What I Want to Remember About Living in NYC

For as long as I can remember, I dreamt of a life in NYC. The last few months were a whirlwind: a dream come true, a chapter much shorter than we imagined, a challenge and an opportunity for so much growth. It’s truly a magical place and it will always hold a place in our hearts! While it’s all fresh in my mind, I’ve written a blog post about the things I want to remember about our time in NYC.

There are so many things about the city I’d love to bottle up and keep on the shelf.

The Sounds

The constant background noise.

The way the sirens sound different – a dull sound that I sometimes felt like I heard even when sirens weren’t passing by.

The honks and beeps and yelling (at most hours of the day but especially in the mornings).

The music everywhere:

              The saxophonist in the same spot along the Mall in Central Park.

              The fancy jazz band that would set up along the Upper East Side entrance of Central Park.

              The delivery guys on bikes blaring their music speeding past you on the street.

The night we were awoken around 1 AM by the sound of a JACK HAMMER on the sidewalk just below us and flashing NYPD lights due to some sort of emergency issue underground. While obviously an isolated instance, we joked how it is truly the city that never sleeps.

The lady in the unit at the other end of the hallway, constantly screaming at her children. Also the sound of her children running down the hallway and goofing off. Errday.

The Sights

Our walk to Fairway (a grocery store) was full of so many “New York” sights. The street vendors and food trucks, the taxis and buses, the beautiful corridor between Broadway and Amsterdam where there are flowers and beautiful trees and tons of benches behind the entrance to the subway.

The green mailbox on the other side of our block. Classic NYC, in my opinion... yellow taxis, green mailboxes (or are they called USPS collection boxes?), the green awnings/”sidewalk sheds” (scaffolding around buildings).

The rats, mice and cockroaches. (So awful!!!)

Standing in line outside Trader Joe’s where we were constantly behind someone who didn’t understand how a line works. Or how the 6ft spaced out marks on the sidewalk worked. Eyeroll! Lol…

The Smells

The smell of the subway “air” and stations in general. They have a very distinct smell. I wish I knew how to describe it.

Hot trash on the sidewalks (ughh)! Seriously, the amount of garbage and recycling produced by that city is astonishing.

And we were very surprised by how often we smelled weed when walking around the city. This grosses me out and I guess I wasn’t expecting so many people to just openly smoke marijuana out on the streets??

On a more pleasant note: the food vendors on the street always gave off a nice aroma.

COVID Specific

The 7pm nightly party when everyone would pop their heads out their windows or stand on their balconies and bang pots and pans, clapping, whistling and cheering for the frontline workers. This happened every night for the majority of the time we lived there.

This would go on for a solid 5 minutes. Then at 7:05, once or twice a week there was a city-wide “song” (I never found out how this was coordinated) but one night I remember we were walking back from the park at this time and a lady leaned out her window several stories above us and sang “New York, New York” and someone across the alley joined in and then we realized people in other buildings were also singing.

              Across the street from us, a guy would step out nightly and clash cymbals together.

              One street over, someone played the trumpet each night.

The signage. On every store and restaurant. On the doors, in our building’s elevators. By bus stops and in the subway stations. All regarding COVID symptoms and changes in policies.

Toughening Me Up

Even if it is a trait I might not carry into the rest of life well, I have held my own in a number of situations in the last few months. City life is crowded and hectic and crazy. You must stand your ground, often. On the flip side of this, I think for every 1 nice person we met, we also met 7 TERRIBLE individuals. After a while, I worry that wears on you. I know there are several nice people who have lived there for decades, but I am glad we are leaving before it really has a chance to harden our hearts. Maybe that’s just part of being from the South. I am happy to re-enter the land of southern hospitality!

Our Neighborhood

Gosh, I don’t know how many times I told Darrell, I am SO GLAD we chose the Upper West Side. While some we met would say it was “nice but more like the area of Manhattan couples go to settle down and have a family” which I don’t get why there was always a “but” in that kind of statement haha. I loved being so close to three parks, which we frequented often. I loved that we felt safe and it was “clean” by city standards. We had everything we could possibly need within a block and I felt okay to venture out on my own if needed. The concierge staff in our building were all phenomenal, professional and friendly and they made us feel at home.

