Our Story
Strap in. What you're about to read, if you choose to do so, is not one love story, but TWO! A love for NEW YORK CITY, and the lady who introduced me to it.
From small town nights to City lights, the year is 2023 when this Midwest transplant unloaded the U-Haul in the greatest city in the world, New York. To say I was anxious, bewildered, and excited is an understatement. I knew it would take time to adjust, but I just wasn't sure how long.
It would be a year of questioning if I was going to survive here, while the New Yorkers around me questioned my boots and my accent. All laughs of course, but still there was lingering uncertainty. That was also about the time I met HER, the woman who was about to change everything.
The setting is a warm August night in 2024, and I'm trembling anxiously on a corner outside of a deli in Lower Manhattan. It's Saturday, and our first date night. Nerves are real. She walks out of a nearby high rise, and I knew I couldn't fuck this up.
Anyway, enough mushy shit. Let's go here.
We finish appetizers near the Hudson, along with the six anxiety beers I "needed." She asks, "what do we do next?" Clearly I locked up and had no idea how to respond because I had NO idea where I was. Not because of beers, but because fucking MANHATTAN, THE City. She politely says, "I got this."
The building we entered next was beautiful. Sunset lit atrium, Louis Vuitton on my left, a premium imported cigar shop on my right with wares more expensive than my car, and an escalator already taller than any building in St. Louis.
As we reached the bottom of the escalator, the structure beneath us, still unknown to me, opened up. My jaw must have been on the floor, like I'd never seen the Oculus before. She laughed at my pathetic expression, asked if I was okay, and said "Come on, follow me."
I'll spare the details, but absolutely check this place out! The history is immense, and my lovely date and tour guide informed me exactly where we were. The views are incredible too.
Fast forward fifteen minutes later and we are standing outside Trinity Church. Again, I'm absolutely in disbelief. It was in that moment the rest unfolds.
Broadway and Rector, I'll never forget. In the distance, horns are honking and headlights beaming in our direction. Buses and cars are headed our way, we have a do not walk sign, and this woman entered the intersection. I yelled out, "No, we can't walk!"
She glances back with a gorgeous grin and says, "New York City is my Bitch." She laughed, I laughed, and Alexander Hamilton laughed as we crossed Broadway onto Rector. The rest is history. That's our story and we are sticking to it! Welcome to NYC is my Bitch.