Natives & Neighborhoods

My Father Wishes He Were a Writer, Like Me

Writing was just something I thought happened to people naturally, that whatever wasn’t written was eventually forgotten. And I wanted to remember everything.

May 09, 2019
How Immigrant Sculptors Shaped an Artists’ Hub Called Kumartuli

This “heritage site” has been home to my family since the 1940s.

Jul 12, 2018
Joan of Arc: The Girl Who Saves Cities

Statues and monuments tell us about ourselves mostly, what we hope to remember and be remembered by.

Jun 26, 2018
A Brief History of American Utopian Communities

“Utopian communities are inherently tragic because they are always, every single time, doomed to failure.”

Apr 17, 2018
Children of ‘The Cloud’ and Major Tom: Growing Up in the ’80s Under the German Sky

In the sky you could watch history happen as though on the world’s most massive TV, and history’s wreckage could rain down on you at the park with your friends.

Apr 04, 2018
Standing in the Shadows of Brands: San Francisco at Dawn

When a city’s populace is wiped out of its longtime residents, so goes the collective memory of San Francisco.

Dec 14, 2017
Flexibility and Frustration: Navigating Life Through Istanbul

“As Turkey becomes an increasingly difficult place to live, many friends and peers have become perplexed by my determination to stay here.”

Oct 12, 2017
The Fourth Plague of West Philadelphia

“My girl calls it a balance of New York ambition and Southern hospitality, but I would claim Philadelphia for the Rust Belt.”

Aug 22, 2017
Did You Know Anybody?: On the Manchester Arena Bombing

“The morning after the attack, I almost broke down when a colleague asked if I was okay.”

Jul 26, 2017
My Eyes Yearn for You: A Short History of Longing in NYC

“Fashion’s bright lights beckoned me toward New York.”

Feb 14, 2017
Elegy for the Future Myrtle Avenue

“The year is the measure of a gentrifying neighborhood.”

Sep 20, 2016
Live Girls, Lonely Boys

“Times Square transformed from an adult sexual wonderland to an urban family playground.”

Sep 07, 2016
Burj Khalifa: Alone at the Top of the World

“Why are people building elaborate residential towers for no one to live in?”

Aug 16, 2016
New Orleans During the End of the World

Cities are beautiful in the rain, but only New Orleans bleeds it.

May 25, 2016
An Experiment in the Village

“I was amused, but I also registered that my privacy had been invaded.”

Mar 17, 2016
District Eight

“The pulsing aorta of Brooklyn-brand hip.”

Mar 04, 2016
Getting to Suzy’s

This real life of cityscapes and sidewalks can destroy you.

Jan 21, 2016
Comfort Food

I moved to Brooklyn to eat at a restaurant.

Jan 06, 2016