We Have Never Been More Outside

Home from the parade, buzzing!

This feels like the crescendo.

The ultimate moment for us New Yorkers.

We have been flying high.

Actually high fiving each other in the streets. Saying hello. Giving a hand. Feeling a connection to one another in a way I have not felt in years, maybe ever.

I have had actual moments lately where I felt myself choking up, watching the life force of this city in motion.

Transit workers, police, firemen, neighbors, strangers, the whole wild machinery of New York somehow moving as one.

The camaraderie. The unspoken understanding that yes, we live in this magical land, but that the struggle is real.

The hustle is hard. The rent is high. The grind is real. The city will test you from that first flight of stairs up and out, and yet somehow then hand you an orange sunset, a NY anthem, a perfect stranger, a reason to keep going forward.

And maybe that is what this team has shown us. That just when it feels impossible, just when it feels like we wont make it we cant go another step, you can push through.

You can get to some other side. You can turn the hard into the perfect story. You can have a victory.

There is something so unique about us people who choose to live here.

Some of us do it in more plush ways than others, of course. And maybe it has never been clearer that money can buy you a very good time in this town. Fancy restaurants, private rooms, beautiful experiences with sparkeling lights.

But for the rest of us, there is still the street.

There is still the fun of OUTSIDE.

Dancing around the streets, smoking, chatting, laughing, riffing.

Finding a curb, a corner, a stoop, a slice, a friend. Dreaming out loud. Making something out of nothing.

Realizing you do not really need that much to feel rich here.

With a good friend in tow and a surprise around a corner with a little music coming from somewhere. That may be enough.

There is an Outside-ness to New York that makes us equal for a moment.

We are all out here. All moving through it. All dreaming. All seeing each other.

All knowing something the rest of the world keeps trying to understand.

That we have more in common than we have separating us.

That we are blessed to be a hundred different nations, creeds, religions, languages, moods, outfits, hairstyles, opinions, and dreams all pressed into one square foot of sidewalk. Somehow all caring for these streets. And loving what they give to us. And continuing to believe that New York is not just a place, but an example of what is possible.

Which is why that line going around about our mayor being Muslim and our bagels being Jewish hits so hard. Because yes. Exactly. That is New York.

That is the whole thing. A million worlds in one city, living on top of each other, borrowing from each other, feeding each other, arguing, laughing, building, blessing, surviving.

There is no better place on the planet right now than here, bumped up against my fellow crazy New York comrades, we be singing, crying, laughing, hugging, and watching our favorite team bring something home for us to feel as one!

And thankfully, this feeling is not coming from tragedy. It is not because we lost something.

It is because we are witnessing something.

We are recognizing one another in the moment.

We are remembering that this city can still make us feel alive, seen, held, and part of something bigger than ourselves. Thats why we live here. We never been more Outside than this moment right now, home from my first ticker tape parade loving our home team! And feeling the bliss our players must be feeling.

Its been an amazing week of celebration, of coming together, to dance and be seen. We had our dance party and our second Book salon at Housing works and so much more good times ahead.

More reasons to gather. More chances to look across a room, a street, a dance floor, a bookstore, a breakfast table, and recognize one another.

Because in all your faces, I see myself.

And the reflection is love.

I love NY.

-Your Friends From New York.

Also from FFNY this week:

Our new conversation with Scram Jones is live. Records, beatmaking, hustle, creativity, and real New York music history from one of the city’s most respected DJs and producers.

Come find FFNY
Friendsfromnewyork.com