At the time I was working as an accountant for GaS Digital Networks, I met the CEO working for Andrew Dice Clay in Los Angeles. I would take the subway from Astoria to the East Village, the diversity was beautiful, the work ethic is unmatched, New Yorker’s are a tough and resilient bunch. There’s no other place like New York City and I’ve been to 38 states. Everyday can be different from the next, there’s an unlimited amount of places to go and people to meet. My weeks consisted of drives to Valley Stream to shop at Trader Joe’s around golden hour with loud music, meeting comedians I would only dream of meeting a few months prior, being yelled at by a neighbor for throwing away my trash wrong, and 3 A.M. visits to Steinway for dollar slice pizza, my guilty pleasure. My only real friend was Cheyenne who lived in Brooklyn. I absolutely loved seeing her and spending days with no agenda, just trying to make sense of life and walking through the streets of Manhattan. She would later use her credit card when mine was lost and help move my apartment into storage in Valley Stream. Kate came to visit one day from Massachusetts, I took her to the studio I worked at, K&M Camera, Brooklyn Bridge, I remember it being extremely hot and humid. This was a special moment because I believe it harnessed a friendship for when I would later move to Maine. On the two occasions I drove from Maine to Massachusetts to see her, I saw the license plate “Kate” both times, at that point I knew it was fate and grew in appreciation for life, it was just a perfectly written story. Anyway, we would meet Cheyenne at Washington Square Park, and end the night drinking at Union Square Park. One day I had my Yashica 124-G camera shooting the Gay Parade, which is beyond insane in Manhattan, they estimated over 9 million people came that year in 2019. At one point I was on Gay Street, and I look behind and see Chad, I met him in Thai Town once before. We would spend the next 24 hours together with no sleep of course. From nights like those, to walking in with Papa Roach, Ari Shaffir, giving directions to Colin Quinn or walking into the studio with Jim Bruer after finding him lost on the street, there was never a dull moment in New York and I do miss the opportunity there. I didn’t realize how great I had it.

Kate