One Year in NYC: A Photo Reflection

I celebrated my one-year anniversary of living in New York City on September First. I can look back on this last year and without hesitation know it has been the hardest one of my life, for reasons geographical, relational, and tragical. It was the year that proved I could be a survivor, which is a test I’m not happy I had to take, but happy that I passed. I take a lot of pictures, especially when I travel, and since living over here has felt more like an extended trip than home (I’m not sure it will ever feel like home here, but that’s okay with me), I’ve taken many pictures over the last year. Here is my first year in NYC, in a few photos.

Sunset Park
Sunset Park, View: Perhaps the best way to encapsulate the feeling of outsiderness. From my home in Brooklyn, the island of Manhattan feels so close and so far away sometimes.
Manhattan
Manhattan, City: Up close to the gray.
Middlebury, VT
Middlebury, VT: Fall retreat. Repeat, retreat.
Prospect Park, Fall
Prospect Park, Fall: This park has been my haven.
Atlantic City, November
Atlantic City, November: The saddest place on earth (felt like).
Prospect Park-Winter
Prospect Park, Winter: A promise of better seasons.
Philly--Recharge
Philly, PA: Recharge.
Prospect Park--Spring
Prospect Park, Spring: Finally.
Dance Party
Industry City, Dance Party: Occasional jolts of magic.
Prospect Park-Summer
Prospect Park, Summer: Secret beauty in the city.
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge in the Distance: Arrival.

I wish there was a way to make people understand how you can equally love and hate a city, how every time you think you have it figured out, it pushes you back down. Realizing a dream is a funny thing. When it becomes a reality, it collects all the dust of reality–the heartbreak and disappointments and triumphs you never expected. It gets scratched and chipped and re-molded until you are forced to realize that dreams are meant to be malleable. New York and my dream of it have evolved so much for me in this last year. I think I have too. 




  1. I know exactly how you you feel….this July was a year in NYC for me too…def a love hate relationship haha wish you the best….also love the photos! 🙂

    1. Thank you, and good luck to you with your NYC triumphs/struggles/overall survival.

  2. I’ve been here for 3 months on October 17th. I find myself hating more things about the city than I love but I don’t hate it either…

    1. I hear you. I’m still mostly on the dislike side, but I have to constantly remind myself that I came here for the opportunities, and just because I showed up doesn’t mean suddenly everything gets easier. I’ve found you have to work to make the city work for you.


Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: