Imagine being anywhere but New York City this summer, stripping out of the habit of being in a sweltering hot, sticky and over-air-conditioned hell of a city. (↑ what I imagine)
Now don't get me wrong. I myself am in a permanently dedicated relationship with NYC...but not in the summer. It's a time when a summer fling away from the stuffy, moody city seems refreshing. Unless you are taking up a dream job or doing something you have dreamed of all your life, NYC is guaranteed to not be the place in which you imagine passing your summer.
For one reason or another, however, you are stuck in the hellish big apple that poisons with its augmented number of tourists and heat, and rooftop activities you probably cannot afford. Everyone who is left is either a struggling student taking on a job or a broke intern (hence, they couldn't afford to leave). So even when some of the outdoor beer terraces, Greenwich Village garden restaurants and rooftop pools seem like a fun idea, you or your friends probably cannot afford them.
On top of that, social media likes to rub in the fun that everyone else is having fun elsewhere. Friends are studying abroad in Spain, others are taking a gap year in Crete, and solo travelers wander through Asia, eat at Michelin-starred restaurants in the French Riviera and tempt your wanderlust with the most vibrant images. This is when nostalgia hits you hard. You remember what you were doing during the past summers and how fun studying abroad might have been or visiting family in the Caribbean. You begin to pity your current summer, and rightly so.
NYC summers are a samsara of sauna-like subways stations and streets contrasted by refrigerator trains and offices. You turn into that chicken from a few nights ago that you keep refrigerating and then microwaving. A cool drink would be ideal, and fortunately, NYC is the mecca of all-drinks-iced. That is, if you have the time to wait on a line that leads you back out of the cold coffee shop into the streets. If the wait is not all that bad, then the prices must be. A gelato for $10, absolutely! I'll just opt out for the iced coffee then, which will probably melt before I can finish it.
If we weren't trapped in a heat bubble, maybe all those outdoor activities like morning runs would be possible, but when the temperature is over 100, we would rather Netflix and chill with our air conditioners. A beach or pool would surely alleviate the heat wave, but Coney Island simply doesn't suffice and you're lucky if you can find a pool. Especially when everyone is leaving to Long Island or chilling on the Jersey shore, you remember that NYC doesn't have a "real" beach. You best opt out for the playground sprinklers.
But, we're here and now. All we have are the trivial NYC things, and that doesn't sound half as bad.
