
32. the europeans that play soccer or “football” in the park
33. stone st. where wall street comes to get drunk (ulysses bar)
34. the apple store (best place to pick up a guy)
35. ludlow street (its not trendy anymore but its still fun)
36. make your own salad places
37. the subway (more efficient than any other city!)
38. metro card (same price no matter where you go… in sydney not so much)
39. out door playgrounds (for all ages and all times of day/night)
40. sex and the city
41. the knicks
42. devachan salon
43. roof top bars
44. jury duty is more like networking and mingling
45. you can get froz fruits everywhere
46. out door basketball courts
47. central park zoo (you can never stare at polar bears for too long)
48. levis stores
49. endless places to get pitchers of margharitas or sangriha
50. bowling downtown (a little touch of suburbia)
51. construction workers
52. people go clubbing on a monday or tuesday
53. horseback riding in central park
54. the guy who plays rock music and pink floyd’s money on wall street
55. famous people are jealous of native new yorkers
56. that chinese place that serves endless wine
57. sunday brunch
58. running around the resevoir
59. wonderful chicken noodle soup at bergdorfs little cafe (who knew?)
60. 24 hour diners
61. live theater
62. simones (best leechee martini you will ever find!)
63. crashing company cocktail hours at various places
64. kevin bacon and woody allen
65. gossip girls is kinda accurate (upper west side private schools aren’t any different)
66. lit up trees, rockafeller tree, lit up snowflakes on light posts
67. tennis in central park
68. south street seaport restaurants overlooking the brooklyn bridge
69. polo matches in the summer (hamptons)
70. all the cool hotels that keep things fresh (new blood, great bars… hudson hotel, bowery, w)
The only thing I really hate
1. the naked guys standing outside of abercrombie on 5th Ave who are paid to hit on you (its uncomfortable for everyone involved)”
-Alison Zimmermann
95. “I love New York because the anonymity is thrilling. It’s truly incredible to walk these streets, teeming with life and culture and richness and beauty, and know that no one knows or cares who I am, where I have come from, or where I am going. I love to wander for hours in the East Village, winding between 1st, Ave A and Ave B, looking into each tiny little intimate restaurant, not knowing or caring who is inside, but envying their intimacy all the same. I love leaving work and walking a new route home every single day. I love that my coffee cart guys see me across the street, know my order, and have it ready for me for $1 by the time I get there. I love that the subway can be absolutely packed to the brim during the morning commute, yet it’s so quiet that you can actually hear people flipping the pages of their books. I love that no matter how many people do it, it still feels special to do touristy things, like ice skate in Rockefeller Center, or tour Ellis Island, or take a hop-on hop-off bus, or get a hot dog from a vendor. I love that even though I curse not being able to commute in a car every time it rains, that nothing would ever truly make me leave this place. I love flying back into the city after traveling and still getting that excited flutter in my stomach seeing the skyline. I’m obsessed. :)”
- Jenny Heisler
96. “I love New York because of 24 hour transportation. Living in London and Los Angeles makes you appreciate the MTA a whole lot more.”
-Elizabeth Ozemebhoy
97. “When people at work ask me where I went for vacation, my answer is always, “Central Park.” When I take a week off from work, I try to spend a part of every day in the park, whatever the season (my favorite is the cold of winter). I never, ever get tired of it… the trees; the sights; the skating rink; the energy of the runners; overheard snippets of conversations (in every language); the nannies with their charges; the tourists with their maps; the bicyclists (I got run over by one once but it never dampened my love for the park); coffee and a bagel for breakfast in the Boathouse; the reservoir; the carousel; Bethesda Fountain; eating a pretzel (with mustard) while sitting on a bench and watching people go by. I absolutely LOVE it. And…it’s all FREE!”
