The Early NYC Years — What Now NYC

One of my first visits to New York City was with my sister in the summer of 2000. We stayed with my brothers who were studying at Juilliard at the time and living in Hell’s Kitchen. This was a completely different New York than how we know it now. I was only 19 and could order a Gin Martini with zero questions asked. The grit and danger of Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen, was still a thing and my brother wouldn’t let us even walk to Times Square alone at 10:00 at night. The Meatpacking District had only a few bars and was “up and coming.” Now…Times Square is like Disneyland at 1am and The Meatpacking District is one of the hottest and most expensive areas in the city. I remember when a pack of cigarettes was $2.75 (not that I really smoked) and the rent on my brother’s 2-bedroom apartment on 56thstreet between 9th and 10th avenues was $1,900. Now…that same apartment most likely goes for $3,500 a month, and it’s a railroad, which means you have to walk through one tiny bedroom to get to the second, so basically… $3,500 for a one bedroom with a walk through closet that you have to climb 5 floors to get to. 15 years is not that long…but in that short time, New York City has changed drastically. When I first moved to New York in 2004, the Hell’s Kitchen apartment is where I lived. I have to say that I was, and still am very blessed to have family in New York. It was a comfort having my brothers in the same city and my sister so close up in Boston. I’m not sure how long I would have stayed without them. They have created a family environment for me in a city that can often feel very lonely. I think this is why many people leave so soon after moving here. NYC is a loud, bustling city full of people and action, and at the same time can feel like the loneliest place ever. Friendships made here are often life long, because people who bond in New York City bond in the trenches. They have gone through so much and they’ve done it together. New Yorkers put up with so much crap just to get by in this city. Ridiculously high taxes, a shoebox apartment with rent so unaffordable it’s hard to have anything left over after it’s been paid. Despite the struggle (and I use this term loosely because I do recognize many people struggle much more than I ever have), those days were so much fun. A few months ago my friend Lori who’s now married with two kids living in Brooklyn, sent me a text…”sometimes I miss those early days…. you didn’t have enough money in your bank account for rent so you busted out 3 doubles at the bar and you were fine”. New Yorkers know how to hustle, especially those that are in a field like music or the arts where unemployment comes way more often than a steady job. New Yorkers are survivors, and we understand each other in a way no one else can. We get the masochistic way we live our lives because the trade off….finally booking that show or getting that dream job, and being able to tell ourselves that we “made it”, is far more exciting than the misery was we put ourselves through to get it.

My first job in New York City was at a temp. agency. I filed papers all day, or worked as a receptionist in an office, it was not very thrilling at all. My second job was at “Blue Fin Restaurant” on 47th and Broadway. It had a sleek glass façade and looked so cool. It was THE place to be in Times Square at that time. I had zero NYC experience, which makes it very difficult to get a job but I had an “in”, a friend of my sister in law was one of the managers there. Everything in New York City is competitive. EVERYTHING. When you apply to be a server in a restaurant you have to fill out applications that are pages long asking things like, “name 3 types of Mushrooms”, or…”what grape varietals are found in France”, I could pass these tests now, but at that time I often failed them. If you were lucky enough to get hired, the training process was even more grueling; weeks of studying the menu and tests afterwards before you could even go “on the floor” and actually make a paycheck. Getting a bartending job is even harder; It’s like the holy grail of the New York City hospitality industry. It’s basically auditioning…I’m not even kidding. Often, bars hold open calls and ask for a headshot along with your resume. And sometimes you’ll go through rounds of interviews and even training shifts making less than $4 an hour (at that time) to then be told you didn’t make the cut, or even worse just never get a call back. Auditioning in New York for shows is bad enough but when you have to “audition” for your survival job? It was all very frustrating. Lucky for me that holy grail didn’t take too long to come my way. I was hired originally at “Blue Fin” for coat check and when I quit two weeks later because it was the most mind-numbing job ever, they must have seen potential in me (that or they were just tired of auditioning people), because I was asked to train as a bartender. Seriously?? ME?? A Bartender in NYC?? What did I do to get so lucky?! This will pay my way through this ridiculously expensive city, pay for my voice lessons and dance classes and still allow me to have fun. I worked my ass off for 2 weeks straight training…doubles, early mornings into late nights into early mornings. At that time in New York if you were a tipped employee a company was not required to pay you minimum wage so I was making like $3.50 an hour which all went to taxes and I didn’t get any tips while training so I basically worked for free. It was worth it though…that job changed my life in New York. I met some of the most amazing people that would go on to do incredible things, and I found my first core group of New York friends, several of which continue to be my best friends even to this day. Long, busy bartending shifts turned into late night chill sessions at the “Rum House” next door, which turned into the sun rising on my walk home to 56th street. I cherish those memories. The days when cars still flowed through what is now the pedestrian area of Times Square. When on a snowy winter night at 3:00 in the morning the silence of no traffic and the snow falling on the bright marquee lights was one of the most peaceful times I’ve experienced. There was one time in particular I remember well. My brothers picked me up after work when their Broadway Shows got out. It was Christmas time and we went to go see the tree in Rockefeller Center at about midnight. Standing there in the peaceful light of that giant sparkling Spruce Tree, my brother said “not bad for 3 kids from Alaska”. I had made it. I had a job, I had friends, and I had family, all in the most amazing city in the world. My whole future was in front of me, the excitement of who I was going to become, and the amazing things I was going to do with my life. I looked at that tree and thought…”Nope…not bad at all”.

The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center