“It’s been real…”, “Goodbye for now…”
As I scrolled through my newsfeed these past few weeks, I saw goodbye messages. Some were long paragraphs while others, a simple sentence. The statuses varied from writing styles to vocabulary, but they had one thing in common: All of them were addressed to New York City.
Goodbye messages to a location? A place that has no conscious and no need for affection? Why would people do that? and perhaps an even more perplexing question for me, why was I dreading the day when I would make my post? Because this city is a part of all of us. We grew up here, walked through the streets and felt its pulse. I know it is cliche for people to say that New York City is alive, but to New Yorkers, it truly is.
Like an organism, this city consists of smaller parts, all of which are necessary. These organs are neighborhoods that not only add character but also make up the culture and give New York its iconic diversity. The city would not be New York City without Chinatown as well as the Upper East Side. What would we be without Harlem and Tribeca? And let us not forget about the neighborhoods in the other boroughs like Bayside and Riverdale. Every place has its own start, evolution, and contribution. We have the luxury of getting cannoli in Arthur Avenue before heading down to get dumplings in Chinatown. Maybe you prefer spanakopitas from Astoria and tofu soup from Flushing. Either way, this city has what you crave, from lion dances during Chinese New Year to daily comedy shows in the West Village. Where else are we going to find a place with so much diversity, in the people, food, traditions, and culture?
The veins and arteries of this massive beast, otherwise known as the MTA, connect everything. Yes, it is frustrating when there are delays and changes in service (I alone have at least ten angry emails drafted on my phone), but at the end of the day, it holds a special part in our hearts. Maybe your experience consists only of the few times you took the train with a friend. Or maybe you were like me, where you took the train every single day to get to school, track meets, basically anywhere that life took you. Either way, just knowing that the transit system was there is a comfort. Knowing that I could survive in this city without ever needing a car is a luxury that I have yet to find anywhere else.
Lastly, perhaps the most important part of New York City, is its character and personality. We cannot see their whole production by dissecting the individual parts; we have to look at how everything comes together. This city is a hodgepodge, or as others say, a melting pot, of so many cultures and different types of people. I personally come from a public school, where my friends range from first to fifth generation Americans. Their ancestors come from all over the globe: Asia, Europe, the Americas. Our ancestral pasts differ so much yet we are brought together by this magnificent, impossible city. New York’s ability to accept and integrate us all is something that I will always be amazed at.
When tourists come to New York, they expect bright lights and flashy signs. But to New Yorkers, it is so much more. I love this city for its diversity, history, and everything in between. And it is this unconditional love that makes me so scared for the day I have to say goodbye.
