What is your destination–My New York

As someone who has lived out of state, in the city, and in the
surrounding suburbs, I feel like I have had many unique perspectives on what it
means to be a New Yorker. Coming from a state like Texas, even though I moved
when I was very young, New York seems like a place of stereotypes. New York is
a foreign land filled with lights and chaos. When I go to Houston to visit
family, the one question I always seem to get from my cousins is, “Do you live
near Times Square?” Sadly, the answer is no. But I find it interesting that the
image that out-of-staters get of New York is that of Times Square and the
hustle and bustle of Manhattan. After living in Queens for most of my life, I have
to disagree.

I recognize that living in the outer boroughs is a much different
experience than living in Manhattan. But despite how different it may be, whether
you live in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, or the Bronx, your experience
still falls under the wide umbrella of being a “New York experience.” Growing
up in Queens, I was able to interact with different people at school, stores, and
on the street. I took the subway and was able to see for myself the different types
of New York.

At the age of 12, I moved to Long Island. Before anyone mistakes
my area for deep in Long Island somewhere near the Hamptons, I actually live
near the Queens-Long Island border (about a 10 minute drive to Queens). But despite
my area’s proximity to NYC, I live somewhere that is distinctly suburban. Most of
the people in my neighborhood have grown up there their entire lives and my
classmates in my high school had very interesting thoughts about the “city.” Most
only went to Manhattan, but some, like me, had moved from Queens. Spending the
majority of my teenage years on Long Island, I came to a realization of a
property of New York that makes the city uniquely New York.

Where I live, the socioeconomic status of the majority of my
neighbors and my peers is roughly the same. Although there are people who are
richer than others, the class disparity is relatively narrow. The city, however,
is not. New York City is home to people from all walks of life, from people that
own swanky apartments on the Upper East Side to people that live moderately in
a place like Midwood. Where I come from, we don’t have that. I can look at the
person in front of me at the grocery store and guess pretty accurately what
his/her life is like.  No piece of art demonstrates this idea better for me than does the image of a bus stand. The bus
stand is unique in that there are buses coming that will take you to different destinations:
whether it be the Upper East Side or Midwood. The people waiting for the bus
come from different situations, some better than others. However, they all
stand together at the same bus stop, waiting to take the bus to different destinations.
All these destinations come together and collectively make up New York City.