New York notes
Thoughts and observations after living here for a month
There are moments where time ceases to exist. It’s like entering some strange world where doing anything at any hour is perfectly acceptable. You’re swallowed whole and spit back out on the other side of tomorrow.
We spent a month in New York City, in the heart of Brooklyn. Endless culture, food, and energy, which either fills you with excitement or angst depending on the day. We arrived to an oddly warm late fall—the perfect time to visit as the final gasp of summer bleeds into the colorful fall foliage.
What a juxtaposition that was, coming from Montana where there were few people, and basically no culture, and you have to drive everywhere. To Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the polar opposite of Montana, which is white, really white. New York is a canvas of color. Everywhere you look you're surrounded by people from every country speaking every language.
The area we stayed in is called Crown Heights. It borders Little Haiti and Little Caribbean which borders Hasidic Jewish neighborhoods. Our Airbnb was small and comfortably fit one person… but for two fully grown humans and two hyperactive kitties, it wasn’t ideal but we made it work. Right across the street is a classic pizza joint called Joe and Sal's. I had lots of pizza this trip (nearly a slice a day for the entire month), but Joe and Sal’s was the best pizza I had had.
The city has every kind of cuisine that you can imagine and we didn't even scratch the surface. For my 33rd birthday, Annie took me out to a Michelin star restaurant that served no-nonsense food from Oaxaca. It was wild. This city has turned me into a “cocktail guy,” or whatever the watered down version of a cocktail guy is. There's got to be ten thousand cocktail bars in this city. New York is very much a drinking culture, and if you don't drink then it's tough to do things as the social scene revolves around lots of booze.
We saw a few shows. LCD Soundsystem rocked our socks off—these guys are professionals, and they’re from Brooklyn—basically inventing that post-punk-yet-very-punk-rock electronic music that defined a generation of Gen Xers. The other two concerts FKJ and Alex G were the epitome of Gen Z crowds with kids pretending like it’s the 90s: bucket hats, light wash jeans, mismatching clothes. We also did the very New York thing and saw a Broadway show, Book of Mormon, from the creators of South Park. It’s pee in your pants funny and a lot raunchier than I thought it be. The venue for Broadway was smaller that I had anticipated too—intimate in the best way. And don’t get me started on the museums…
The energy in the city is undeniable. It's like taking a drug and not coming down. People walk around with a "don't fuck with me and I won't fuck with you" attitude which I respect. Life in the city oddly feels as though you're in a movie where everyone around you is the cast. The city is not for the faint of heart, and you’ll notice a funny little evolution within yourself because in no time, you’ll start walking and talking faster. Running shoes are the shoe of choice as you're walking constantly. It’s no wonder why people are so thin here.
I can see how this place could be addictive, especially if you're young and looking to make your mark. New York is the place to do it. Throughout my stay, I was reading Kitchen Confidential. Anthony Bourdain recounts his dirty, mischievous, and downright crazy adventures of being a chef in the city during the 80s and 90s. It was a wild book but it gave me perspective. Something like this: There have been so many people going in and out of this place, with all of their hopes and dreams, living out their lives, tapping into that endless source of energy. This place is iconic, and in many ways it's the pinnacle of our civilization.
Some people like Bourdain are absolutely made for a city like this. They live for the chaos. That chaos, a controlled chaos, is what everyone opts into, and I witnessed myself adapting to such chaos after about a week. But the fact is that life is just harder here. Everything is harder like groceries, laundry, meeting friends—all of it requires a lot more effort because there are so many damn people.
What happens when you jam 8 million people together? You get some crazy, beautiful chaos. There’s a cool thing though—the pride. It feels like New Yorkers first view themselves as, well, New Yorkers, above anything else. Unlike other places, people have friends from many backgrounds and ethnicities here, and it reminded me a lot of visiting Cuba in 2017 where people are every shade of color, and all hanging out with one another without too much fuss. I like that.
As an Oregon boy, I’ve always longed for things that are wildly different than what I had grown up with. I always wanted to live in New York City and I’m grateful I got the opportunity to do so. I’m not sure it’s a place where I could live permanently but let’s just say that I now get it. Being here reveals truths to yourself that you have to confront.
Get lost on the subway after dark. Drink too many cocktails. Eat your way through countless neighborhoods. Make a friend. Come out the other side of yesterday. In doing so, you will discover that New York is a culture machine, and similar to how Silicon Valley creates technology, New York creates culture and sets it for the world.
New York is absolutely unique and nothing to compare with. It is not for everyone to live in but I do agree it is good to spend some time there (a couple of months), it gives you some perspective and interesting observations and experiences. Thank you for your notes :)