My New York Experience

The concrete jungle. The city of dreams. The big apple. Throughout time, movies, television shows, and songs have depicted New York City as a wondrous place filled with determined individuals and dreamers who share the old ideology of “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” The captivating lights, the buildings rich with history, museums, parks, and the never-ending number of attractions seem to bring people from across the globe. While it may seem glamorous, New York City is a facade for the reality that plays out in its streets.

 Every day, influencers on social media complain about their tedious and dull lives. How their streets are empty, the quiet of their neighborhood, the drama going on within the classroom walls, and when and how they must move to New York City. People assume that moving into the ‘Big Apple’ will be trouble-free, and immediately their life will be filled with that of adventure without considering reality. Joan Didion demonstrates how this child-like wonder can get ahead of us at times within the essay “Goodbye To All That”. As Didion discusses her experiences in New York City, she explains the inspiration for moving to the city by claiming “… programmed by all the movies I had ever seen and all the songs I have ever heard sung and all the stories I had ever read about New York, informed me that it would never be quite the same” (226). Believing in the mentality that the media appropriately depicts an area’s reality would be a foolish one. The media is programmed to provide what is best for the viewer and what will get revenue, resulting in only displaying the positive aspects of places. The press will not show the homelessness, dirty streets, traffic jams, horrendous subway, and other negative characteristics of living here. Native New Yorkers, such as myself, understand that New York City’s highly regarded areas such as; the Empire State Building, Time Square, etc. are to be avoided at all costs as they are what New Yorkers refer to as a “tourist trap”. The idea of New York City is this expensive utopia constructed on the dreams of others and is exploited as a place of easy living. The essay “My Misspent Youth” by Megan Daum explores the topic of reality and dreams colliding as the author’s expectations and dreams of living in New York are brought to a halt as reality causes hardships explaining  “I live in the most expensive city in the country because I have long believed, and had many people convinced, that my career was dependent upon it. I tell myself that martinis and expensive dinners are the entire points—the point of being young, the point of living in New York City (3)”.  The point of living beauty and allure of New York seem to drag people only for the harsh reality to kick in once you put down your security deposit. The city is just a masquerade while the reality is empty and uneventful. 

As seen with the Global Pandemic, New York City was hit hard. Thirty-two thousand people in New York City alone lost their battle with the disease and almost five-hundred thousand are still living with the effects. COVID-19 unearthed New York City in a way never done before. It gave others outside our borders who looked at New York with longing and affection to come to terms with its harsh reality. While it is a melting pot, it is not empty of discrimination and inequality Zadie Smith addresses the inequality of New York besides what media focuses on within the essay “Under The Banner” by claiming “The racially divided city. The socially inequitable city (from which de-camping is only possible for a privileged few). (4)”. Native New Yorkers’ lives involve more than expensive apartments and pretty lights. The world was given a lens into places like Queens and the Bronx that rarely pictured in media of all sorts, but when given the opportunity, was romanticized to only mention icons. Never referenced were the laborers, the families, the struggle of living, but that all changed when the Coronavirus hit our communities Suddenly New York was “dead’ because no more people were filling up Time Square. No more people were going shopping at Sax Fifth Avenue. No one was visiting the Top of the Rock. These locations do not make New York City what it is.  There are still people struggling to put food on the table, there are still people risking their lives daily, there are still people. By media, force-feeding viewers to swallow that New York is dead is unfair to the people, like me, who still live here. 

Not only, does media play a large part in my resentment of the concrete jungle, but it also is the lack of accountability. There is a large gap in quality of life when comparing “The City” to the other boroughs. While New York City is notable for its advanced train service, the same can not be said for Queens. 

Dry heaving as I run down the stairs to catch the R train but to my horror, the doors have already closed and the train is leaving the station. Building a sweat, I stand on the tracks waiting for the next. Five minutes go by… Ten minutes go by… Twenty minutes go by… “Where is the train?” I ask. Due to the absence of proper ventilation and air conditioning, it looks as though I have run a marathon. To my annoyance, there is no signal, leaving me stranded in on a packed platform. As I look around, passengers share my equally annoyed expression, until the intercom states that the next train is coming in five minutes. Relief washes over us and we board the train. Bodies piling into a small subway cart only adding to my already overheated self. The doors don’t shut. Why? “Ladies and gentlemen, due to construction, this train will be going express. If you wish to get off at any stops between here and the next station, you must transfer”. I forgot it was a Saturday. 

This is one, of many inequalities between Manhattan and the other boroughs. While it may seem trivial, these experiences pile up, leaving many who rely heavily on public transportation stranded. Living in Queens has allowed me to fully understand and recognize sacrifice in numerous ways, whether it be working three jobs to make ends meet, dealing with one-hundred-degree heat to sell food on the corner, falling asleep in class because your family couldn’t find their “home” for the night. These are the realities of New York, so hearing the Major thinking about raising subway fares, continuing to do work on streets, closing down small businesses to make way for bigger chains, and ticketing people on the streets who are simply working to put food on the table aggravates me to no end. These are the people who ensure this city is still running, but you are so quick to get rid of them to make way for gentrification. 

Kew Gardens is a relatively small neighborhood within Queens made up of a couple of apartments and houses and it is where I have lived my entire life. I would always joke with parents about how we live in the “Oklahoma” of Queens cause absolutely nothing happens. Restaurants close almost after only five months of being open, and most of the people who come here work at our local Court House. The most excitement Kew Gardens has experienced was the announcement of a new jail being constructed next to the highway. I had always felt lonely living here as a kid. My friends lived in Briarwood, Jamaica, or Rego Park but never lived near me. Even though I would complain about my neighborhood’s uneventful and emptiness, I do not want to live somewhere loud and busy. The constant honking, loud music, parties, people vomiting in the streets, and the random person reviving up their car at two o’clock in the morning were all aspects of the hectic city that drove me crazy. I joke with my parents; When I’m older, I will move to the most desolate states like Alaska or Wisconsin to get away from the city’s loudness and constant commotion. But, at one point, I asked myself, “What would you do there?”. Going on a midnight snack run, traveling to a mall or store under 20 minutes, or having any the convenience commodity my neighborhood offer would be the exact opposite in those areas, and learning how to drives disgusts me to no end. At times, my feelings contradicted themselves as I wanted the eventfulness and convenience of the city without the commotion of other people’s daily lives being near me. In all honesty, I could not complain about living in Kew Gardens as it is the closest mixture of convenience and tranquility you could ask for. 

Life in New York is also an experience you can never receive elsewhere. While I had to grow up faster than the normal child, so I could ride the subway to school and get my breakfast at my local bodega, teenage angst is fueled in New York. No matter what point you are currently at in your life, New York has something for you. If you’re looking for a mountain getaway, head on over to Central Park. If you want to shop until you must file for bankruptcy, Macy’s at Herald Square is right for you, if you need comfort food that fills your desires for mothers cooking, head up to Harlem or down to Jackson Heights. New York City has anything and everything for you. While I would love to run away into the mountainous Appalachians, I know that I could not get a proper snack and peach Arizona at the nearest corner store.