- Joan Roth
98. “Because people actually feel sorry for you if you own a car. Because every New Yorker hates LA, even the ones who have never left New York. Because you’ve flown out to California more times than you’ve left Manhattan. Because one of the four times you’ve left Manhattan was because you fell asleep on the subway and ended up in Brooklyn. Because some people’s dogs have a fancier wardrobe than you. Because tourists probably know more about New York than you. Because despite people complaining about the frigid winters and sweltering summers, inherent to the city’s spirit is its four-season cycle of life. Because the official sign of the arrival of spring is when restaurants begin spilling out onto the sidewalks. Because we avoid Time Square at all cost, while the rest of the world dreams of seeing it just once. Because the ultimate sign of chivalry is when a guy looks out for stiletto-heel-gobbling grates for a girl to avoid while walking down the perilous city streets. Because a 5-course meal from a local Chinese restaurant costs less than buying basic ingredients for a sandwich. Because of how proud New Yorkers are of their neighborhoods. Even midtown New Yorkers. Because people can tell you’re not from New York simply because you smile a lot. Because you never really have to go anywhere to visit friends. They all end up in New York sometime during the year.Because it’s possible that Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is actually your local church, and the MOMA is your neighborhood gallery. Because of holiday windows during the Christmas season. Because as annoying as hordes of tourists on Fifth Avenue are during the holiday season - it reminds you that you used to be one too. Because you can drop $1695 on a snakeskin handbag at Barneys and still feel okay about haggling over a $4 pair of gloves in Chinatown. Because there are hidden gems and treasured moments around every corner - you just have to find them.”
- Jen Hsiao
99. “I can see an Indie rock show at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday. I see a Next Wave show at BAM on Saturday and go to the Giants football game on Sunday and stop off at a pub on Eighth Avenue where people know me on the way home for a bite to eat.”
- wexy
100. “I love New York because you can stay out all night and come home when people are starting their morning commute. Or you can work really late and come home while people are heading out for the night, no matter what time it is. I love New York because you can do anything, anytime and there is always someone doing it with you.”
-ycsb
101. “I heart NYC b.c. it’s the greatest COUNTRY in the world!!!”
- Cr8URF8
102. “I love New York because retirement is exciting here. At the same time, I enjoy a calm, small-town feel (I was raised in one) here on the upper West side because most of the necessities are within walking distance and your flower man at the deli, your building staff, your pharmacist, your dry-cleaner all recognize you as someone from the neighborhood. Here are four other, major reasons I love New York. Singing: I’m a pretty good amateur jazz singer and there is a wonderful, albeit small, community of open mic singers for whom Trudi Mann’s, Cleopatra’s Needle and the Lenox Lounge are the perfect trifecta on Sundays. Also Arturo’s any night but Wednesday and Barry Harris’s on Tuesdays draw genuine, sophisticated talent every week. This is the city to learn in by listening to singers and instrumentalists of all musical tastes all over town. Also, by studying with and getting to know the city’s many bright, talented vocal and performance teachers who teach independently or at such schools as Singers Forum on 24th Street and The Lucy Moses School near Lincoln Center. The Hudson: I live near Riverside Park and nearly every day can be found on the river’s walkways in the spring, summer, fall. After an hour or so of walking or running, a charming umbrella’d cafe awaits tucked away under the West Side Highway near 70th Street where you can read (or memorize lyrics) all day, undisturbed. The hum of the cars becomes white noise. The sandwiches, hot dogs and salads are good and there is dynamite sangria. Niko’s: The Greek neighborhood cafe on 77th Street and Broadway, where Niko himself, also owner of the pizza joint down the block, can be found around lunchtime. It’s a welcoming place, moderately priced, where you can eat a health-freak salad or a whole baked fish and while away time when you have nowhere to rush off to. Bliss! Iyengar Yoga: Ok, yoga’s everywhere, I know, but Iyengar yoga, when well-taught, reintroduces you to your grateful body. It’s a life-changer, a battery recharger. The focus is on placement and form which, I’ve been told, makes it a perfect yoga for anal-retentives. No, I don’t want to tell you where I take it or the name of my teacher. Her class gets crowded enough!”
-Margaret ‘Maggie’ Malone
103. “1. I love New York coz it has Stuyvent Duuyveil in Williamsburg, the place with multitudes of great beers. And where you can easily meet new people and mingle. The atmosphere is laid back and chilled, where you can sit alone without feeling awkward.
2. I love New York coz everybody smokes weed.
3. I love New York because each street shows different sceneries.
4. I love New York because I can pick different gourmet restaurants 365 days an year.
5. I love New York because I can tell people I am from New York.
6. I love New York because everyone finds their identity here.
7. I love New York because you might run into one person, and life changes completely.
8. I love New York because money can buy anything.
9. I love New York because you can run into some European hotties.
10. I love New York because I can never forget the time while I was there. Now my life plan centers on how to stay there forever. ( I am an Alien.)
dang my eyes r teary now…”
-Elaine Hsieh
104. “The uber stench from the sidewalk garbage during the summer.”
- Susan Petrie-Badertscher
105.“The metal straws shaped like shovels at Milk & Honey. Both efficient AND freezing.”
