peace out, nyc

Tonight I sit at 147 West 136th Street for the final time. I was thinking about spending my final night in NYC at Dive Bar or Professor Thom's, but it seems fitting that I spend my final night in my apartment in Harlem. 


I am spending my final night alone as my wife is in Connecticut for business. Tomorrow night we will be heading to Ohio for the weekend (and my first 50 mile ultramarathon) on our way to our new home in Chicago.


On Monday I start at Red Frog Events. I am extremely excited to work there and am excited to move into an awesome apartment with my wife and sister...but I will always miss NYC for a number of reasons.


NYC will always hold a special place in my heart. For one thing, it was the first "real" place Liz and I have had. Sure, we lived in Princeton for two years, but we lived in married housing, which was basically a glorified dorm room. I feel like our Harlem apartment was our first real place: we moved here by ourselves, spent the huge majority of time with each other, and got to explore our new city together. I'll never forget this apartment or the memories that we made in it.


I've also had some amazing times in NYC: running in Central Park, seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from a $15 million apartment on Central Park West, seeing Wicked and The Book of Mormon on Broadway, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and having brunch in Vinegar Hill, exploring Bottle Neck Beach, catching a subway and being at the foot of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, ice skating in Bryant Park, taking classes at Columbia, interning at Redeemer, running through Harlem, doing a half marathon with Liz in Central Park while it's snowing...so many memories that I will keep for a lifetime.


Walking through Harlem tonight on my way to our favorite pizza shop, I couldn't help but reminisce about the amazing times that we have had in this amazing city. I definitely had a moment with myself. This past year has been amazing.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I love NYC. Not only that, but I loved being a New Yorker this past year. 


I'm looking forward to Chicago and it makes it a little easier knowing that we are moving to another worldclass city...but I'll never forget our time in NYC. Just me, my wife, our pup, and the city that never sleeps.