When I moved to New York in summer 2005 we didn’t get on; it was hot, sweaty, dirty, smelly and noisy and I couldn’t make myself understood. But six months in I moved to Brooklyn and suddenly it all started to make sense. Over the next eighteen months or so I got to know the city better than most of my NY friends, whilst in the company of some interesting and strange people (some of whom were my friends, others just passing strangers).
This blog is all about New York and my relationship with it. It’s part retrospective diary, part travel guide, part cultural compendium. It’s a very personal view of NYC, developed over two years of exploration, and it is a NYC that many New Yorkers would not recognise, nor care to visit.
My New York isn’t the stiletto-heeled NYC of Sex and the City (although I did do my fair share of dating), so if that’s your fantasy step away now. Equally, if you are visiting New York for the first time and want to see the classic sights, you’ll not find them here. There’s no Empire State Building or Fifth Avenue on this trip.
However, if this is your second or third visit and feel like doing something different this time then you’re in the right place. I’m going to take you into the New York of warehouse buildings, deserted cobbled streets, random gigs and happenstance.
You’ll need comfortable shoes (though please, make sure they’re still sexy), a strong nerve and a desire to go in the opposite direction from the tourist hordes. You also need to be street wise with a sense of adventure, and to be willing find pleasure in an outing (especially) if things don’t go entirely to plan.
I’ve passed through or lingered in all the bars I mention and I would recommend all of them to my closest friends, but that comes with a health warning – as my friends who found themselves hanging out in the South Bronx (planned) or carousing with the NYPD at 5am (not so) would testify.
If you are planning a visit and want to get in the mood you’ll find movie, music and book recommendations too. But remember, it’s a personal, and based on places/movies/books I’ve actually visited or seen, so isn’t intended to be a comprehensive guide. Go and enjoy.
