Past the pollution that fills the streets and the skies, the stagnant economy that’s struggling to survive, the poor and homeless trying hard to stay alive, and the noisy masses scurrying from nine to five, there’s a small garden of Eden where hope can be derived. The flames of New York City caution us to move away, but there’s a large amount of us drawn to the warmth and the light the city portrays. I am of these people drawn to the flames. I do not refer to the flame of the destructive inferno- those two flames are anything but one and the same- rather, I refer to the flame of Lady Liberty’s welcoming torch. Such is the symbol of my hope and my dreams. New York City, despite all of its problems, is my home.
Growing up in New York, specifically, Queens, the city had always been a dreamy environment for me. The skyscrapers, overlooking every street and river, towered magnificently; the night lights shined brighter than anywhere else I’ve been to; and famous locations were always close by. Much of what I thought about the city still carries on today. The excitement was never lost. Like everyone before me has been saying, new things happens everyday in New York, no matter where you go. If you want variety, the city is the place to go. Oh and if you want opportunity, the city is the place to go! Also, I’ve always been amazed by how everyone gets along. Sure there are communities within New York that have large concentrations of specific ethnic groups, but they all mesh together quite nicely despite racial tensions such as what is seen in Spike Lee’s film, Do the Right Thing. Nowadays, racism has died down, or at least found a way to stay behind closed doors, and New York developed more into a “safe” melting pot of different cultures. It’s almost hard to find anywhere else where almost every nationality can be represented in a public high school. What I love about all this diversity is that it comes from the fact that we’re all New Yorkers. This unity that I feel as a New Yorker further roots me in its grasp. I belong to New York.
All the glorifying aside, New York is no where near perfect. So many problems exist in the city. I’m not talking about minor, subtle problems either. I’m talking about problems every New Yorker can tell you about. Pollution is a big one. You want nature? You want the smell of pine as you walk through your streets? Or what about some nice looking meado- okay you already know what I’m about to say. The city is an industrial place. There’s no room for nature, save Central Park and maybe a select few locations unbeknownst to me. The city air is anything but pure, and the stars aren’t visible in the night. Not to mention that all the pollution contributes to large environmental damage. Ouch. Oh and pollution isn’t as big a concern as say the stark economic differences between wealthy upper class New York and anyone underneath. Heck, just take a look at the Occupy Wall Street movement happening in the city as we speak. Everyone who’s not rich is having a hard time making it through the current recession. Unemployment is high, and homelessness has become a growing issue. Many more issues lay spread out through the city streets. They’re not so hard to find.
New York is a destructive place in the eyes of some people; however, I’m fortunate enough to be able to see New York in a different light. Much of my life, I’ve been able to witness the good, the glamorous, and the fantasy of New York. Such experiences, which can never be forgotten, have shaped my view of New York immensely as well as the fact that New York is my home. Here, I have all my friends, my family, a great education, lots of opportunity, and most importantly, my life. Sure I live every day inside this burning inferno that is the city, but I am relatively safe from the scorching heat of the fires, as I sit here in this pocket of my personal New York, my Eden.
Have you ever looked back on your life, at your previous “self” and see how much you’ve changed and how much you’ve learned about who you really are? It something I actually do quite often, and when thinking about my attitude of New York City, I can’t help but think of my past and present self.
My past self would probably think of New York City as an inferno. Living in Long Island for practically my whole life, I became accustomed to open space, quiet streets and a slow paced lifestyle. I thought I could picture myself on a country farm, picking apples, riding horses and milking cows (seriously, imagine how much fun that would be!) There was something so entrancing about the image of autumn leaves changing colors, collecting into piles on the front stoop. I pictured myself frolicking through fields of barley, looking up at the starry night sky, cool breezes blowing through my hair. I loved the idea of knowing all your neighbors and being part of a “community.” I wanted to be a member of a neighborhood, someone who was known and important. Not just a small fish in a big sea. (This was before something happened in my family that made me want to strangle my Long Island neighbors who couldn’t stop gossiping.) The typical country girl lifestyle seemed so appealing to me. I thought this was what I truly wanted. On the flip side, although I appreciated going into the city a few times a year, I could never envision myself living there. The city seemed like an overcrowded, dog-eat-dog world. I felt claustrophobic when I was in it, like the cars honking and the bustling people couldn’t be any more suffocating. There was limitless drugs and violence surrounding the dark corners of the city at night. There was overwhelming pain and suffering, due to people’s broken dreams.
