ode to New York

To be fair to my other love, New York, here is an ode to my hometown. Don't want my friends thinking I turned my back on NY for LA in my previous post.

As I've mentioned in my other blogs, I was raised in Queens and spent a lot of my time in Downtown Brooklyn and Chinatown. New York raised my sister and me to be pretty tough cookies. Just like they say, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

I saw a lot growing up in New York. My first fist fight was in the third grade, watched my dad get jumped by five teenagers when I was 7-years old, I thought i was going to die in the 5th grade because these girls wanted to jump me over a stupid rumor, my mom pulled a knife on a customer for stealing from the nail shop, our house was wiped clean by robbers, and much more. I went to four different schools in the span of 3 years from NY to LA. I'd like to blame my gaps on the lack of education continuum.

Nonetheless, there is so much I owe to NY for who I am today.

New York is one of those places where you look down and mind your own business in the train. Gotta be smart where ever you go because you never know what you'll run into - a pick pocketer, someone who might jump you, or steal your purse. But its not all bad! Don't get me wrong. As tough as people may seem to be, New Yorkers do care and will intervene when necessary. We have big mouths and boy will we use it!

I love that NY folks, we keep it real. We'll say it like it is and won't beat around the bush. We've got attitude and will use it when necessary. We're also trained at negotiating deals, its just the nature of everyday hustling in the City.

We grow up learning how to dance on the streets, but also have the best and most premiere dance institutions in the world. And gang tagging isn't territorial like it is in LA. New York still embodies the five elements of hip hop for the most part: MCing, DJing,graffiti, breakdancing, and beatboxing. You'll see it at parties, you'll see it on the streets, you'll see it on the buildings, you'll see it on the trains.

New York.. is... beautiful. Four seasons with spring and fall being my favorite seasons. To witness the fall foliage is breathtaking. I do admit that winters are BRUTAL, especially when you're trying to lead rallies outdoors! Everywhere you turn, you will see something that sweeps you off your feet - whether it be the skyline, the bridges, the struggling everyday working people, the multiculturalism...

Like I said in my last post, multiculturalism is what I love MOST about NY. Flushing, Queens is home to the most amount of languages/dialects spoken in the world (Cantonese, Haka, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Punjabi, Bangla, French-Creole, Spanish in its various accents, Polish, Croatian, Russian, and much more!). What I love more is that we're forced to live together in a tight-knitted space and we're forced to get along (...for the most part).

I had many opportunities to move back and I never did. I started high school in LA and went back to NYC at least once to twice a year since. I guess I never returned because my family kept me busy and feeling obligated to support them. One day though... one day...

And what's a blog about NY without some Ella and Louie and of course.. Biggie...