Growing up in NYC

Let me begin by saying I am a native New Yorker. I was born and raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and lived in the same apartment building for 23 of the first 24 years of my life. I went to high school in the Bronx; not the Bronx that you are probably imagining, but in Riverdale, a very nice neighborhood. People are often shocked when I tell them that I grew up in Manhattan, but let me make it clear right off the bat: growing up in Manhattan was amazing. I was fortunate enough to go to a high school outside of Manhattan with a campus and ball fields, but the bottom line is that I grew up in the greatest city in the world. By the time I got to college I was more mature than the ‘tunnels and bridges’ kids, I was used to going out to bars, used to drinking Jack Daniels, and was not in awe of the freedom that college allows you, yet I appreciated every second of it.

I went to college at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor is freaking awesome by the way, more on that another day), but there was never a doubt in my mind that not only was I moving back to Manhattan, but that I would raise my kids here (whenever that may be, I am a long way off from kids). I came back from college and moved back home (as most of my high school friends did), while my college friends slowly began to move to Murray Hill. I lived with my mom in a great setup, went to graduate school, and enjoyed the single life in Manhattan. Living with my mom was great, but the time has come for me to move. I am hoping to move within two weeks into a great 2 bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village with my boy R from Chicago.

After living on the Upper East Side for 20 something years, this move will be a big change for me. While I know the entire city extremely well, and have spent years and years going out downtown, I have never actually lived there. R and I both go out a lot, try to pick up girls, eat at great restaurants, and chill with the same group of kids from college and my high school. We will take advantage of living downtown, from the great food to the hot spots in the West Village to the NYU scene.

This city is and will always be home to me, and I am pumped to live in a different and exciting neighborhood; and remember, my perspective is one of a real New Yorker.

B

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