Do you love living in NYC?

[Chloe333]

Originally Posted by Evolving

“Do you love living in NYC?”

I grew up in the lower east side of Manhattan, then my family moved to a house in the then safe part of the Bronx, and returned in my late teens to a smaller but convenient apt. in super convenient Chinatown ( Mott St.). I cannot believe my working class parents could afford both a house in the Bronx and a rental in Chinatown at the same time. I loved growing up in the LES. My family was not rich but I felt so rich because food was cheap and delicious in Chinatown. My mom worked as a seamstress and made the kids all kinds of beautiful attire, from jackets to dresses to pants. Mom was also a fantastic cook ( self taught). Even though she worked full time, she would come home and make us 3-5 different dishes to share family style. We had loads of friends in the community and I started taking the subway at age 12 traveling to Hunter High School. The only family trip the family took was to Niagara Falls and dad complained the vacation was worse than work. I always felt depression when leaving NYC and going to more suburban and rural places. Just a gut feeling of void and boredom. I had to get used to the suburban lifestyle first as a grad student in L.A. Those were the days before L.A. became the sophisticated city it is today with so many different cultural activities and great cuisine. No people walking around and miles and miles of roads with chain stores, auto dealerships etc. Got a job offer at USC but quit only after 3 months because NYC was calling me back.
Unfortunately, I got married shortly after getting back to NYC and hubby is not a city person. So off we went to the suburbs of NJ, first Jersey City, then Basking Ridge and later a house in Summit, NJ primarily to raise our son in a good school system. Then a job with better benefits was offered to me and the job entailed a move to Long Island. I was very busy with my job and raising my son but I always hankered to get back to NYC. Ofc, we could travel into NYC for theatre, music events, etc. but it was always a hassle driving in from Suffolk County to NYC and back ( 2 hrs each way). We bought a house on Fire Island and enjoyed that for a few years before hubby got tired of the inability to drive and having to deal with the local service people there who are like kings and queens ( profiteers) with their driving permits.

So upon retirement from my job in Long Island, I vowed to get back to NYC to be closer to my aged mom at the time and to be a part of the NYC I grew up in. I love having people walking around and the many stores, businesses, events, activities to participate in if so desired.


“How do you feel you have accomplished this? How have you carved out a life there that causes the positives of a city like NYC to far outweigh the negatives? What are the positives aspects of the city, region that you love the most? How exactly have you created a life there for yourself that you enjoy and love and what does this specifically entail? Maybe you came from a place that you liked much less, and now you are much happier. You may be one who vows to never leave NYC.”

I returned to a very different NYC, the city where I grew up in and left at age 22, to return briefly at age 30, then return as a retiree. I bought a condo in Williamsburg just as the real estate market bottomed and was beginning to turn back up in 2012. It was a good time to buy but again hubby complained about not liking city living. I felt I had sacrificed for the family by being the primary breadwinner and provider of the family in the suburbs for decades and I wanted to stay in nyc for me ( my own indulgence). Fortunately, we were able to afford a house in a nice part of Las Vegas, which was to get away from the long cold winters in NYC while providing hubby with the car driving suburban lifestyle he is used to. I enjoy both environments though honestly, I find the people in NYC much more diverse and compatible with my interest in people with different backgrounds, interests, and histories. LV is great for easy living, sunny days, low COL, more space in a big 2600 sq ft. House. And yes, the roads are beautifully new and free of potholes, especially in the new parts of Summerlin where we live surrounded by the mountains and next door to the beautiful Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Still, NYC is a cultural Mecca for me. I have gotten used to a quiet lifestyle living so long in the suburbs, but I find that if I want I can attend so many different events and meet many interesting people. I LOVE Williamsburg. Yes, people are young here though we have a lot of families who have moved here. To me, it is the city (that is, Manhattan) but better. We are only one stop from Manhattan and a few ferry stops from either Wall St. or E 34th St. There is a lot of retail, yes a lot of chain stores but also more unique stores. I just discovered a bookstore nearby. Wow, what a treat which brings back good memories of family times browsing in bookstores. Though everything is expensive. So I window shop and cook mostly at home instead of dining out. ( Most of the food seems to be expensive and mediocre to me). But I love the easy access to Manhattan without the heavy traffic except Saturdays when we get a lot of people coming for Smorgasbord. I love being on the waterfront. I can enjoy views of the east river, Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn without all the constant car honking, traffic and people noise, etc. coming right at me.