-Lindsay Conwell
106. “Because I’ll trek 30 blocks to go to Intermix for clothing I can’t afford but I’ll have my groceries delivered from the Food Emporium 3 blocks away. Because Umi sushi has the best avocado rolls in New York and I have absolutely no problem dishing out 20% of my salary to have them five nights a week. Because thankfully, Gossip Girl is bullshit. No way would an entire private high school ever be that eloquently suave or perfectly coiffed, regardless of their parents’ income. And speaking of parents, where exactly is Rufus’ expansive loft supposedly located - because unless it’s in Long Island City, there’s no way his starving-artist ass is affording that shiz.”
-Jessica Hyman
107. “I love New York because at the breakfast cart outside my office Tony knows that every morning I get two eggs with cheese on a roll - no salt, no pepper, no bag. There’s no need to even place the order; it’s already ready by the time I get to the front of the line.”
- Kira R. Rosoff
108. “Because when your boyfriend breaks up with you at 2am on a Tuesday night, you can always find a bar that is full of hot people with a bartender that will feed you shots and a cute boys that you can make out with.”
-anonymous
109. “I love New York because it loves me back.”
- Carrie Henderson
110. “In no other city in the world does the average citizen
a) read food blogs regularly
b) know the names of every chef in their neighborhood and borough
c) make bets on the rating any given critic is going to give any given restauarant
d) celebrate holiday weekends by making easy reservations at normally packed restaurants
… I could go on…”
-Ann Goldenberg
111. “it’s the only major US city where it’s a thousand times easier to be ‘green’ (walk, bike, take mass transit) than pollute (drive a car).”
-Hilary Semel
112. “Because I can have a better conversation with a random person on the subway than someone I went to high school with!”
-KCS2980
113.“Hmm I love to hate NY. Is that the same thing?”
-CATWALK
114. “Love New York because I don’t know how to drive. I’m sitting in my dorm room in Maine (a mere 20 degrees out) and the only way to a coffee after 11 is a 20 minute walk through the frozen deep…”
-ANNIEC
115. “This city is where people come to get decked out and dance with strangers, to get dream jobs on Broadway, to get wasted at athletic events, to eat food from all over the world, to see the best stop of every concert tour in existence live, to see the events unfold firsthand that the rest of the world gets up-to-the-minute updates on CNN.com, and most importantly, this is the city where people come who are too ambitious, too excited, too hungry, too fun, too outrageous, and too certain of what they want, to live ANYWHERE else. This is the only city in the world where people admire you for just being able to keep up. It’s the most glorious, wonderful city in the world and I hope to never leave it.”
-JAMIEM1685
116. “I love New York because everybody bitches about everything being a bitch.”
-BUCK_Rogers
117. “I love New York City because no matter what place I visit outside NYC, I’m always happy to return.”
-TGA
118. “Because NYC is just naturally the greatest damn place in the world. The energy, the feel, the people, the intensity, the transplants…everyone fighting to define themselves in a vibrant, diverse space. And the restaurants and food flat out ROCK!”
-GW99
119. “I love NY because I have the city to keep me occupied and busy and I have the rest of the state to escape the hustle and bustle.”
-JULEE90
120. “Because we are among the few who know there really is no such thing as urban isolation.”
-APANTS
121. “Sabretts—of course!”
-MBT
122. “My family (UES, UWS, Downtown), my work, my friends, my culture, my history, my sanity, my insanity. NYC is my space.”
-WENDISTEVEN
123. “Because we say ‘the City’ and expect everyone in the U.S. to know that means Manhattan.”
-LEXIEPOO
124. “Because even in a city of 10 million people you can still feel like the only person on the planet, walking through Times Square while the snow is starting to fall.”
-MOOP6883
125. “I am a New Yorker, and I love it because everyone here has a story. A story of whey they’re here, where they’re from, what they do, who or what they’ve seen! As long as you keep your ears open, you can learn just about anything about anyone.”
-ANNASAXTON
126. “I love New York because nothing humbles you like a ride on the subway, where we all become equals trying to scramble for a seat and where we are all equally frustrated when it’s wall-to-wall crowded/stinky/delayed.”
-ASIAMJR
127. “Because no matter how filthy, rich, or bitchy New York gets, once you’ve tasted it your only regret will be if you’ve left.”
-JACQS528
128. “I love New York because I love being miserable, and there is no more miserable a place in the world.”
-MUTANTWHALE
129. “In New York you can get whatever you want, whenever you want it, plus the fact that this is the only place you can find cuisines from all over the world that you are only limited to how much you can eat.”
