The Charm of New York City

I interned and lived in NYC for 5 months and it was the best 5 months of my life. I'd go wandering the streets every evening after work and seeing where it would take me. It felt like adventures were waiting around every corner.

I stumbled upon all kinds of fascinating places, from obscure bookshops to thrift stores to tiny art galleries to amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurants I never managed to find again. I didn't have to plan ahead for weekends - I'd just walk, and experiences opened up. I got to see a huge cross-section of society that felt like all humanity represented in one place. I loved the disorganized coziness of Greenwich Village and how every building felt rich with history. I'd trek west through open avenues and hang by the piers, listening to the waves rush against the concrete; I'd watch the sunset over the Hudson River and feel at peace with the universe. I'd walk through the streets near midnight and see the city alive with lights and sound and life and distant skyscrapers with glowing windows hinting at the thousands of lives going on all around me. I'd get lost in Central Park as the evening darkened into night and left me wandering through fields of fireflies towards the far-off glimmer of civilization, and I never felt more alive.

I rode a train to Coney Island, gazing out the window as whole neighborhoods whizzed past. I felt the wild sea breeze against my skin and walked the beach beneath an overcast sky. I rode the ferry to Staten Island and got lost among streets of silent houses, braving the light rain until I found a bus shelter and got on a bus of people quietly chatting or dozing away in the afternoon lull.

I loved the subways with all their weird smells and assortments of people; the way that peak hour subways were packed tighter than I thought was physically possible and it almost felt like a daily hug. Off-peak, I watched empty stations zoom past like mysterious places from some fascinating dystopia, portals to yet more streets waiting to be explored. It felt like the whole world was out there, calling to me. All I had to do was go.