New York, I Love You

On this day, 25 years ago, I moved to New York City

I did it all

I lived in Manhattan on 9/11 (about six miles North)

I walked through Times Square when it was empty, just me and my girlfriend, days after the towers came down

I almost threw up the first time I saw the skyline without the towers, that same day, from 14th street

I lived through the blackout of 2004

I lived in Brooklyn

I lived in Queens

I met exotic women

I met mysterious rich people from all over the world, with tales beyond belief

I fell in love

I saw the best musicians in the world in small, empty clubs before they were famous

I came close to getting in fights with homeless people. Many times.

I found the best pizza in the world and ate it regularly

I became a regular at a bar in SoHo, friends with the owner, my very own Cheers

I rollerbladed around Central Park, often at sunrise after being out at the bar all night

I saw my first dead body, lying in the street

Then my second

I memorized almost the entirety of Manhattan below Central Park

I saw subway musicians that you wouldn’t BELIEVE

I was one of the first gentrifiers in a new building in Long Island City

I lived behind the Pepsi sign

I read Fountainhead from that apartment and that pier behind the sign, watching Manhattan and reading, just as Rand would have wanted

I fell in love with the city, and swore never to leave

I fell out of love with the city, and had an ugly divorce

I miss it

I love it

I’ll never get over it

New York, I love you