New York Is Beautiful But….

By Esther Mwaniki

A few months ago, a friend asked me, "Do you know you are in the world's commercial center?" That statement hit home. In many rankings, New York is the world's most economically influential city. Still, before this conversation, I had not processed the significance of where I was.

I am a nature lover, so I had not expected to love New York; after all, it is often referred to as one big concrete jungle. I went with the mind of getting the business of the day done, but with each day, I fell in love with this city.

I loved the parks; I still can't tell which park I'll miss the most, from Madison Square to Central Park to Bryant Park, that I loved strolling through Prospect Park.

Then there was the endless string of events, incredible concerts, and musicals. And then there was the cuisine that I loved. New Yorkers work very hard, but they also know how to enjoy themselves, and I loved that.

On this specific day, when I had an epiphany about where I was, we were in the middle of summer, and I was seated in my favorite spot at Union Square. It was breathtakingly beautiful. On my left was a couple falling in love in the streets of this city; across the roads were some of my favorite shopping spots. A few steps away from this area was Madison Square which has beautiful places for kids to play as grownups have a cold almond latte and look into each other's eyes. Perfect..

The contradiction

But New York is also such a contradiction.

Just the week before, I'd been in the supermarket and had listened to the cashier talk about (or was it yell) how this was her third job of the day, and somehow she couldn't still make ends meet.

I met many people who couldn't afford healthcare in New York! I couldn't comprehend how healthcare in the commercial city of the world is a luxury good

A few months prior, I'd encountered homeless people in the streets of a harsh winter. This city gets indescribably cold, and the homeless people sleeping on those floors in the commercial city of the world is still unfathomable. I wanted to cry.

And then, towards the end of my year, I lived in the Bronx briefly. And every naivety I had about who New York was gone. Many people can't afford Manhattan or much of Brooklyn, so they move to the Bronx and Queens. From the high levels of uncollected garbage to the congestion to the sounds of gunshots to the higher levels of drugs and homelessness, the Bronx took away any romanticism I had of New York. The situation is even direr in the South Bronx, the poorest district in the country.

And then there were the gun issues that sounded like the easiest thing to resolve. And the security incidents in the subway in a state where mental health issues were high. It turns out the U.S. has more guns and gun violence than any other rich country.

The land of the free?

I have heard N.Y. is the land for the free; I didn't hear of the backs people break to feed this American dream. I didn't hear of inequality.

I have never felt as black as I did in New York. I didn't hear enough the racism. And it wasn't just the many times I had to fill in forms that asked me if I was black, but the treatment in the trains, the shops, the streets, and the more subtle one on the accent. I shuddered to imagine how this world impacts a black man on the streets of the commercial city of the world.

So New York is beautiful, but it needs a soul. It's one thing to have buildings and parks; it's another to create for people.

So New York is beautiful, but it needs community. It's one thing to have financial success; it's another to know social success. To see the power of people, to trust, to build with and for people.

So New York is beautiful, but it needs authentic connections. New York is gorgeous, but it's lonely. In between, the very active social scene in N.Y. still needs people who wear their hearts on their sleeves. To heal and rebuild authentically.

New York is beautiful, but it needs to rebuild its ideological philosophy to make room for debates and listening to contrary opinions. I was taken aback by the deep sense of polarization over issues in the nation.

So New York is beautiful and resilient and high energy and high potential, and did I say beautiful, but in many ways, New York is empty, lonely, sick, and lost. Maybe kind of like many parts of the world today that are built around pure capitalist policies.

We do the work

I'm now even more excited about all the civic innovators and public service leaders who have thrown themselves into the work of healing New York and America at large.

People like Taproot Foundation are committed to climate justice and understand that climate issues are a battle of the soul. People like Seema Gajwani, whose work in restorative justice, shows the U.S. that criminal justice can be restorative justice. People like Braven support college students from underrepresented communities in landing meaningful careers post-graduation and ensure they also have access to economic opportunities.

America sets the pace for the world today. And a beautiful but sick America is not just a danger to itself but the world.

So dreamers, builders, those creating a new song that says New York is beautiful, and…, we are cheering you on. Fight for your soul. Fight for your freedom. Dream differently. Build differently. Make America great!

I'm rooting for New York. It is one of the most beautiful states I've been to. I truly loved it. I hope and pray for more than beautiful.