-OOJ4CKI3OO
130. “I love New York because even after 9/11 I stayed. When my parents separated, divorced, remarried, and hightailed it to Florida, I stayed…and when I realized how hard it would be on my own after making my first rent and student loan payment…well I moved to Brooklyn where it’s relatively cheaper rent…but damn it I stayed!”
-MEOWMIX
131. “I met my Parisian boyfriend in front of my apartment on 14th Street and Ninth Avenue at 4:00 in the morning on a Saturday. I was coming home from a night at two clubs with a finale at the hotdog stand. He was looking for the direction of the 1 and 9 trains after a night out with the people he was interning with. This was over two years ago and we’ve been together ever since.”
-Jacklyn Sinagra
132. “Because not only are there hundreds of things you can get out of this city, there are hundreds of ways you can give back.”
-Georgia Jones
133. “I love New York because it’s the only city where a girl needs to adjust the length of her step. Otherwise, her stiletto heel inevitably gets stuck in a pavement crack, which seems to be of perfect width! It’s a guaranteed laugh for both her and the passers-by!”
-Marina Snetkova
134. “There’s a great beach in every borough!”
-Anonymous
135. “I actually live in Portland, Maine. My girlfriend and I are 99 percent sure we will be moving to the city once she graduates this May. Meanwhile, we visit on a shoestring budget at least 2 trips a year. I love New York for reasons that are beyond me and that I will try to understand. Before we decided to move there, New York was on my mind everyday. Now that we’re moving, I think about how I will live there. I believe there are some practical reasons why I love it, and some other deep down reasons. Practical reasons:The music (John Zorn’s the Stone and all of the great musicians that are a part of that scene such as Marc Ribot) compared to Portland, Maine, the options are endless. All styles, any day.The Art: As a painter, New York is obviously one of the best places in the world to see the best art in the world. Great museums, galleries, artists, opportunities and performances.Food: In Park Slope there is a nice diner that gives you good portions for cheap. Nice owner too. People say New York is more expensive but I think it depends where you go. Also the Polish restaurant on the Lower East Side close to the movie theater. Also the history, size, location to other cities and states. People dress great, there are different types of people from different parts in the world. Deep down reasons: When I was young I loved Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Statue of Liberty, Titanic (they almost made it there), Skyscrapers. I love the magic, the mystery, the intensity, the options and the future.”
-Taylor Franklin
136. “I love New York because I live around the corner from Whole Foods Chelsea, which is by far the very best place to spot my reality-TV faves (like past Project Runway designers and a slew of America’s Next Top Model judges) shopping for matzo ball soup and organic cheese.”
-Stephanie Tannenholtz
137. “I loved NYC for so many reasons: the people, the neighborhoods, the buzz, the freedom but what I think I love the most is that in NY you can really dream. You can be anything you have every aspired to be in NYC! If you want to be a movie star, it can happen here! If you want to be a designer, it’s at your fingertips! If you want to make millions by the time you’re 30, Wall Street is right down the road. IF you want to be a Nanny to the Stars, sign yourself up! Anything and everything you could ever dream of being can happen here in NY, the possibilities are endless and if you have the balls to move here then you have the balls to become [insert DREAM here]. (The only thing I could think of that you couldn’t be is a a farmer, hell, they are doing some farming greenhouse style in Hudson River Park, so damn! You can do that too.) You can never find that in Podunk Pennsylvania, never, the opportunities just aren’t there. NYC is so liberating especially when you come from small town nowhere. Be free!”
-Cori
138. “I love New York because I don’t have to feel bad about being bitchy or rude on the street…people expect it here. I love New York because there are tons of other successful, attractive women who are single here…so it’s not just me. I love New York because at night, the lights of the city are mesmerizing. I love New York because I don’t have to own a car. I love New York because non-New Yorkers assume your life is fabulous just by living here.”
-Anonymous
139. “I was born and raised in London, where I also live, but simply put, I love New York. It’s a constant, near-obsessive love that endures over the years and the thousands of miles. A passion that flickered from seeing the city in movies was ignited for real on my first visit at 17. I’d never seen anywhere as big, as bold or as brash and I was hooked. Ten years later and it’s still the place I long to call home. I love New York because, the moment you touch down, I feel a part of it; it has a core vibrancy unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. I may have to ensure the horrors of being a tourist and not a native, but my love for and loyalty to the Big Apple is without question—born not of a favourite bar or corner store or restaurant I’ve been frequenting since childhood but of a genuine, gut-wrenching connection that I still can’t logically explain. Cheese, maybe, but it sure as hell is the truth!”
