Jonathan

Jonathan

Mufasa Dad, Reserved Softy, Construction Worker

“I didn’t think I had an accent at all until I started going to all these other places. They ask me to say “dawg” and “New Yawk.” I get a good laugh out of that. You all think I sound funny. Do you all hear yourself? How country you all are?”

“The first time I remember going to a different city was in college and I was 20. We went down to South Beach in Miami. That was when I was like ‘Wow, this is something different. There’s a whole world out there.’ Everything was so clean. I’m used to dirty New York. Just going to get fast food down there and people were mopping the floor. I was like ‘Yeah, this is nice.’ That was also when I realized how big New York was. I would tell people I was from New York, and they would light up. That’s a constant trend wherever I go.”

“It’s a lot different growing up in New York. My girlfriend is from Maryland, and she didn’t have access to places until she started driving. I would ride the train by myself when I was in fourth grade. At that point I had access to all five boroughs. I learned a lot from that world and it made me grow up a little faster. It made me wiser at a young age. I was very observant, even as a child.”

“In junior high school, I could tell my mother I was going to a friend’s house living Uptown, but then go and meet a girl in Queens. Back then we didn’t have cell phones. Once I got out of the house, I was a free man, you know. It’s kind of crazy, being a 12-year-old and going wherever I wanted to. All I needed was $3.”

“My girlfriend has been here for eight years, and she’s become more like a New Yorker now. She says it to me all the time ‘Look, you changed me. You turned me into this.’ She is way more aware of her surroundings. Sometimes not as friendly as she used to be. I mean, you can’t always be that friendly, because you got people in New York always trying to run a scam on you. And then just that hustle mentality, that go-get-it mentality. That’s something I think is deeply rooted in New Yorkers.”

“I used to work in retail and the schedule was terrible. You work through the holiday, the weekend, days and nights. I was really tired of it. What originally drove my attention to construction work was the set hours. When I realized I could get a set schedule and make some good money, that’s what made me get into it.”

“If New York was one building it would be The World Trade Center. That’s how we build things in New York. We don’t go side to side, we go all the way up. It’s New York. You gotta go big or go home.”

“My mother passed away in October. Then a week later I found out my girlfriend was pregnant. My mother raised three of us through ups and downs, and I just have to give her credit for dealing with all of it. She found a way to get it done. That’s why I named my son Phoenix - from the mythological bird that rose from the ashes. My mother lives through my son.”

“I want two kids and I used to say I want them back to back. Two weeks after my son was born, I stopped saying that. Don’t give me back to back. Please don’t. Kids are a lot of work man! It takes over your life, but it’s a love I’ve never felt before. I want to be a father and his best friend. Like Mufasa and Simba, right? I’ll always be there for him, no matter what.”

Q&A

“I think New York and I have a pretty good relationship. I’ve been here for 30 years now. That’s being faithful. I’ve crept out every now and then, but I came home. It’s a love-hate sometimes. I hate how dirty it is, I hate how crowded it is. I hate the trains. Sometimes I can even hate how noisy it is. But then again if you send me out of the city for a few weeks, I’ll start missing all of that. I’ll miss the endless opportunities here.”

What neighborhood do you live in? I live in Crown Heights Brooklyn.

Best thing about living there? I can reach almost any part of Brooklyn in 15-20 mins and if you’re looking for good Caribbean food you can’t go wrong here.

Favorite neighborhood? My favorite neighborhood would have to be Alphabet City. It’s where I was raised and took my first bite of the big apple. I’ve watched the neighborhood change and grow over the years, and I will always have a soft spot for it.

Favorite street to stroll? One of my favorite streets to stroll would have to be Dyckman basketball courts in Inwood during the summer.

Why? It reminds me of my younger days when I used to play in the tournament. It was always fun to ball out then chill out on the strip afterwards and watch the games.

Favorite restaurant? SoCo in Fort Greene, some of the best shrimp and grits I’ve tasted.

Favorite bar? Miss Lily’s in the Lower East Side. The drinks are dope and on the weekends it turns into a lounge after hours. It’s definitely one of the popular lounges in the city.

Hidden gem? Casablanca in Bed-Stuy, it’s a small old school cash only lounge that is good for bringing in a nice crowd.

How to be(come) a New Yorker? There is only one way to become a New Yorker and that’s to embrace the culture and the lifestyle. You have to spend years here to really become a New Yorker. The city welcomes everyone but will just as easily chew you up and spit you out. New York truly embodies the word gritty.

Your New York soundtrack? If I had to pick one song to represent New York, I would have to go with Juicy by Notorious BIG, it represents the everyday struggle and desire to be great in the big city of dreams.

5 THINGS THAT TELL A STORY ABOUT JONATHAN

YANKEES JERSEY “I am more into basketball and football, but this is a New York staple. Everybody sees that symbol, and they know what it stands for. Since I’ve been here my whole life, I probably don’t appreciate it as much, but I love New York. This is home base.”

PICTURE “That’s my mother. That’s my heart. She passed away not too long ago. Sitting watching TV, I glance over at her and it’s comforting.”

PUZZLE “This is a picture me and my girl took at a friend’s birthday party. I made the picture into a puzzle and gave it to my girl for Valentines. She is my soulmate and the love of my life.”

CHAIN “My grandmother originally got a couple of these for my uncle and father. It was passed on to my brother and then when my mother passed he gave this to me. It represents my grandmother and my mother in one. They were the strongest and most determined women I ever met in my life. I wear it every day.”

ULTRASOUND PICTURE “This is my little boy. This is the first picture. When I saw this I said ‘Wow, it’s real.’ I knew it was a boy. I woke up one morning and I just knew. I told my girlfriend and she said ‘You don’t know that!’, but I knew and I kept telling the family to just get the blue balloons.”