This is the first photograph, in its 2 megapixel glory, I took when I moved to NYC. I moved here, like many do, with a suitcase, an open mind and a desire to build a business, meet a girl, and order steak frites for delivery at 4am. Thankfully, I leave here knowing I managed to do all that.
New York is the greatest city in the World. There’s no comparison. I love London, I love Barcelona, I love LA, I love SF, I love Stockholm, I love Venice, I love Cape Town and so on, but nothing compares to NYC. It’s a city where on a good day you feel like you’re on top of the World as the people, the cabs, the lights, the noise and the energy seem to lift you up and whisk you around town. On a bad day, all of these things seem to hammer you down to the point of feeling worthless.
From sleeping on couches, to moving furniture in Queens, to doing websites as rent barter the first year was long, but still fun. Long nights with Mario at Milk & Honey (our friend was the bartender) were a highlight. Jen Fowler hired me to do some work for J Records and things fell into place. I somehow stumbled into Southpaw one night after they opened and started djing an indie night there called Painting and Kissing. This was followed by hundreds of posters which got my business going. Somewhere along the line I met a girl called Mindy who is currently reading a book to an amazing kid called Jack.
In the end, I leave this city in a much better place than I arrived and the real thanks go to the city itself. It’s truly the one place that can change your life and if you’re willing to work hard it’ll happen for you. I look forward to moving back here with Mindy when we’re much older. I’ll miss you NYC. Thank you for everything.
Here are some awesome things I learned and experienced in NYC:
1. BEST TIP EVER: if you hate humidity like I do, you need to apply a little Gold Bond powder after you get out of the shower – it stops the sweat. Thanks Ricky!
2. Yo La Tengo performing in Prospect Park to a non-stop light show of fireflies.
3. Playing ping-pong 10 ft. from a Mogwai soundcheck – my ears will never be the same.
4. The blackout of 2002.
5. The fresh mozzarella at Russo’s
6. After work drinks at Pastis – touristy but worth it
7. Late night steak frites at Casimir
8. The crisp air of the Hudson Valley
9. Seeing the Brooklyn Bridge everyday and never tiring of seeing that beautiful behemoth.
10. Riding bikes through Times Square at 3am.
11. Fashion trend hilarity in Williamsburg.
12. Broken Social Scene at the Bowery in 2004.
13. Adopting dogs, while covered in the scent of White Castle, in Queens.
14. The Met, The Moma, The Guggenheim, The Whitney, The Transit Museum, The Jewish Museum, etc.
15. Bike riding with Jack in Prospect Park
16. Documenting Alicia Keys’ second album – a truly phenomenal person I feel lucky to have spent time with.
17. Getting paid to do design work
18. Putting on the Go Team show at Southpaw
19. Vetiver / Vashti Bunyan at Southpaw
20. Being in the same Borough as my sister.
21. Walking around the neighborhood and seeing people you know on every block.
22. The bodega guys letting you pay the next day.
23. LA BAGEL DELIGHT
24. All the fantastic folks I met and all the old friends that moved to NYC.
25. Not owning a car or really needing one for the better part of a decade.
26. Coney Island, Ave P, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, Midwood and the rest of the real Brooklyn.
27. Having a studio in DUMBO.
28. The Carlyle Room.
29. Roof decks.
30. Mindy, my love.
The list is endless. I look forward to my new list in Los Angeles. Here’s a parting shot. An old video taken from the Q Train on the Manhattan Bridge.
Q Train 2002 from jon setzen on Vimeo.
