By: Ava

This is a great piece and made me think a lot about my own experience as a transplant to NYC. I moved here in 2003, largely because of the musical RENT and the Broadway community in general. As a queer person, I always felt more at home here than I ever did where I came from. But as a white person who came here from somewhere else and has lived in some predominantly POC neighborhoods I also have to consider and sit with how my presence affects the people who were here before me.
I think the best thing about NYC though is that there’s not just one “New York experience.” The way you experience the city has a lot to do with the neighborhood you live in, your socio-economic status, and your race. But it also has to do with how much you open yourself up to experiencing something new. If those TikTok influencers want to limit their experience of NYC to $8 coffees and the Soho Apple Store, they are missing everything that makes New York great.