I have always felt like a tourist in my own home city. I always lived in Staten Island, which is still technically part of New York City, but I can’t connect the concrete jungle of the city skyline as a part of my home. I grew up planning trips to “the city” (a.k.a. every other borough) without a second thought of the irony of these plans- I mean, I already LIVE in the city. I realized all of this on one of those “trips”, when I visited the Manhattan High Line.

Tourism at the High Line

Much to my embarrassment as a native resident, I found myself at what may be the one of the biggest tourist attractions on the west side of Manhattan. After all, it is a place specifically designed to view Manhattan as a huge mass of buildings; homes businesses and fabulous architectural structures rising higher and higher, surrounded by water and covered with beautiful graffiti. It’s absolutely breathtaking, even if you’re familiar with the island already. It also made me realize that I can think of myself as a New Yorker all I want, but I still act like a god damned TOURIST when it comes to the boroughs that aren’t Staten Island.

A mass of buildings as seen from the High Line

This city is my home, and yet it isn’t. Staten Island is definitely my home- I am simply a visitor everywhere else. I can tell you where each Staten Island town is and how to get there, but I am truly lost as to where each area is in the other boroughs. I am not even able to tell you where most of the towns in Queens are, and I’ve been living in the Summit dorms at Queens College for half a year now. The High Line was a wake-up call to my lack of knowledge of New York City and how utterly massive my home really is. I’ve lived here for 18 years and I’m still a New York City tourist; I might just be one for the rest of my life, too.

High Rock Park, Staten Island, New York –        This is what I imagine when I think of home, which starkly contrasts what I imagine when I think of New York City and what I see at the High Line.