My present self would think of New York City as the best city in the world. New York City offers countless opportunities. The city is constantly bustling and busy, with so much culture and artwork to see. It a place of constant perpetuation of ideas and innovations. It is filled with diversity and people from different walks of life. I find subways the most fascinating part of New York City. I love looking at all the different types of people who walk in and out of the train. I see all different types of people, from the ritzy white person who must live like a king on Madison Ave to the immigrant who is barely making ends meet in Harlem. There is no place more ethnically, economically,and socially diverse than New York City, and in this way the city fosters my love of culture and trying new things. I would never be able to do this if I lived in a small country town. There are so many museums, so many monuments to see. Every neighborhood in the city has its own feel, its own area to be explored. It is a city filled with constant mysteries. There are new discoveries to be made every day. It is a restless city, but that is something that makes the city so unique and wonderful. The hustle and bustle is something people may hate, but it is something I embrace now. Compared to Long Island, the city has so much to do all the time. I never find myself bored wondering what I should do next. Where I used to live, the main place all my friends and I would hang out was the mall. It got so repetitive and boring. It also offered nothing substantial except for a shopping addictions.
Another thing I love about the city is the fact that you are constantly meeting new people. I would hate to be closed in to living with and surrounding myself with the same people all the time. There is a part of me that always wants to reach out and meet new people, try new things, and that is something that I could never find in a small town. As well, in a huge city, no one knows your business. This may not seem like a big deal, but it becomes an important factor once something “out there” happens to you. In a small community everyone knows everything about you. People find things to gossip about and to judge you for. Yet, in the city, no one really cares as much. There are so many odd people, that weird becomes average. It’s almost like people in the city keep a blind eye to all thats around them. And although this also may have some negative effects, I think it really is for the best.
Even though the city is not filled all over with “typical” types of aesthetic beauty, like golden trees and enormous mountains, the city offers its own type of beauty. Recently when visiting Soho, I saw the graffiti on the walls more as artwork than illegal scribblings. I found beauty in the artwork covering the walls of the city. There is beauty when seeing the sun beam down on the reflective mirrors of the skyscrapers. And of course, there is central Park, which offers a taste of the countryside beauty in the middle of a wonderful city. So in a way, the city has a bit of every form of beauty. And this is what makes it my current Eden.
Living in New York for my entire life has had a huge effect on my perspective of life. The sad truth is that some people in this world are living in conditions that I could honestly say would probably be just as bad as Hell, if not worse. For others, I wouldn’t say that they are living in Heaven, but they are definitely living the life that some people could only dream about. So why is it that New York City has bestowed such profound knowledge upon me? Incredibly, it’s that these two worlds, Heaven and Hell, are able to coexist within the confines of this amazing city.
Simply surviving in New York City is a challenge. The rents are higher, merchandise is more expensive, the people are more aggressive, and the pollution takes some getting used too. Despite the challenges us New Yorkers face in persevering, the rewards are invaluable. Exploring just a small fraction of the city will reveal numerous opportunities that wouldn’t be found anywhere else in the world. People have been traveling to America, specifically New York, for hundreds of years with the hope of reaping the benefits found on the streets made of gold, and continue to do so to this day. However some must heed to this very important warning; those who cannot face the challenges of surviving in New York City will be roaming the depths of a ruthless inferno. New York City will not hesitate to eat you up alive.
Regardless of how bad New York City can be, I don’t think I could live anywhere else. Growing up with the natural beauties of the parks, the man-made beauties of the skyscrapers towering above me, the mix of cultures, the fast-pace, and a city that never sleeps has basically spoiled me. Heck, I’d even stay just for the twenty-four hour transit system, regardless of how much I hate it sometimes. Living in a city that doesn’t run at night would kill me. Last weekend I visited Philadelphia and I was going insane. Every restaurant closed before 10 P.M. and all I wanted to do was sit down to a nice dinner with some old friends. Not to mention that the transit system is nowhere near as efficient as it is in New York despite how the buses are always late. Even the mere pace of Philadelphia was getting on my nerves. Living in such a slow paced city for a weekend made me very lethargic. All of my diligence and willingness to work disappeared until I was dropped back into the wonderful, disgusting streets of New York City I call home.
Personally, I have experienced a taste of both the heavenly and hellish aspects that lives within New York City. When I was born, my life couldn’t be better. I had a happy, healthy family, my father had a great job that supported all five us, we had a beautiful house, and money was never really a factor that afflicted us. Unfortunately, happy families don’t always stay happy… When I was about thirteen years old, my parents went through a heartrending divorce that led to the loss of my home, broken family ties, and a lot of financial issues due to five years of lawyer fees. Not to mention that the loss of my father’s job did make things much better. I saw my life falling apart before my eyes and for good couple of years I was scared. I was scared we weren’t going to make it. New York was beginning to show how tough it could be to live in and we were hanging on for dear life trying not to be devoured alive. However, being the strong-hearted New Yorkers that we are, my father and I did not give up. My dad was able to find a job that could support us and I was able to do my part by obtaining a scholarship that allowed me to attend college for free (thanks to Macaulay)! When it comes down to it, true New Yorkers know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I have to admit, I’ve never lived in slums, begged for money on the streets, or scavenged for food through dumpsters; nor have I lived in the beautiful pent houses, had all the most expensive merchandise, or had my own personal limo driver to take me across the city. Even though I have never truly experienced the full potential of the Heaven and Hell found within New York City, I have had a taste of how hard and how wonderful it could be to live in the greatest city in the world. No matter what happens, New York City will always be my Eden.
