Grizzly Bear (at Terminal 5)
Team lunch #GreenMountain (at Momofuku Noodle Bar)
E’ Pizz and La Nouveau Primeur (at Sezz Medi)
Infinite fog. (at Young & Rubicam)
#meatcoma w/ @zacellis (at Fette Sau)
misty morning run (at Riverside Park)
#office #madisonavenue #bettergram (at Young & Rubicam)
surf
After ten months in the city, I think I can call myself a New Yorker. It isn’t because I swear by bagels with lox and cream cheese, or pull for the Mets even though they don’t seem to understand the concept of postseason. I think I am a New Yorker now because I am experiencing first-hand what New York is all about—community.
I didn’t live in the city when 9/11 happened, but I did watch the events unfold on television. I have also heard countless stories from those who were here when it happened, and more defining than the actual terrorist acts was the togetherness and homogenization of New York City’s residents after the cameras stopped rolling and the journalists went home. Everyone joined in the effort to better the city they love—to get things back to normal, because that’s what New Yorkers do.
What happened yesterday, I think, will cause the same reaction.
People are hurting now, and the property damage seems insurmountable. This city is wounded, and if you try to sugarcoat that fact, you are not giving Mother Nature enough credit.
Sandy did what so many storms before it tried to do. It shook New York to the core, scaring the seemingly unafraid and stripping us all to the bones of basic survival. It killed power in Lower Manhattan, while its roaring waves hopped and skipped right over the impenetrable sea walls that guard our beloved metropolis—ultimately closing invincible establishments and forcing all residents to stay put—something New Yorkers have a hard time doing.
With the death toll continually rising, the retrospective severity of the storm only seems to be intensifying. The waters are slowly receding and people are returning to their homes, or to what is left of their homes, to find that the lives they knew no longer exist.
No one doubts that New York will bounce back, but after how long is anyone’s guess. Building takes time. Rebuilding takes time and persistence.
There is no telling what the outcome of all of this mayhem will be. With the subways out of commission indefinitely and the southern tip of Manhattan looking like the set of Day After Tomorrow, we are faced with the ultimate case of “wait and see”.
But in the end, what we will see is a community of individuals more eager to help than wait. This is a city of back-breakers, and if there is a New York mentality, it is not a passive one.
Again and again, Mayor Bloomberg reiterates that it is in times like these that New York shines. While the severity of this hurricane continues to worsen, it will most certainly spark a similar reaction to that of 9/11. People will get out to help. People will unite for the greater good of New York City, and this little island we call home will return to its former glory.
Times are tough, and people are at all time lows. But as the tides rescind and the streets fill with the overwhelming support of a city united, we can all look around at each other and remember why we love this community so much. We are in this together. We are all New Yorkers.
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