Good morning, Thursday. It's a beautiful sunny day in New York City. So I thought I'd take a pause and reflect.
I've started freelancing at Ann Taylor, which is located on Times Square. To a real New Yorker, working or being near Times Square is a take a deep breath first kind of vibe- the most tourists, the most bullshit, the biggest crowds and swarms and huddled masses. I'll admit that the thought of coming here on the daily was not the happiest thought I've ever had, but working on one of the most crowded stretches of Manhattan is affirming.
Because this city is beautiful. And I am still in awe of the fact I get to live here.
Recent news events have rattled me (and all of us) to my core. I'm shaken, stirred, and every which way. It's amazing to me that an 80s icon is in the White House- which comes with a cavalcade of 80s associated fears- greed, nuclear war, and yes- hate. As a child in the 80s we were hardly immune to hate. As a young Jewish girl in a Philadelphia suburb I quite clearly remember swastikas being soaped onto our cars on the night before Halloween almost every year. I remember the Klan, still hooded, showing up on the news from time to time and scaring the crap out of all of us with their messages of hate and white power. And I grew up having nightmares about Nazis after reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's Night in Hebrew school. So there's that. But I digress. Because New York. NEW YORK.
As I was walking to the office this morning along 42nd Street past Bryant Park going west, I took some time to look at all the beautiful faces I don't often see when my head is in my phone or when I'm annoyed that someone almost knocked over my iced coffee by getting too close. There were faces of every color and creed. There were fashionable women. African American women. A Sikh man with his head wrapped. And every type of person you can imagine, all living and loving and getting to work together on this sunny late Summer morning. Amidst the glow of marquees and the sirens and the traffic cops, there was humanity. Everywhere you look. It still mystifies to this day.
I am not one to ever take this amazing city for granted. I have loved it since the moment I've arrived and though I left it for some time, I feel more New York than ever. Because we are diverse and strong and liberal and we are everything this nationalist crap is not. And though it's this very same swarm of humanity that can often overwhelm me for its energy and mass, today I realized yet again that what makes New York great despite rising rents and horrible subway delays is all of us. It is in no way easy to live here- in fact, it's really hard. But the reason we show up every day and work as hard as we can and survive here is because we love living in a city where we can be whomever we wish to be. There is no doubt that this city has changed -some for the better and some for the worse. It's too expensive and I worry that the heart and soul of this place has been pushed out by hedge funders and beauty bloggers. But here's what's not changed since Holly Golightly had breakfast at Tiffany's- there's still a lid for every pot here, and there's still a hugely diverse swath of civilization here and there always will be. And I believe that in New York, you can still come here to escape a sheltered or intolerant life and do your thing. And that's no small feat.
As I watched the events unfold this weekend, I worried about my friends living in other parts of the country where this may not be the case. Yes- we live in a bubble here. But it's a bubble that's a model of progressive thinking and tolerance and respect for our rights as individuals to practice, love, and be whatever we want to be. And that's what America is supposed to be all about. To look out onto Times Square and feel you are a part of something very powerful. The power and love I feel from and for this city will most likely never leave me. So I wanted to take a second away from some regularly scheduled programming and yet again profess my undying love for a city where every day I feel lucky to live in a place where I can be me, regardless of how difficult things get. I may be too cynical these days to be romantic, but New York still brings it out in me. I can't help it. I love this crazy place.
So thanks New York. I love you forever- let's stay together. Loving you whether...
Cause that's what's up this big city kind of Thursday in the best place on Earth. Yours, in silly love songs and big apples. Because New York. XO