Not Your Parent's New York

                   One of the reasons I was so keen to move to New York was because of my parents, and how they would talk about how much fun they had in the city when they were in college. They’d tell me about all the crazy things and people they saw, and it all sounded amazing from their perspective. Of course, this was when I was a little kid, and it was only when I started watching Martin Scorsese movies when I was a slightly older little kid did I begin to conceptualize how dangerous New York used to be in the 70’s and 80’s. Aside from my parents, most of what I knew about the city came from those movies: all the violence, drugs, poverty, prostitution, corruption on Wall Street, and regiments from the Union Army fighting Irish gangs in the 5-Points (although technically that was more of an 1860’s problem, but hey, Gangs of New York is my favorite Scorsese film, so I’m including it here).

                  I also grew up with sitcoms like Seinfeld, Friends, and How I Met Your Mother, but those just didn’t seem real to me, not like Scorsese film or my parent’s stories did. They all seemed too happy and carefree on those shows, nothing like the New York I heard about. Yet after all those movies I still wanted to go and live there one day, and looking back on it now I can’t help but think that it was due to my parents, who despite witnessing all of New York at it’s worst, managed to still have a great time here.

                  When I finally did move, I geared up for whatever the city danger the city was going to throw at me. But after a month or so of living in New York did I make a shocking discovery: New York wasn’t that scary at all. There were no porno-theatres in Time Square, or taxi drivers with mohawks shooting at pimps (that’s from Taxi Drive by the way). In fact, most of what I saw of New York was quite pleasant, and I feel very living here. This feeling really set in when my parents came to visit for the first time, and they pointed out all the spots where porno-theatres, drug-filled discos, and dangerous slums had been replaced by trendy stores like Trader Joe’s. (Apparently the area around 23^rd and 6^th used to be really dangerous. Imagine that.)

                  New York has changed a lot since our parents were here. It’s not without its fair share of problems, but the landscape is far different from anything I expected growing up in Orange County. But just like our parents, New York is still a blast, depending on you choose to spend your time and who you spend it with. It’s not our parent’s New York anymore, but the only way to know for sure is to come and experience it yourselves, and in the process you make it your own.