I don’t have that strong of an attachment to call New York my eden nor do I fear it so much as to call it my inferno. When I think of New York I don’t think of a dream city that would be so amazing to live in. I think of it in a more practical point of view. Instead of thinking of the attachment people have with the glamorous city lifestyle, I see more of the physical attachments that one can have with New York City. I see my city for what it is and nothing more.
What is New York City for me? It’s a location. It’s where I’ve lived my whole life. (I have lived in Queens my whole life. All five boroughs count!) It’s where my family is. When I think of why my family and I have lived in New York City for so long I can only think of one reason. It’s where we all started our journey. My parents immigrated with their family and later my brother and I were born. We always lived here and if family moves away they move nearby. New York remains the center of our family. New York will always be home because it’s where family is.
I can understand why people are mesmerized with New York. Immigrants are mesmerized by the diversity that might provide an easy transition from their country to the United States. Businessmen and capitalists see money, money, and more money to be made in Manhattan’s financial district. Artists find their home in New York because it feeds their ambition to pursue their dream of becoming a professional artist. These examples all have something in common: the ambition and desire for success. Ambition is something that is felt all around the city by all types of people. This is why I think New York is a great city. It brings all type of people together that all have the same goal of success. These people will go to great lengths to be successful and this is the city to do it
With that said, being a New Yorker is hard work. If you come here for the first time the lights and the taxis might thrill you for only so long. If one doesn’t come to New York with a strong purpose they will definitely fail. If someone comes to New York without realizing what it is they might think it’s their eden only to realize that it’s their inferno. When the time comes for me to live on my own I would only choose to live in New York if I had a purpose being here. If I do decide to stay in New York I would know exactly what I am getting into. I don’t see a dreamy place or an evil place. I see a huge group of hardworking people all in one place. I can easily become one of the crowd, but if choose to move somewhere else I think I’ll begin to appreciate New York City even more.
Despite knowing the evils of New York City, my dreams and fantasies have always situated themselves in its great eclectic environment. In fact, the character of New York City has been drilled into my persona so powerfully, that it plays a dominant role in shaping my greatly aspired future dreams. Unlike most of the nation, my American Dream resides in the busy metropolitan streets of NYC and hence, NYC is definitely my Eden.
The urban and fast paced nature of NYC has raised me into a human that cannot survive without its unique atmosphere moving me through life everyday. NYC’s lively and moving personality can very well be my shot of caffeine, because if my town were to be quiet and asleep at 8am, you can expect me to stay in bed as well. I speak from dreadful experience and confidently know that I cannot survive in unbearably dreary ambience that exists in rural areas or even other cities. I truthfully reveal that even my decision to stay in New York for college was heavily driven by my personal zeal for the city itself. Thus, although the city sinks in garbage, rodents, and poverty at many areas and intersections, the life of NYC blows life into me. I am willingly to, and presently do swallow the flaws of New York to make my Utopia come to life in this bustling city that does take pride in making so many dreams come true.
To add onto the homely and needy feeling I get from NYC, I must confess that I’m a true tourist painted in a dweller’s costume. The physical beauty of NYC still forces my jaw to drop and my eyes to widen today. I gaze at the city’s skyscrapers as if I’ve never seen such wonders. The bright splendor of Times Square still leaves me speechless, running around taking pictures. I get goose bumps when I see the annual Independence Day fireworks or the New Year’s Big Apple. I love staring at NYC’s skyline from the bridge and the water that runs by it. I can taste, smell, and see the cultures of the world in this small yet, diversely gifted city. I am so amazed at times, that I can’t come to believe I’ve been born and raised by the very city that inspires such awe within myself as well the entire world. Of course, just like all humans aren’t perfect, my home city does not claim to stand immune to flaws. However, there obviously is a lot that NYC has and offers for which tourists, commuters, and even dwellers are enticed to it. Unlike so many cities, NYC gives opportunities to rise from poverty and this fact alone should be capable of changing many ‘Inferno New York’ viewpoints into those of ‘New York, the utopia’.
Realistically speaking, why would so many ethnic people chose to stay in New York City, if the city was indeed inferno? Aside from its countless luxuries, New York City provides basic necessitates in the most convenient way. Subways and buses run daily so you can get to work without needing a car. Schools and colleges pack the city so you can afford and attend with having to travel too far. Ethnic shops and restaurants occupy the streets so you can feel like you’re home despite being in a foreign country. All sorts of stores, brands, shows, and events take place in NYC so you don’t miss out on anything. NYC is not the dream of millions for no reason. Considering all of this, I’d be a fool to call NYC my inferno. Although I say that I’m still in the process of reaching my life goals and thus reaching Eden in that sense, I am already in Eden seeing that NYC gives me so much. Perhaps the character of New York City clicks with mine too well or I talk from complete ignorance of the supposed peace that exists in rural towns, I confidently label NYC as my Eden because it is a place that gives me peace.
NYTimes Arts
