From The Peopling of New York City

Hi, my name is Madeline Mineo and I am a New Yorker.

According to the Urban Dictionary, a New Yorker is, “Someone who has guts, brains, good looks, and the right attitude. Someone who is able to live in the greatest city on the face of the planet, in the center of the world, and enjoy it.” Within this definition I believe the most important part is the fact that a New Yorker “enjoys” living where they do. This quite a biased definition, but since I consider myself a New Yorker, I think it is very true. However, I will admit that although I have lived in New York my whole life, I have just recently become a “New Yorker.”

Beginning in 1945, my family established themselves in New York. Both sets of my grandparent were born in various locations in Italy. They each immigrated to America, Brooklyn, New York in particular, at young ages, with their families in hopes for a better, more prosperous life.

I was born and raised in New York but never saw myself as a true New Yorker because I was so unfamiliar with the actual city (Manhattan). This was due mainly to the fact that I have overprotective Italian parents. Nevertheless, this aspect of myself changed the summer/fall of 2009 when I became a Macaulay Honors student. We were sent to various locations in Manhattan to do community service and attend different cultural performances and art shows. In doing so, I was able to explore the city, learning so much about it and the people living there. Not to mention I went from being MTA illiterate to being able to get myself home from anywhere in the city. Getting to know New York and enjoying my experiences here is why I can today call myself a New Yorker.