A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

There is no place like it, no place with an atom of its glory, pride, and exultancy. It lays its hand upon a man's bowels; he grows drunk with ecstasy; he grows young and full of glory, he feels that he can never die. -Walt Whitman

New York City the melting of cultures, an oasis, a utopia for meeting different people, within every corner there is a new world waiting to be explored.

When think of New York City I would have to start with the borough of Manhattan just because it’s a major tourist attraction and the heart of NYC. When people think of Manhattan they think Time Square, Rockefeller Center, 5^thavenue, Central Park, and Penn Station. When I think of Manhattan I think of Harlem, 125^th street, Rucker Park, Dykman, Washington Heights, and the Lower East Side. As a child growing up my parents would always take my sister and I to see the lighting of the Christmas tree and go ice skating in Rockefeller skating rink, and as a child I thought that was the whole borough of Manhattan. As an adult I began to explore different parts of Manhattan. I am in love with the African American History that Harlem has to offer, while appreciating the Spanish spices the Latino population in Washington Heights gives.

Next the borough of The "Boogie Down" Bronx the birth place of Hip Hop, beat boxing and scratching the home of the Bronx zoo and the New York Yankee. The Bronx has a variation of cultures the South Bronx housing a lot of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans to “Little Italy” on Arthur Avenue, or Hunts point also known as the “Red Light District” for its crime.

Queens would have to be the best borough of all (just because I live here, all bias intended). I absolutely love Queens it is the real melting pot of NYC you can find every culture and cuisine. Melt in your mouth Indian and South Asian food in Jackson Heights to mouth watering Guyanese food on Liberty Avenue. It houses LaGuardia and JFK airport, Citi Field, Unisphere, and my favorite Beer Garden Studio Square (the loaded lemonade is to die for). Queens has so many different cultures with different cuisine your tummy never gets tired of the same old food.

Brooklyn home of the now Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center, and the Famous Coney Island Boardwalk. Brooklyn has a lot of Caribbean culture, the smell of jerk chicken on the grills outside on Flatbush to the relaxing scenery of Canarsie pier, the hustle and bustle of Atlantic Terminal to the West Indian Parade on Eastern Parkway. If you love Caribbean culture and want to see people you have not seen Brooklyn is the place to be.

I do not hanging out in Staten Island much, but when I do visit Staten Island I must stop off and eat pizza from Mario’s Pizzeria on Hylan Blvd. A great way to get to Staten Island without paying the $13 Verrazano Bridge toll and see a beautiful New York City skyline the Staten Island Ferry does the job. Overall when I think of NYC I think of each borough and what different wonders it has to offer me. For a person like me who likes to explore I think my parents chose the right location for me. I absolutely love my city and there is no other place I rather live.