For a long time while there, we would take Penny for walks just around our block, 1-3 laps on multiple occasions throughout the day, to potty and give her some exercise. At some point we began playing a game. We’d start our “lap” at the entrance of our building and as we’d round the third corner of the block, Darrell and I would each guess the temperature. (Sounds thrilling, I know haha) The time and temperature were always displayed at the top of the Apple Bank building which was within eyeshot right after rounding that third corner. No prize. And kinda dumb but it’s one of those funny bright spots in an otherwise mundane time.

The Parks

Being so close to three amazing parks was such a blessing!

Riverside Park became our go-to spot for Penny’s potty breaks and weeknight playtime. While dog parks remained closed, there were some fenced-in areas where dog owners would let their pups roam. Penny’s favorite was in Riverside Park where there was an abundance of squirrels to chase, birds to sneak up behind, other dogs to play with and lots of sticks for her humans to throw. I loved taking walks in Riverside Park, listening to podcasts or talking on the phone. (For being the largest city in the country, we had the crappiest internet and phone service in our apartment. I would often go outside for phone calls or sit right by the window in our bedroom to talk.) There were three different “paths” in Riverside Park (or at least in the part I frequented, it’s a big park) where I would go for walks. One path is right beside the Hudson River and it is so beautiful when the sun is setting. Another runs parallel to the street and is lined with gorgeous trees and lots of benches. Then a third runs kind of parallel between those two paths and is a bit harder to find initially but it is a much wider path with grassy medians and it overlooks the path near the river in some areas. I loved mixing it up and walking these different areas of this lovely park.

Theodore Roosevelt Park was a favorite spot for taking Penny with us when we wanted to grab takeout and eat at the park. It was always so pleasant and calm.

Central Park will always hold a very special place in my heart. Considering how little we could actually do during our time in NYC due to COVID restrictions, we visited parks so much! Central Park is my favorite because of its vast nature and just how peculiar it is. Such an amazing place for people watching. We enjoyed some bike rides with the rental bikes and explored so much on two wheels. Picnics in Sheep Meadow. Walking through Bethesda Terrace on long strolls. Seeking shade on hot days on a bench along The Mall. There was a small triangular fenced-in area near Sheep Meadow where we often let Penny run and play with other small dogs. (This was the first small area we found as a makeshift “dog park” and she loved it! And I loved the walk home along Central Park West, the contrast between the trees and greenery of the park and old city buildings. I want to find some Central Park inspired artwork for our home. It is by far my favorite place in the city.

The Way People Said Our Names

Those New York accents, y’all! “Sarah and Darrell” has a different “a” sound when you’re talking to folks in NYC and it was always so interesting to me!!

There’s so much we didn’t get to experience about life in the city, and that makes me sad. Some of which was becasuse of COVID. Y’all I dreamt of Saturday adventures to the New York Public Library and museum hopping for so long. We had a growing list of all the NYC adventures we wanted to take but didn’t get to happen due to the pandemic restrictions. And some of my dreams about NYC never happened because of timing, we weren’t there very long at all.

But I know NYC is a place I want to continue to visit in years to come, however I probably won’t rush back soon!! When I think of New York, I think of possibility. And I think of the lovely song Autumn in New York by Billie Holiday, along with the movies Breakfast at Tiffany’s and When Harry Met Sally. I was so excited envisioning fall and the holiday season living in New York and I’m sad that won’t happen. Can you picture Harry and Sally standing among the orange/red leaves in your mind?? But I’ve visited a couple times around the holidays and it is certainly a time when the city shines like no other. Maybe one day I’ll make it back in the fall and can soak up beloved Central Park in all it’s autumn glory!

What other things do you want to know about living in NYC / moving to NYC? Let me know in the comments, via email or DM me on Instagram! I’d love to create more NYC content based on readers’ interest!