30DHN: My Hometown


There’s the town I was born in.  The town I grew up in.  But my home in my heart will always be New York City.

Growing up, I had a map of the subway system on my wall to remind me of my dream.  Then, when I was 24, I moved to Queens (Forest Hills represent!) and again had a map of the subway on my wall…to help me find my way around.

I blame my father, for forcing me to watch West Side Story when I was 12.  I cried at the ending.  Not because of the tragic love story, but because of the final sequence showing all the doors.  I fell in love with the closeness and the isolation.  That was the New York I fell in love with:  seedy, romantic, and just a bit dangerous.

New York is big enough for millions of dreamers.  And millions more who visit.  And millions more who can only dream of New York.  But I doubt the dreamers love it as much as I do.  Oh, it’s easy to love the posh shops and bright lights.  Easy to love the solemn brownstones and towering churches.  But I love every pile of garbage, every sketchy bodega, every tiny, cluttered apartment.  Fire escapes and street vendors and diesel fumes.  I love every unloveable inch of this bad urban beast.  She’s just like me.
So Fawned 30 Days Hath November

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