An insufficient, oversimplified account of the best summer ever in New York City.
I thought I learned long ago what heartbreak was. Then I left New York. And now I really know. I’m going through New York withdrawal, and the only way I can think to get through it is this.
A bit dramatic for an opening, I suppose. But if grade school literature techniques taught me anything it’s that narrative hooks reel people in, and that inciting incidents get things going. So here we are, reeled and ready.
I’ve been meaning to write about my summer in New York, but every time I sat to write I couldn’t think of the right words. I couldn’t encapsulate all the memories, experiences, and friendships in a concise yet thorough way. But I finally convinced myself to get words on the page, because life is far from perfect, and my writing follows suit. But I had too much of a good time not to reflect on it.
So… the summer…
Let me start by saying I had the best summer ever. I lived in Midtown Manhattan for eleven weeks, interning at an insurance company and exploring the city, having all the grand adventures that come along with living in a new place. I also made a little video montage! I can’t help but smile when I watch it 🙂
Visiting NYC at Christmas has always been a family tradition. An overnight, see the sights, and the tree, of course, maybe a show, and then head home. And that was always amazing. But this past Memorial Day I woke up in the most populous city in the United States. It was a surreal moment for me, realizing that I wasn’t on vacation or a short stay. I was spending the whole summer here. My childhood stuffed animal, Stripey, sat on my bed. That’s how I knew I was here to stay. In New York. THE New York. The place where some people give up all rationality to follow their dreams. The place that all the movies show in the flyover clips of the opening credits. Normally, in Hallmark movies, the big city gal moves back to her small-town to save the family pumpkin farm or chair the Christmas parade or whatever other entirely new and never before seen plots the writers scheme up. In a way, I was about to begin my own hallmark movie. A reverse hallmark movie. Small-town girl takes on the Big Apple… and no fake snow! Here I was, a tiny fish in a big, big pond, with little more than a bag of Ramen Noodles and a newly downloaded subway map app to show for it.
Living in NYC!
I stayed at 8th and 34th. Madison Square Garden and Penn Station were my backyard and the Empire State Building was a mere few blocks away. With a week before my internship started, I had time to get myself settled, gain some footing, and figure out the whole New York thing. Grocery shopping more than once a week, being able to walk EVERYWHERE, and developing the New York Step, were some of my accomplishments/found interests that week. What’s the NY Step? I’m glad you asked. It’s a little term I made up to describe the split second of time between when New Yorkers start crossing the street and when the crosswalk sign gives the okay to actually do so. It’s subtle, yet powerful. It’s graceful and slightly daring. There’s a je ne sais quoi about it that’s so. . . New York. New York Step. Check ✅
As an introvert, moving to a new city where I knew practically no one (I do have a cousin in NYC!), I expected myself to feel overwhelmed. I gave myself permission ahead of time to feel that way at the beginning. I also challenged myself to bring a “yes-man” attitude to the summer. To say yes to everything (within reason of course, nothing rude, or dangerous, or ethically wrong!). To new people and friendships. To new foods and activities. To new places, and experiences. And boy I’m glad I did.
My first morning in the city was Memorial Day, so lots of places were closed. What’s a girl to do? Well I laced up my sneakers and did what most New Yorkers do…walked somewhere. I headed west toward Hudson Yards, timing my route to my work office in the process. I strolled along the Hudson River, and I took it all in. The riverside park filled with walkers, runners, and dogwalkers. Families and couples, people on skateboards, bikes, and every contraption with one to 4 wheels you can think of. Walking south, I stared at the Freedom Tower, realizing that all the work I put into applying for jobs paid off. I was finally here in New York! I kept walking all the way down to the World Trade Center. . . . let’s just say my NYC depth perception didn’t develop until later in the summer. Better late than never. Round trip, it was a walk and a half. But I was happy as a clam doing it.
Housing & New Friends
My summer housing was through Educational Housing Services, a company that rents room to college students in the city, and I cannot say enough good things about them. Not only did they help make the process of finding housing easy and efficient, but it was through their programming and activities that I had the best time with the best people. Making friends in New York was definitely something that worried me ahead of time, but when I got to EHS, it felt like kindergarten again. Instead of bonding by sharing Legos or crayons though, we went on a walk together. That was it. Very adult. Very ELITE. We also had a little bit of help from some ninety-nine-cent pizza.
EHS had organized a “Neighborhood Walking Tour” for all the summer residents to meet each other. That Monday night, a bunch of eager twenty-something year olds set out to the streets to explore Midtown Manhattan with our tour guide. Meeting people from all over the country who were in the city for super cool internship, classes, and life experiences was the start of a great summer of memories. After our tour, a bunch of us hung out in the lounge of our building: playing pool, talking, and laughing like we had been friends in another life.
City Folk
Maybe it took moving to New York to help me realize there is a powerful grace in vulnerability, that putting yourself into new situations is how you grow, and that surrounding yourself with inspired, intelligent, independent, and empowering people leads to substantive conversations and fulfilling relationships. Living here made my life seem all too similar to FRIENDS. We actually joked over the summer that we could have made a reality TV show about our adventures… stay tuned, possibly.
The rest is actually history — a living history filled with memories, knowledge, and people that fill my head and make me smile every day. Over the course of the remaining ten weeks, I learned more about myself, New York, the working world, and being an adult than I could have ever imagined.
Just a few tidbits from New York . . .
Sure there are 26 letters of the alphabet but the A C E lines are where it’s at. They’ll get you home. When “home” is Madison Square Garden, that is.
Yes! You can figure out where you are without your iPhone… World Trade is South…Hudson is West… Streets run east/west and their numbers increase as you go uptown (North)… Avenues run north/south and (for the most part!) even-numbered avenues are one-ways uptown. If you can find your orientation and see which way a car is driving, you can normally figure the rest out.
DON’T WEAR HEELS ON YOUR WALK TO WORK. YOU ARE NOT A WARRIOR. YOU WILL GET BLISTERS AND IT WILL HURT. Learned this one the hard way. Commuter shoes exist for a reason, friends.
You can’t be bored in NYC. It’s impossible.
On the memories.. all those places, and all those things we did!
I tried to keep a running list of all the bars, clubs, and restaurants that I went to over the summer. I also have bulleted notes about different activities we did and places we went. I’ll be honest, I didn’t journal or write every day. Part of me wishes I had, but the other part of me is happy that I was either doing said activities or else sleeping (to have energy to do all the things!). HAHA! From my scattered notes, photos, videos from friends, and long-standing group chats, I have a solid memory bank. Besides, I could never write it all down in the detail it deserves.
Just a few memories:
Two Friends Concert at the Marquee
WHY DID THE TARGET IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN CLOSE AT 8 PM. WHY??
The entirety of July 4th (kayaking, cafes, South Street Seaport Beach Boys cover band, waterfront dinner, walking on a closed highway, fireworks, popsicles on the street)
Concert at Hudson Yards, Lucy’s Cantina afterward, and Payton saying this is the best day ever and that it was only a Wednesday
Sabrina’s rainy 21st!
Becoming the world’s biggest Rangers fan overnight
Working on the 74th floor with coworkers who became good friends
Debating with Alec about what a Met is and demanding the city of NY create better nomenclature
Getting my first paycheck and proceeding to buy a book from Strand and cherries from the Union Square Farmer’s Market (not the entire paycheck of course, that’d be way too many cherries for one gal)
Waking up every day and seeing the Empire State Building right away
Living in a hotel
Styling Blake and Jordan in H&M
Dancing and singing to Empire State of Mind because we HAD the Empire State of Mind
Always packing a granola bar for Payton when we went anywhere
First “real” dinner date
Street music, vendors, and festivals all the time
Debriefs with the gals (5 girls, 1 city… LOTS to talk about!)
