1. About Me

My name is Breffni, a born and raised New Yorker from Astoria, Queens, who’s on a quest to both become a lawyer and to find the best bagel in the city. My father is American born, my mother not, and both were raised in Ireland and met in NYC. They met at The Breffni Bar actually, which explains my first name. The name is also derived from my mother’s favorite poem, “The Little Waves of Breffny,” which is fitting because I love to write poetry and other pieces.

While my parents have retained their brogues, they didn’t raise me or my siblings in a distinctly Irish way. I learned a handful of Gaelic words growing up and we always went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but beyond that, it was a typical American upbringing. I attended public school in my youth, and while my parents shocked relatives by not raising us Catholic, I still went to a Catholic high school. We took regular family vacations, including trips to Ireland, but my dad, a carpenter, was often busy working. My mom, a nanny, has been raising babies since I was a child, so I have grown up taking care of pseudo-siblings, an experience which has likely shaped my desire to become a teacher.

I would love to stay in New York City to teach and practice law, because I really do think that NYC is the greatest city in the world. I love the city’s dietary staples, like pizza and bagels, because carbs are always a great idea. I love that it is a city that never sleeps; there is always something to do, one just has to look. And I love the diversity. Walking down the street is like travelling the globe, and it is so interesting to learn about so many different cultures.

Of course, I don’t love everything about this city. I dislike how expensive it can get. Why are there so many luxury apartments when the average New Yorker can’t afford them? Why do shoebox apartments have to cost an arm and a leg? Even the corner store’s prices are skyrocketing. Secondly, I dislike the New York stereotype that suggests it’s an unsafe city and that all New Yorkers are rude. Some of us are, but still. I also dislike the inequality across neighborhoods, and the stigmas that accompany them. There is no reason that people that live on the Upper East Side or Tribeca should be thought of as better than those who live in Washington Heights. Further, there is the idea that NYC is all about Manhattan. It’s not.

2. Transit experience

Everyone has a love-hate relationship with the MTA. While I have had tons of completely ordinary, uneventful trips on our city’s subways and buses, the first story that comes to mind is one that was less than ideal. Even now, I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I do know that it made me uncomfortable. In this post-“grab her by the pussy” world, acknowledging violations of personal space is a must, even on crowded trains where this space is limited.

Two years ago. January. R Train. Rush hour. I was wedged in an overflowing car that had the familiar smell of homeless person’s piss. I had the normal level of distrust that comes with a packed train, and I held my bag a little closer to my side as I read ads for breast augmentation and technical school. And then I started to feel weird. As the train made the long under-the-river trip from Lex to Queens Plaza, I couldn’t put my finger on it. And then the doors squeaked open, people shuffled off, and the weird feeling became clear. A man I hadn’t been able to see was seated in front of me, with one hand on his crotch and the other massaging my knee.

The weirdest part? The man looked offended and honestly surprised when I said, “can you f***ing not?” I quickly pushed my way to the end of the car and into the next one. It showed me that you never really know who you’re commuting with. The action of touching a knee is not inherently sexual, and there are cases where the contact has been much worse to the point of sexual assault, but sex is not the issue. The issue is that people take the advantage of crowded trains to invade the space of others.

My name is Truly Johnson. I’m a Computer Science major and I’ve lived in New York City, specifically Manhattan, my whole life. One of my favorite things about NYC is that there’s always something going on. If you’re bored, you don’t have to be for long because there’s always a street fair, protest or someplace interesting you can go, often for free.

Another thing I love about NYC is the diversity. There are so many different cultures that it feels like no matter how much you have already explored the city, there are always new places to find, new foods to taste, and new areas of the world to explore while still staying in the city. And you’re not always surrounded by the same type of people, with the same beliefs and backgrounds, all the time.

Finally, I like that New York City is pretty closely packed, so you can walk to a lot of the places you need to go. Walking is a nice experience, good exercise, and better for the Earth than driving a car. And even for the places you can’t walk to, there’s public transportation, so you never have to use smelly and gas-guzzling cars if you don’t want to. And I don’t want to. Because, as you might be able to tell, I am also very interested in sustainability and protecting the future of not just our city, but also our planet.

I have very few memories of growing up in Sialkot, a city in the northeast part of Punjab, Pakistan. At five years old my family decided to move to the United States, joining my father who was already working in New York City. We moved to a diverse neighborhood, made up of Italian, Chinese, and newly immigrated South Asian immigrants, between Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. I quickly became acquainted with NYC, taking frequent trips to Central Park and other must-see sights in Manhattan.

As I was about to start high school my family made a decision to make another move, this time out to the suburbs in Valley Stream. Unlike the majority of Long Island, the ethnic makeup of Valley Stream was similar to that of Brooklyn. We were once again surrounded by first and second generation immigrant families who, like us, were trying to escape the burdens of city life while still staying close to the city for work and school. Throughout high school, I enjoyed the life of a suburban teen, playing video games at my friend’s house just a couple blocks from my own, competing in sports when the weather permitted, all while being pushed by my parents to excel in academics. I quickly became involved in almost every club my small high school offered, captaining both the volleyball and tennis teams. This passion for sports continues today, where I play tennis for the Hunter College tennis team. When I’m not playing tennis, I major in Bioinformatics and minor in Public Policy at the Roosevelt House. I hope to someday work with immigrant populations in health care with the ultimate goal of obtaining a combined MD/MPH degree.

Living at Brookdale in Kips Bay as a college student, I enjoy having the opportunities to grow as a professional, with hospitals, laboratories, and countless internships. Another thing I like about the city is the easy access to south Asian food on curry hill when I’m missing home along with all of the other cuisines that are readily available. The third thing that I enjoy about NYC is the independence and privacy one is afforded if they seek it, but also the interconnectedness which is discussed a bit in E.B. White’s piece, “Here is New York”. When thinking of things that I don’t like about NYC, the first thing that comes to mind is the price of food. Having to pay over ten dollars for a decent meal proves to be a problem as a college student on a budget. The cost of transportation is understandable for a monthly subway pass, but the unreliability and the sheer number of people on my commute cause daily stress. A problem that I have also observed is the de facto segregation that exists throughout the boroughs. The existence of ethnic enclaves fights the diversity that could promote harmony and understanding amongst different people.