Bang on time for the new semester on monday, the new issue of the A Journal will be published. This issue is all about maybe the greatest city on the world – New York City! Since I was there last summer, I was able to write a two page (yes, two pages!!!!) report. The focus I set in my article are the two faces of New York City – the tourist and the native.

New York, New York!
It’s a wonderful town!

Welcome to New York City!
The plane ride to New York City itself is an adventure. Many have not flown that long to any country before and the sight of New York City from the sky shortly before landing amazes most people. When standing on the street, there is nothing to do but to look up in awe how far a regular office building rises up. Tourists want to see all the typical sightseeing spots: the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Ground Zero, Tiffany’s, Fifth Avenue, the MoMa, and Central Park. And all this in less than a week. Which is actually possible, since the city never sleeps.

But beyond the high skyscrapers, a tourist experiences a totally different definition of “masses of people” and noise. The amount of people seems unreal and overwhelming and the honking and cusing of cab drivers or whistles of cops disturbing. Not to mention the various dent in each vehicle, which make it look ready for the junkyard. Especially the huge ditches in the streets catch one’s eye, questioning if someone could possibly drive on a street like that. People tumbling through the blocks appearing to talk to themselves, but actually are only communicating via headset over their Blackberry. People jumping red lights, jaywalking as never seen before. A ride on the subway at first occurs as a confusion accidentally taking an Express train, which only stops at every other station not knowing they actually exist.

Despite of this seemingly uncontrolled chaos, by looking at all the sights, there is one thing that is remarkable: the various corners which New york city has to offer. A tourist makes one turn around the block and finds himself in a totally different world: Downtown, Little italy, Chinatown, SoHo, Brooklyn, Meatpacking District. Every part is unique. Not only through buildings and stores, but also through the kind of people who live there. There is hardly any other city in the world where a tourist sees Native Americans, Hispanics, Italians, Chinese, Jews and African Americans all in one place. It seems unusual in the beginning, but is amazing at the same time. The fascination of the city grows with every step, while looking at the sights and people of different heritage, wondering how one possibly could meet somebody in a big city like New york. Being a New York tourist means exploring one of the cities of the world. And wanting to return.

What’s up, New York?
New York, “the city of all cities”, is the hometown of millions of people. Taking a subway to work is the normal deal even if it takes 40 minutes. Running late? Taking a cab is always an option. On the way to work, a native New Yorker meets the same people as every other day – the Russian doorman; the Italian building super who constantly wants an 8′ x 10′ plot of patchy grass he calls a garden taken care of; the Indian newsstand guy, and not to forget the Senegalese guy at the corner, who sells “real” Rolex watches. Tourists, who suddenly stop in the middle of the sidewalk, right when one wants to walk past, are very upsetting. More so, if they are simply staring at a regular office building.

In general, natives hardly visit the sightseeing spots anyway – unless they have an out of town-er visiting. The flashing “Do Not Walk” signal means to hurry and cross the street, avoiding every small crack in the roas by heart; knowing that it has been there for the past 20 years. And probably will be for at least the next ten years. A native does not even think of using a car inside the city, if it is not desperately needed. That is why they spend a good amount of money on a car garage, where people from New Jersey would use the money to pay off their monthly rent. Secretly, they actually envy cab drivers for their driving skills. So when New yorkers drive, they act just like them. Meaning that when the traffic light jumps to red, they speed up, because they know that there is a one second pause until the other light turnes green.
Other than that, they have all diverse cuisines in a range of a mile from their apartement, which, of course, all offer take-out. Bagles and Pizza are their basic foods, and they miss them as soon as they try them in another city. They expect every supermarket to be open 24/7 and can easily pay 60 Dollars for groceries that all fit into one brown paper bag.

New Yorkers know their city by heart, leading them to a play they once ate that good burger at a half a year ago. In the evenings meeting up with co-workers or people who have become friends over the years because of taking the same subway every morning together. Mostly talking about things that happened to them in the city last week or whom they met when one was just buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks – like every other morning.
Being a New Yorker means being part of the city. And the city being part of oneself, too.

I ♥ NY
New York City is not just a regular metropolis. There is much more to it than the sights like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. It contains many small worlds in one big whole, making it possible for everyone to feel at home. There is one thing that the tourist and the native have in common: The “spark” of this wonderful town never disappears – it keeps reappearing in each individual in everyday moments.
The city always has a new surprise to offer. And that is the magical thing about it.