My NYC Story: Born Here, Becoming Here
I was born in New York. Real New York. Before the overpriced matcha, before TikTok tours of Times Square, before everyone and their mother suddenly claimed “New York energy.”
No shade. Okay, maybe a little.
But the truth is: I didn’t just move here to chase a dream. I didn’t come to become someone else. I was already of this city. I grew up with it blasting outside my window, its rhythms matching the beat of my own becoming.
And yet, somehow—I’m still discovering it.
Still discovering me.
Raised By a City That Doesn’t Wait
There’s something about growing up in a place that never slows down. You learn how to move fast. How to keep your eyes open. How to read a room and a train car.
I was raised on corner store breakfasts, double-parked cars, and aunties yelling from windows. I learned early that softness wasn’t always safe—but it was necessary. I watched strangers look out for each other in the most unexpected ways. Watched women in hoop earrings and fierce eyeliner rule entire blocks. Watched the skyline change while I changed, too.
New York teaches you how to survive.
But it also teaches you how to shine.
The City and I — Then vs. Now
Now, in my 30s, my relationship with the city feels different. Slower. More intentional.
I used to chase the chaos—nights that blurred into mornings, heels clicking down SoHo sidewalks, parties I didn’t even want to be at just because they sounded like a story. I lived for the edge of it all. For the possibility that something—or someone—could change everything.
Now, I crave stillness. I crave knowing my neighborhood bodega guy by name. I crave long walks without a destination, and discovering quiet cafés tucked between the loud.
The city hasn’t gotten quieter. I have.
But in that quiet, I’ve started to see things I used to rush past.
Becoming Here
I used to think “becoming” meant going somewhere new. Reinventing myself.
Now I know it’s about rooting in who I’ve always been—and letting that be enough.
New York has always been a mirror. It’ll show you who you are, what you’re afraid of, what you want to hide. And if you let it, it’ll also show you your magic.
So yes, I was born here. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped arriving.
Because in this city, you never stop evolving.
You never stop becoming.
This city raised me. But I’m still learning who I am in it.
And maybe that’s the most New York thing about me.
XOXO RER