Sanaa’s pecan chocolate chip pancakes
My best friend from home coming to visit me in the city!
Befriending not one, not two, but three people from Missouri
Every single night at the Mean Fiddler
Places and Activities:
Maybe I’ll make a NYC Summer guide to inspire your next trip. I did compile my favorite treats from the summer here…
Here are some other places that might be helpful if you’re a human like me and need food and water to survive:
Bars:
Anytime Karaoke Bar (note to self: “Stacy’s Mom” is a crowd favorite for karaoke)
Mr. Purple
Jibs
Hair of the Dog
Lucy’s
Industry
The Garret (a speakeasy in a Five Guys!)
Brass Monkey
The Mean Fiddler
230 Fifth
Walter’s
Slate (a barcade with a two story slide!)
Clinton Hall
Phebe’s
Niagara
Nothing Really Matters (a speakeasy in a subway station)
Gallow Green
The Happiest Hour
Restaurant and Food-ish Spots:
Da Nico’s
Gnoccho
Ignacio’s
Bar Dough
Artistic pizza
Et Cetera
Two Bros. Pizza
Café Atelier
Liberty Bagel
Pio Bagel
Industry Kitchen
Clinton Hall
Mustang Harry’s
Carnegie Diner
The Keg Room
The Smith
Tick Tock Diner
Stardust Diner
Oakberry
Happy Bowls
The Skylark
Vergils BBQ
Yakiniku West
Panda Express
Lucy’s
Dos Caminos
Los Tacos No. 1
Activities:
Brookyn Bridge
Chelsea Market
Dancing, dancing, and SO MUCH DANCING
Rowboats in Central Park
Lincoln Center
Fashion Expo in Brooklyn
Math Museum!!!
World Trade Center and Oculus
Rockaway Beach (wake up in city and train to the beach? Yes, please!)
Governor’s Island
Hudson River Park weekend running
Statue of Liberty and Staten Island ferry
Highline, Hudson Yards, The Vessel
Empire State glittering on the hour at night
The Edge
Broadway Show
Park walks
Concert at the marquee
Pickup basketball
Mets’ and Yankees’ games
Bryant park movie nights
City hall park
NY Public Library
Little Island
Chelsea Piers
Free concerts (I met Fiji Blue!)
Wall street bull, Stock Exchange, Battery Park
Subway, refilling my Metro card, and all the NYC lingo
Sunsets
Union Square Farmers’ Market
Strand Bookstore, Rizzoli Bookstore, McNally Jackson Bookstore
Times Square craziness and wanting to avoid it like a true New Yorker
Juneteenth festival in Brooklyn
Chess on the subway, Scrabble on the street (you certainly see it all in NYC!)
Good Luck Spot in Union Square
Kayaking on Hudson River
South St. Seaport
A three-borough Tuesday
Museums
Exploring the Village and Chinatown
FRIENDS. . . . .
I’m forever grateful for the friends I made this summer. I learned so much from them, and together we spent so much quality time exploring the city and learning to be New Yorkers (and more generally, adults)!
To Matt, Alec, Ben, Jordan B., Jordan W., Sanaa, Asher, Payton, Sabrina, Blake, and Charlotte, thank you for being such fun-loving, interesting, and adventurous people and for your friendship over the summer. More often than not, our life really did feel like FRIENDS, and I have endless memories from our time together. I can’t wait for a reunion and for all the memories to be made when we’re all working in the Big Apple.
Also to Liming and Severin (and the rest of our intern class!) for being great coworkers~and even better friends~and for making the working world exciting and not too intimidating.
That is the sparknotes version of my Summer in New York. I don’t even want to end this post because I think this was just the beginning. Of my twenty-something self, and all the (hopefully!) city adventures to come. So stay tuned…. thank you so much for reading!
Have a great day 🙂
Mean Fiddler night #234565886963727
You go, I’ll stay here!
~Katherine
Commentaires