6 minute read
Holly
Holly
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@hollylynchny
“New York is like the land of broken toys. We all have our struggles, and we’re all broken. No matter your background, baggage, or broken past, New York is a welcome mat. Lady Liberty stands in the harbor to embrace and support you. The rest of the world may reject you, but New York will welcome you.”
“I’m a second-generation native Upper Westsider. I grew up right across an old post office, where homeless people would camp outside. They used to build these fake homes from cardboard boxes. I remember being very young seeing these homeless people sitting on the ground. When looking into their eyes, I saw such profound sadness, this sense of desperation, that nothing was going to get better and the world was just a terrible place for them. It still makes me sad. I worked in Central Park when I was a child and I became close friends with a number of homeless people. I always knew my future was in social justice work.”
“A real New Yorker is somebody who doesn’t break promises. So many vulnerable people come here and they’re so used to broken promises that it’s easy to become flaky. I think it’s the people who stay vulnerable and committed who are the real New Yorkers.”
“I was really accepted into the LGBTQ community here. I guess they call me a friend or an ally. It was the first time in my life where I felt that we were all fundamentally flawed and that was okay. Because my family is definitely not like that. It’s like ‘Your hair needs to look like this, you need to dress like that, behave like this.’ But that’s not who I am. I’m kind of messy, I don’t like hair, I like wearing pants–Isn’t that okay? I think I’m a heterosexual, but does it really matter?”
“We want to label things so that they fit neatly into a box. Frankly, we should just accept that we’re all different, we’re all broken, we’re all human, and we’re all just desperate to survive and make it somewhere.”
“I was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and then again in 2016. Same tumor, different location. The first time, the tumor was so big that they thought I was going to die during surgery. I got through it.”
“The second time was when Hillary was running for president and I was just like, ‘You know what? I need to see this woman win the presidency.’ The morning after the election I just had this sense of purposelessness because I’d been so hell-bent on surviving cancer to see her win. She was supposed to win and I was supposed to live. I watched her concession speech, and it was like she was speaking to me when she said ‘I didn’t win, but it’s your job to win.’ It was like running a race and you’re handing off the baton, so now I’m running for Congress in district 10.”
“When you talk about New York, people often say, ‘Don’t you realize what a bubble you live in?’ I get it, but New York is also where the world collides. We’ve seen ghettos. We’ve seen rallies and riots.”
“Everything that’s ever happened in the country has sort of consolidated in this tiny, little microcosm called New York City. And somehow, we’ve survived. To me, that is what makes this such an extraordinary place.”
“There’s always a ‘should’ here. ‘I should be doing this, I should be doing that.’ You feel guilty when you sit down and take a break. When I know I need to take a break, it’s like, ‘Okay, phone off, computer off.’ I need those moments where the city is not the most important thing.”
“When people say I’m in a bubble in New York I’m like, ‘Actually, this is what America should be like.’ Even though it’s an island of strangers, we all belong together. I do think New York is a very lonely place, but in some way, it’s also the most warm and comforting place because we’re all searching for something.”
Q&A
What neighborhood do you live in? The Upper West Side.
Best thing about living there? There are a number of great wine bars and sidewalk cafes, which are just spilling over with happy energy. On top of that we have both Central Park and Riverside Park right around us. And if you have a dog (like me), the dog community is so lovely and welcoming.
Favorite neighborhood? I guess if I didn’t love the Upper West Side so much, I would live in Harlem. I love the diversity and West African influence as well as the abundance of different churches and houses of worship. There’s something amazing about going up there on Sunday and experiencing the strength of the community and its real commitment to upholding African and African American culture.
Favorite street to stroll? Riverside Drive. Walking the drive from 72nd up to Grace Church and its historic bell tower at 12 is a trip through NYC history. It’s so calming, almost as if you’ve left the bustle of the city behind by simply crossing a street.
Favorite restaurant? Chez Napoleon on West 50th Street. It’s one of the few truly French restaurants left in the city. The grandmother Marguerite still runs the kitchen, the mother Eliane runs the house and the son and master puzzle assembler Guillaume runs the bar. It’s been there since 1960. There’s nothing fancy about it. It’s just very real. Like coming home.
Favorite bar? My favorite bar right now is Le Chalet on the rooftop of Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s super cozy
with a fireplace in winter and has incredible views outside in the summer.
Hidden gem? The Cloisters. It’s the medieval wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art up at Fort Tryon Park, overlooking the Hudson. The Rockefeller family actually bought a series of monasteries that were about to be torn down and brought them over stone by stone to be rebuilt in this incredible spot where the Hudson River connects with Manhattan. It’s as if you’ve traveled back in time to the 15th century by simply taking the M4 bus or A train.
How to be(come) a New Yorker? To become a real New Yorker you’ve got to be pushed hard and to push back harder. It’s a tough town full of immigrants. It’s always been a tough town full of immigrants. So you just need to understand we’re all stepping stones for each other on roads potentially going in opposing directions. So my suggestion is to jostle around, test out a few lanes, find a few reliable friends, and just settle down into the bump and grind. It doesn’t really get “easier”; it just becomes “more normal”. It’s not personal. It’s ambition and a drive that brings us to this crucible of life, business, and culture/pleasure. Once it starts to feel “normal,” even “good,” you know you’re a New Yorker. And for some it’ll just never happen. New York is a place you end up loving or hating. For me it’s a drug. I love every hit, no matter how hard it is.
Your New York soundtrack? Chasing The Sun by Sara Bareilles–It captures the city perfectly and my deep love for every molecule that makes it up. I ran the marathon to this song after almost dying of brain cancer.
“This is my radiation mask. I was strapped down while they were radiating my head. It was like 30 minutes for each radiation section. I have this on my wall because I never want to forget. I actually asked someone to take a picture of me with this. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I look like Hannibal Lecter.’”
