How Is Your Love Affair Going? Have A Date With You, Yourself And The City

- April 24, 2013

Every once in a while, you've got to enjoy a night out in NYC from the perspective of your own photo-lens. I remember one line from the cult show "The Sex and The City", which not only makes a great sense for the NYC ladies, but that pretty much explains the 'relationship' the New Yorkers have with the city. It's when Carrie Bradshaw says that she has "a love affair with NYC and it's getting serious"... Isn't it serious for you as well?

In the recent New York Magazine article, this 'affair' with the city is deeply explored: from the real experience of growing up in the city (told by the famous people) to what makes the city so 'hated' and 'loved' at the same time.

I love my personal dates with the city. I often enjoy it all by myself as if it belongs only to me. You know that feeling?

Taking the walks around my favorite neighborhoods, sucking in the views, the vibe, the people of the city never felt better anywhere I've been to as it's been for me here - in New York City. Last month's one of the New York Magazine's issues was celebrating its birthday with an anniversary issue and marked the passage of time by dipping into the city's past. Their feature article When We Were Young presented the personal stories from the famous people about what it was like growing up in New York back in the days when it was safe to swim in Hudson - [yes, that's right, there was time when Hudson was clean enough!].

The interviewees included such big name personalities, like Chevy Chase, Colin Powell, Barbara Walters, Michael Bloomberg, Joan Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, and etc. T

hey also had a section dedicated to how it was for the children to be growing in the city in the early 20th Century, as well as some specific stories about the kids, whose name made it to the press. You can read it in 400 Years of Kids in the News article.

It was quite a story that revealed details of the city back in the days most of which we do not face anymore in the modern day and time in New York.

I loved what the famous interviewees said to describe NYC and that's still so much resonates how the city might feel to its residents today. These are my favorite quotes from the article:

More of the quotes from the article I loved:

Hank Azaria Actor, b. 1964

"Central Park at night lived in my head like some kind of nightmare—Where the Wild Things Are. It was like it had literally been overtaken by gangs."

Joan Rivers, Comedian, b. 1933

"New York was the magic city. New York was Oz. All I wanted to do was to get out of Brooklyn and get into Oz. We’d go to the theater district—I saved my money, and I would go with a girlfriend and sit in Sardi’s, order an avocado for 60 cents, and wait to be discovered. They must have been thrilled to see us. We went to Howard Johnson’s, and Ellen smoked a cigarette. We’re sitting at the Howard Johnson’s, and we’re smoking cigarettes—say no more."

Leonard Lauder, Cosmetics Executive, b. 1933

"It was a little kid’s paradise. We lived on West End Avenue between 74th and 75th Street. There was the 74th Street gang, and the 75th Street gang, and the 76th Street gang. In May, it was marble season—we would play marbles in the street—right on West End Avenue. It was World War II, and there were no cars."

Gene Simmons, Musician, b. 1949

My mother and I are immigrants, and I was oblivious. We didn’t have TV, we didn’t have radio. My mother was afraid of the outside world—she survived the concentration camps, so of course you’re clannish. She stuck me in the yeshiva. The problem was I couldn’t speak English. One of the first phrases I learned was, “What, are you stupid? Can’t you speak English?”

This is exactly how I've been feeling about NYC since the day I moved to the city in 2001 - there's a vibe in the city that can not be described, it can only be felt. My love affair with the city has never been stronger, and everything else in my life complements it.