My views on New York City

When I think of New York City, I think of the city of the concrete jungle; it is fast pace, gritty, cut throat, wonderful, and  magical. To live here, you have to go with the flow or get out our way; everyone is always on the go and no one is going to sit there and hold your hand. Frank Sinatra said it best  "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere" From the Bronx to Staten Island this 5 borough powerhouse excited millions far and wide, and I'm so glad to call myself a New Yorker. It's the city that never sleeps, there is no place like it. Where can you get a slice of pizza and a good beer at 3o'clock in the morning besides the Big Apple?. What I love most about New York is that it is diverse;since so many people migrate here no one can feel left out ,there is always a place for you. Born and raised in Haiti, my New York City was  based on what I heard from other people and what I saw from movies. I imagined that New York was this big place with green grass, clean streets and yellow taxis ( almost like a tennis court) but when I came to the U.S it was different from what I had envisioned.

The first time I went into Manhattan was to watch the " Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway. Prior to that , I had never visited Manhattan since I was new to the country. My first impression was " wow there is a lot going on, I am finally getting to see everything I saw on television". The smell of the New York hotdog, the artist filling each corner, people taking pictures and others rushing to their final destinations. Although I was very young, I  understood  that this is what the real NYC was about. Living in the suburbs of Queens, I had never previously experienced the fast pace lifestyle of Manhattan. Where as in Queens, nobody is outside walking and taking pictures, it is very quiet and routine, something totally different from what I experienced that night. I was amazed of how busy the streets were and how huge the buildings are. It seemed like everyone in the city that day had a mission in mind and by the end of the day all missions must be accomplished.

My second visit to Manhattan was during my second semester at Molloy in 2009. Raymond Catapano from Trio took a group of us there on a cold winter morning. When we arrived in the city, it was freezing cold but that did not matter because the day was so eventful that we forgot that it was freezing cold. The first place we visited was  Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. It was so much fun seeing all the waxes of the celebrities and political figures; it was eerie of how the statues resembled the real people. We took pictures and even impersonated them. Afterwards, we went to go watch a movie in 3D. I was amazed by it because it felt like I was in the movie and I could feel everything that was happening.

From my experiences, I feel like New York has a lot to offer and not many people take advantages to explore. Instead of exploring what is already right there at their foot, they would rather go to another place. I am one of the many people that needs to explore more; I am a simple and more of a home type person. I don't really like being in big crowds nor do I like a lot of noise but I am hoping that this class will open up my mind and I get to experience things that I had never known before.