You motion for another martini and down it quickly. What number is that? Three? Five? Why hasn’t He noticed you yet? You’re drunk but not yet sloppy. You’ll leave before that happens. Catch a cab, stumble up the stairs to your fourth-floor walk up. You pick up your cell and your fingers move slowly but you put a note in your phone with the name of the bar you’re at—sober you will appreciate the breadcrumbs.
New York had become my campus, or so the flyers advertised. In subway stations, at museums, on trains, in taxicabs, outside restaurants, on street corners, I found myself asking the question: What makes a New Yorker?
What follows are my observations.
In New York City, a person knows where they stand. You know before you hop on the subway if a person is going to show up to a date. Then if they’re not showing, and […]
Things were beginning to feel indefinite.
I was walking down 85th and Lex when I saw him. It had been four months since the last correspondence. This was after our direct contact dissipated because of his drinking, which led to the yelling, which led to me wearing longer sleeves and waking up earlier to add more layers of makeup. The marks human eyes couldn’t see took longer to fade.
Anna* is a woman in her mid-twenties who is studying for her Master’s degree in New York City at an Ivy League University. When she was denied financial aid, she sought out alternative methods to pay for school. She signed up for a website that focuses on sugar dating, where her company is valued by an exchange of an allowance or gifts. In this interview, we discuss her personal life, her lifestyle, and her opinion on sugaring.
The best advice I’ve ever been given by my therapist is to make men as uncomfortable as they make me.
There is no such thing as “dating” in my South Africa. You’re either in a relationship, hooking up, single, or in the friendzone. A large emerging category is that of the “blessee” who plays that […]
In the New York City transportation system, bike accidents are considered especially unimportant. The dedicated walkers who roam the streets and nearly get killed by cyclists have not responded to my ad on Craigslist, so […]
rat poison, rat traps, Ditrac, glue boards, Gentrol, bait stations, D-foam, peanut butter, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer
Drawing Party
“Drawing Party” is Sanika Phawde’s interactive piece that explores the intersections between information and democracy. Sanika created and displayed in New York City store windows posters for an event that didn’t exist. The aim was […]
This piece is a part of 12th Street Journal‘s series, “Crisis Expressive,”which focuses on why and how we, as humans, creatively express during personal and public moments of crisis. If you have a story to express, we would be exulted to […]