How do we do it? A lot of work and determination to have this work out. My son also benefits because otherwise he cannot afford to live in NYC. He lives in the Williamsburg condo and have it all to himself for half a year. All of this involves money ofc and I have returned to an outrageously more expensive city. But I am committed to making this work and specifically leaving my waterfront condo to my son. There is only so much land in prime areas of NYC and I want this to be a family legacy and I hope my son can deal with the smaller junior 4 apt. if and when it is time for him to inherit the condo. In the meantime the family gets to live the NYC lifestyle ( with the luxury of having a gym and wonderful swimming pool in the building). Williamsburg reminds me in some ways of the village of yesteryear with a very modern twist. I love having young people around and I do not feel old around them. In fact, I just befriended a 26 year old today. On the other hand, I play card games with an older group. The choices are endless in NYC. I do wish I had more time and energy to do more things outside of the home but my apt. is very special. Just staying in and gazing at the river views with the different moods at different times of the day and night affords me great pleasure. Though I have been to the Smorgasbord only a few times, it is nice to know people come here to enjoy themselves. We also have the Williamsburg Music Hall and nightclub scene and hotels on Wythe Ave. Once they begin building the 27 acre Bushwick Inlet Park spanning Greenpoint and Williamsburg, there will be even more reason to love living in Williamsburg. Though I have to say the Domino Sugar Park, while small relatively speaking, is very well designed and obviously a real park used by community members to enjoy themselves. My, the views are gorgeous! Again, I like seeing so many young people lining up for entertainment to enjoy themselves. NY Times has covered stories of retirees wanting to live in the midst of all the action and activities in NYC. Honestly, there is no more comforting, exciting, stimulating, and exhilarating place like NYC, maybe because it is my emotional home. Many times it is hard to return to your childhood home. In my case, I find I can indeed come home. It is no longer the same place and it has its many flaws if you want to look for them or focus on them. On the flip side, if you want to focus on the positives, there are also endless things you can find in NYC. If not for hubby, I would just make this my only home with short trips away for the winter. Keeping two places is a lot of work and money. But as long as savings last and also as long as the stock market and I work well together, I hope to continue with a lifestyle that is quite near perfect for now. In time, we probably will have to live only in NYC or LV, one or the other. i selfishly hope it will be NYC and I never have to leave this city I love. In a location I never thought would be such a great fit for me as Williamsburg.

Another great, juicy read! I can relate to what you say about feeling like the people there as a whole are more interesting, stimulating to you than in, in your case, LV. I enjoy New Yorkers even though when talking to them I have to consciously make a point to speed up my thoughts and speech with them. I could see myself feeling the way you do about living there, enjoying it, but my spouse is like yours in that he probably would end up feeling cooped up and unhappy.

I am no longer working whereas he is and so my experience of tooling around the city and hanging around in an apartment would be very different from his in having to get out there everyday in the concrete jungle and work. His job would definitely be more of a pressure cooker in NYC with more competitive, ambitious, young people likely to contend with in his field. He would absolutely hate riding on the subway and having to maneuver himself in and out of tight crowds. He said he would only do it if it was the greatest job ever to come along which could happen since he is very experienced by now in his field but I don't know. We are in a transitional time figuring out our next stage of life. You have your nice escape with going back to LV every six months, but it's probably a whole different story being there full time, year round with only short trips out.

[Hefe]

I love it because every time I go & spend a lot of time in another American region, no matter how nice... or quiet, I end up getting bored after a while & want to come back.

[Manhattan2queens]

I love Nyc , like bxlover said the people who complain about New York will be unhappy anywhere . They are ungrateful , have them move to some out of nowhere hope in the Midwest like Kansas missouri or in the south they’ll kill themselves from boredom and sadness lol but idk they might like it . New York is definitley a vibe , I love the bright lights and everything being in close access , very fun diverse place with a lot of opportunities

[bxlover]

I love NYC because even though I grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods, in the 70s and 80s, I never felt poor. NYC had culture, we had hip hop and Punk Rock, block parti3s, break dancing, street art and we were the epicenter. We also had high art, I was encouraged by teachers to go to Museums and to enjoy classical music. NYC has so many musicians that classical and Jazz was abundant and inexpensive at so many venues like Churches and museums. The NYC library offered so many opportunities to learn different things at workshops, and with their large diverse book collections. I was poor but enjoyed taking a bus or subway to travel to different libraries, museums, parks, neighborhoods to take advantage of what was offered in concerts, plays, and workshops. In so doing I got to meet so many different type of people, young and old, rich and poor, of all colors and religions in a fun and peaceful way. I loved the Subway because as a teen I would just pick a spot at random on the subway map and head off for a new adventure to a new neighborhood different then mine. I benefited from the variety of NYC. I worked nights in College and I was around secretaries and other support staff who by day were art, opera, film professionals who financed their art working night jobs they hated. But I got to meet these people who shared their art with me when I was a teenager. That's just a start and that is just a taste of why I love NYC until age 22. I could do an other one from age 22- 40. And and other from 41-48. It's a great City, I haven't mentioned the food and various type of people I have learned from. Plus the woman, upon reflection I have dated woman from Taiwan, Vietnam, Guyana, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Brazil, Italy, Pakistan, Egypt, Spain, Antigua, Trinidiad, Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, Colombia, Belize, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Afro Americans and others with all type of religious and no religious beliefs. I interacted and enjoyed great freedom, pleasure, and support from all type of people here, it's been great.

[Evolving]

bxlover, you described the cultural diversity, opportunities, and experiences of NYC so very well. Great job in representing the excitement, uniqueness and beauty of NYC.

