i’m a proud new yorker.
i love my city. the place of my birth. where i live.
i’ll tell you about my day today and you’ll see why i love new york so much.
i went for a walk with a friend of mine.
it was about 200 degrees outside, but we decided to go for a long walk to the east river
park(one of manhattan’s hidden jewels). en route we were flagged down by a priest at a russian orthodox church who invited us inside and gave us a tour of his church while introducing us to a 20 year old cat and also showing us some of the icons that the church/school had produced.
then we continued walking and ended up in east river park where we watched a latino little-league game.
then we walked back through housing projects and bought water in an arabic deli(they smiled appreciatively at my t-shirt, which says ‘war is shit’ in arabic).
we made our way past old jewish couples and beautiful old synagogues then walked through chinatown and then stopped in a park on rivington and chrystie where:
latino families were playing checkers
a pakistani family was playing frisbee
an indian family was playing on the swings
a woman in a burka was pushing her kids on the swings
yuppies were playing in the fountain
and african-americans were playing on the playground.
so, you see one of the reasons why i love my city?
in the course of an hour we encountered:
russian(and georgian)orthodox, latinos, arabs, jews, indians, chinese, pakistanis, african-americans, and caucasoids(aka me and my yuppie hordes).
everyone was out having barbecues and playing frisbee and playing in fountains and walking around and enjoying the day and enjoying their families.
everyone was getting along, even though some of these people represent cultures who have centuries of enmity with one another.
every country on the planet is represented in new york city, and for the most part everyone treats each other with respect and decency.
indians and pakistanis live next to each other and get along.
jews and arabs live next to each other and get along.
gays and fundamentalists live next to each other and get along.
koreans and japanese live next to each other and get along.
people might not actively preach tolerance, but they practice tolerance, even when it’s
difficult and challenging. and that’s remarkable.
i not only love new york city, but i’m proud of the city of my birth and i feel fortunate and honored to be able to call this place my home.
thanks.
moby
