Images by John Hibionada
I'm a born and raised New Yorker. The city has been the backdrop of so many of my favorite stories, and exciting adventures. I'm sure everyone who lives here feels some sort of connection to this place. For me that connection has deepened so many of my childhood and adult memories. New York moments are real, and here are a few of my most unforgettable.
My dad trying to conquer his fear of heights long enough to take me to the top of the Empire state building. He stayed well in the center of the viewing area but let me get as close to the edge as I wanted.
My school trip to Ellis Island when I suddenly became acutely aware that the identity and history documented there was not my own.
My mother dancing and twirling along the fountains outside the Met, somehow managing to never fall in.
Years later, the memory of my first great love kissing me at Lincoln Center. He was in a tux and only took me there because he said the New York Times described it as the most romantic place to share a kiss in the city. It took 3 years after our breakup before I could stand on those steps without feeling sick.
Tearing up over the view on my last night in the city, before moving to Italy for grad school. And actually crying the first hour of the flight, halfway because of the sheer terror of moving to a country without knowing anyone or speaking the language and halfway because I was leaving the love of my life.
Every time I flew back to this city and met him.
Every time I make it home from work early enough to catch the view of the sun setting over the city from my living room window.
Here’s to my hometown
