My NYC: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, & Bronx

Having lived in New York City all my life, my NYC isn’t just the commercialized Times Square with all the bright lights, heavy commotion, and “I ♥ NY” T-shirts. To start off, I can’t imagine NYC without its complex and historical public transit system of the one and only Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). I have learned and explored so much of NYC thanks to the easy accessibility to subways and buses. Ever since I was little, my dad would take me to various places in the five boroughs so I have come to appreciate the unique characteristics of each borough. Because my family doesn’t own a car, we have adapted to using public transportation for much of our traveling.

There are a myriad of exquisite landmarks and attractions all over NYC. In Brooklyn, there’s the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. In Manhattan, there’s the famous Central Park, and some of my other personal favorites include the High Line and Battery Park. Speaking of Battery Park, I have been on the Staten Island Ferry countless times. I have even been on Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty up close. From where the Staten Island Ferry terminal station is, you can also take a ferry to Governor’s Island, where we had our Macaulay Outward Bound Orientation. There’s nothing like a mixture of colonial history around you while taking a walk or bike riding. I can’t forget about the museums and zoos either. There’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, Museum of Natural History, Guggenheim and so many more. In the Bronx, there’s the Bronx Zoo and of course there’s always the Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Coney Island Aquarium. All of these things give NYC its own unique identity.

After attending LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, which is right by the Julliard School of Music, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera House, and Carnegie Hall, there’s no way that these places do not come to mind when I think of NYC. Arts thrive in NYC, and that is no surprise when you have some of the world’s best institutions and performance venues in direct sight.

I believe one of the best things about NYC is its cultural diversity. To this day, NYC is a melting pot. For example, we all know of Chinatown, Manhattan and Flushing, Queens, which highlight Asian communities and cultures. Next to Chinatown, there’s Little Italy, where Italian restaurants occupy the streets. Recently, I visited La Maison du Macaron, a French-style bakery that specializes in macarons- thin, flavorful meringue cookies that are sandwiched together with some kind of filling. It is rare to find good macarons being sold outside of France, but of course in NYC, the chance is just that much greater. I am depicting NYC’s cultural diffusion in terms of food because I think that is one of the easiest ways of showing what NYC has that other cities, etc. cannot offer.