From The Peopling of New York City

I was born on December 27, 1991 in Cairo, Egypt to parents who were both from Cairo. A few years later my dad and our whole family applied for the lottery to immigrate to America. In the summer of 1995 we found out that only we were chosen to come to the United States. My father was an esteemed manager of a bank and my mom did payroll for a museum in Egypt. We were fairly wealthy and we had many apartments. Upon notification that we were about to emigrate, my parents quit their jobs and sold everything we had. As good as they had it in Egypt they knew that America would be better. The United States would provide a good education for me free from the Muslim principles that were taught in Egyptian schools. They were seeking a better life for me, and freedom from the inequality my dad faced at work because of his religion. In October of 1995 we arrived in New York where my aunt lived. We stayed with my aunt in her apartment in Manhattan for about a month until we moved to Staten Island. We stayed in a small apartment for a few months and then we moved to another apartment also in Staten Island, where we have lived for 15 years now.

This is a recent picture of me in my Brooklyn College hoodie!

This is an interview with my friend and classmate Priya about how I became a New Yorker!