-Nikki Baughan
140. “I love walking in the streets of New York being surrounded by many different odors that can be as disgusting as pleasant…I feel like I’m in Suskin’s Book The Perfume. I love New York because we are always bumping into people we couldn’t meet nowhere else but in comics. I love New York because there is sooooo much shopping. I love seeing people during the summer in Bryant Park tanning their bodies and really believing they’re at the beach. I love the tiny seats we can sit on outside of bakeries and restaurants. I love running on the bank of Hudson. I love the cookie dough I eat passionately in my Coldstone ice cream. I love waiting 20 minutes to get a cab during rush hour. I love walking randomly and finding artists doing promotional showcases. I love the paradoxes of New York. I’m in love with New York. I dream of her…when someone talks about her, I feel melancholy, I’m sad because I’m far from here…”
-Aisyah Pane
141. “My boyfriend Christian and I (both Manhattan residents) spontaneously checked into the Chelsea Hotel to relive some Leonard Cohen dreams this fall…to contribute ourselves to the history of New York as it can be remembered best. Bohemian dreams, music, love and freedom. Timeless.”
-Phoebe Johnson
142. “I’m currently in graduate school in Paris. I have been all over and can’t get a decent bagel! When I’m home for Christmas break I’m having a friend meet me at JFK with a bagel from Court Street Bagels…c’est magnifique!”
-Gigi Silberman
143. “Because no one makes fun of you for having an old-lady shopping cart. Because the art of shoe cobblery is alive and well throughout the city. Because only in New York City does a ‘regular coffee’ equal a coffee with milk and two sugars. Because the subway runs 24 hours a day, allowing you to be both poor and drunk at the same time. Because NY Post headlines are poetry (examples: ‘Axis of Weasels’; ‘Puff Baddy’). Because no matter how long you’ve lived here, there is always a new neighborhood to explore. Because NYC Metro TV is highly addictive. Because 24-hour Duane Reade on 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn has saved my life on many occasions.”
-Indira Xiomara Goris
144. “The A train, Brooklyn, Subway Acts, International Flair, The Shopping, Street Vendors, The Fashion, The Pulse of the City, the extreme temperatures, Spring in the City, Fall in the City. Ideas NEVER leave your mind because the city view is filled with a bunch of minute details. It’s almost like you’re five years old again and reading I SPY. And I love being FROM New York because wherever I travel, all over the world, when I say I’m a Native Noo Yawker people want to listen to what I have to say, and I say it with a Brooklyn accent.”
-Gloria Rosenthal
145. “I’m a 24-year-old art director from Latvia, and am lucky enough to be able to travel the world a lot. Yet NYC is in my heart wherever I go, and truly my most favorite place on earth. Several times I’ve been there. It’s always felt like home, and I know why. I really think NYC embodies the greatest achievements of mankind during the modern era—be it architecture, art or food. Yet what makes NYC that more special and loveable is its blend of cultures and nationalities—an idealism of sorts that feels so loveably self-evident in NYC! I often remember seeing the grid of Manhattan streets lit by afternoon sun when my plane ascended from EWR bound for Stockholm last summer. As it climbed over the clouds the image of Manhattan lingered still, and I vowed to return whenever getting a work permit wouldn’t be as excruciating as now…”
-Janis Notte
146. “I love New York because people get emotional if you offer up your seat on the subway.”
-abby
147. “I love New York because there could be 3 bodegas, 5 cheap nail salons, and 1 “hot restaurant” in a 2 block radius and the bodegas and nail salons will outlast the restaurant any day. As much as people say you have to have a ton of money to live in New York, it’s the cheap places that last and sustain the city. IF it wasn’t for a $.75 newspaper of a $20 mani/pedi combo, how could we afford the $15 saki-tini with a certified organic star fruit garnish?”
-Maggie Danielson
148. “I love New York for the people you pass on the street, the music you’ll hear emanating from neighborhood apartments and the history that seems to stench every corner of the city. Everything one can imagine has happened in this city. The mere thought of that idea can excite even the most jaded imagination. I hope New York never changes by being the only place I know in the world that changes every minute.”
-Amanda Mihaly
149. “Because the New York City firemen are truly the most brave, the most fearless, not to mention the most handsome, in the world.”
-Theresa Pantazopoulos
150. “Because Edward Norton winked at me on Columbus Avenue.”