[bxlover]

Originally Posted by Evolving

bxlover, you described the cultural diversity, opportunities, and experiences of NYC so very well. Great job in representing the excitement, uniqueness and beauty of NYC.

Thanks. So much more can be said. Key is being willing to engage with others. To be open to listen to strangers. To be open and say " That looks interesting " I am older now and more isolated as I only travel to work as a family man. However, when I do take the subway or bus I see something and with a smile ask a person a question and usually get a friendly happy answer and those type of exchanges can lead to friendships. I like Churches for example, when in Manhattan for example love to go into open ones and look around. I find Church bulletins and find out they are offering a free concert, or are offering workshops for senior citizen housing or whatever and then share that info with others. There are lots of people who share here their talents. I love CUNY and now my daughter is in CUNY as well. I love lots of things. And this is the thing, you might think I am a social person, but I am painfully shy. I have a form of social anxiety but the City is so alive it forces me, or facilitates me to tap into the City's energy to be as social as I can be. The sheer millions of people here has allowed me to come into contact with people to engage successfully with. In a small town. I WOULD HAVE BEEN ALONE. In a big City and diverse one like this I could make friends with people in the library looking at the same type of bilingual Spanish/Italian poetry anthologies, or interested in Afro Caribbean Spanish music, or interested in English mystery novels, Science Fiction from India, Eastern Orthodox prayer groups, or what ever I found interesting at the time. My mother's Spanish Pentecostal Church some how had a group of Afro Caribbean Londoners who attended there in Spanish for a while who wandered in one day. NYC has all kinds of interactions. In College I dated Pakistani Muslim girl for a while who confessed she thought I was Arab and by the time she learned I was Christian Hispanic already was determined to see if we can love each other. Yet, when religious differences for her led her to break it off, she felt so bad she introduced me to her best friend a Indian Christian girl for me to date. I mean where else does this happen ?

[bxlover]

Originally Posted by city living

I have been here my entire life and I would prefer to locate to another city. Although I can find work anywhere, I cannot say the same for my husband.

I would say the one thing I would miss if I ever relocate is the convenience. That is something I love. And walking. I love being able to walk everywhere.

Don't underestimate the walking freedom the City allows. My family didn't own a car growing up and I did not have a car until age 33. My vantage point in the City was primarily from the perspective of a cyclist or pedestrian and you get to see things up and personal. You get to walk and enter new and interesting places and make neat little discoveries. I was recently just asking a walk in Brooklyn. I drove to Brooklyn to park my car and go for a walk for exercise and exploration, I live in the Bronx. Found myself walking an hour and found a little bar and stage called " Jallopy Theatre " in Red Hook. Found they are venue that hosts all kinds of artist and maybe I will be taking some banjo lessons as a result of a flier I saw in the bathroom. Plus the parks. The City has beautiful parks. My daughter is attending classes in Queens and there is a beautiful park near Bell Blvd with swans swimming on their pond. I got to see a seal off of Orchard Beach not long ago. The Parks too are a joy.

[bobspez]

Bxlover made a good point about being poor in NYC but not feeling poor. I never felt as poor in my life as I did, without a car, waiting for a local bus in LA. Seeing all the happy well dressed people drive by in their Mercedes convertibles and custom cars was torture. They were so ostentatiously "haves" and I was so painfully a "have not". But in NYC I could be on the subway sitting next to a millionaire who was getting off at Wall St. NYC felt like a true democracy to me. I never felt poor in NYC. And NYC offered me opportunities for work and financial security that LA never did. None of my friends and relatives who spent their lives on the west coast ever had the opportunities I did in NYC. If they were born without connections or money, they stayed that way for life.

Another great point is about walking opportunities in NYC if you love walking. When I worked in the Village I walked around Manhattan all the time, before work, after work, at lunch, on days off. Browsing in shops, finding inexpensive great ethnic food restaurants, just enjoying the lights and crowds and energy. I walked everywhere from the Staten Island ferry to the big stores at 34th St. and all the way to Central Park. When I worked in downtown Brooklyn I also walked around Brooklyn Heights all the time, even on weekends. I probably crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot into Manhattan and back a thousand times. I walked through the Brooklyn Heights brownstone neighborhoods, down by the water, over the bridge, around the Seaport, Chinatown, to the ferry, etc., just enjoying the fresh air, the historic brownstones and buildings, the people, the gorgeous views of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge, eating at small inexpensive ethnic restaurants and food stands, Jamaican, Greek, Arab, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian.

When I first got married, living in Bensonhurst, with three small children, weekends were spent walking to shops and parks and the promenade by the water and Verrazzano bridge, in Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge, with two kids in a double stroller and one in a backpack carrier, looking over my shoulder. Great memories. A great place to get established and raise a family.

[Evolving]

bxlover and bobspez, You both know the great parts of nyc and reading your descriptions makes me love and appreciate nyc even more. I wish I have the energy of a younger person to do all that both of you described so well. Love it. But I am happy being a small part of this complex and mesmerizing city.