-Sam
151. “Where else can you see so many small dogs in wee little sweaters?”
-Sara Eagle
152. “I love New York because no matter where I’ve just traveled, my happiest moments are when I first return back to New York. It’s that undeniable satisfaction of catching a glimpse of the harmonious skyline and the cascading glow of the bridge lights over the East River.”
-Lauren Lynch
153. “I love NY because I can sing any song from Anything Goes or Blood Brothers at Marie’s Crisis with the original cast of Showboat, eat the best Sicilian pizza at Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst, and have the best poached eggs at Grey Dog’s every Saturday morning. This city has everything. Especially the poached eggs.”
-Gabby Etrog Cohen
154. “Because gluttony is revered.”
-Debbie Guirand
155. “I love McSorley’s Ale House. My father and his buddies spent a considerable number of afternoons-into-evenings there when beers were two for a quarter, and he spoke about it with such reverence that it was the one place in the city I refused to go with my, um, alternative and non-government-issued identification. My father took me there on my twenty-first birthday, Christmas Eve, and as the older gentleman who’s been slinging beers there for years and years brought us over our second round, all the union men filling the back tables who surely weren’t there on paid time stood up and sang me happy birthday.”
-Meghan McGavin
156. “I love New York City because it’s friendly—you can walk out of your apartment and literally bump into a stranger who eventually becomes your best new bud. I love (and hate) New York City because it’s easy to be alone. There are so many aspects of the city that cater to the single person from being able to sit at the coffee shop writing in your journal for hours to eating at the bar of some of the finest restaurants in the world. I love that you can be at the most casual place and spot a celebrity going about their everyday life. I love that New York City can be whatever you want it to be and that can change every day depending on which part of the city you decide to hang out in. From being artsy on the LES or glamorous shopping amongst the mega rich on the UES to being a party girl at the trendiest venue in the West Village or Meat Packing to being a jock running in Central Park.”
-Liz Bazini
157. “Because just by moving to a different neighborhood in the city it changes your New York for you. Because after living here you will never be the same.”
-Amy Anderson
158. “I love New York because people still read here, even (especially?) on the subway and bus.”
-Deborah Gobble-Lewine
159. “Pardon the monologue, but…last Saturday my 90-year-old grandfather made a cameo at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving? Nah). My grandfather grew up in the Bronx and has worked (as he still works) in the shipping department of Apex Mills of the last 105 years. I don’t see my grandfather all that often, and frankly I don’t know all that much about my grandfather, so when he’s around I make an effort to expunge some wisdom from him. This time, he brought with him a photo album his brother Barry assembled. The album was a collection of photos dating back to the mid-1800s. On that side of the tree, my family hales from Romania and Russia, coming to American in the late 19th century. One of the photos in the album is a family photo, the patriarch being my grandfather’s grandfather. Unfortunately, the spelling of his name completely eludes me. I know it’s very Jewish and very Russian and begins with an A., so I’ll call him “A” for the purpose of this story. In the picture, A has a long dark beard, craggy complexion and one eye that is mostly cornea, with the exception of a smudge of pupil hugging the bridge of his nose. I’ll spare you the details on his wife. As my grandfather flips past the picture, he mentions that A was a founding member and former president of the Eldridge Street Synagogue. A friend of mine also came to dinner that night. She showed up late and she ended up with a seat next to my grandfather. My friend, like me, is a guilty fair weather Jew and I thought she would enjoy my grandfather’s documentation of Jewish culture in old-ish world New York. He took her through the album (in painful detail), but when he came to the A family picture, he passed by it without much of a shoutout. I was surprised; I thought A’s role in the history of Eldridge Street was a highlight, so I chimed in. This is the conversation between my grandfather and I:
M: Boompa, you forgot something!
G: I did?
M: Yes! Tell Jess what A is famous for.
G: For being a good-for-nothing asshole?
M: No, I’m serious. Tell her abut his big accomplishment.
G: Oh. He had 14 children.
M: Not what I was thinking.
G: …with 5 different women.
And that is why I love New York.”
-Katie Schmidt
160. “I love New York because of the awesome communication going on everywhere you look. And by that I mean the non-verbal communication we exchange…”Damn, you’re hot,” “Fuck off,” “I want those shoes,” “What the fuck is that smell?” “Are you really standing that close to me?” “Thank you,” “I needed that,” “I’m going to cut you”…etc. I could write a book.”
-Jenna Martinez
161. “I love New York because you never know what is coming next.”
-Jeremy Lipkin