Okay, let's set things straight for a second. There are a lot of New Yorkers who were born in New York, and they don't like transplants.
Transplants, if you didn't know, are people who've moved to New York City from somewhere else.
As transplants, this hurts our feelings. We'd like to believe we're every bit as capable of acclimating to life in NYC as native New Yorkers, and every bit as capable as falling in love with NYC, too.
In fact, we think transplants deserve more credit than we get.
First of all, it was our decision to live here. We couldn't decide where we were born, but of all the cities in all the land, we chose NYC.
We should get some credit for that now, shouldn't we? Now here are 8 more reasons why transplants living in NYC deserve just a lil' more respect.
1. Transplants chose to live here
dclow I love you California. I really do! I love how beautiful you are, how diverse you are, how awesome your food is, and how fun the people can be! But, I am in desperate need of a change. I need to be selfish for a little while and do what's best for me. It's a really strange feeling, but I am ready. I have decided that I am going to take more time to prep for launching my swim line. I have a brand new direction I would like to pursue and it's going to take more people, more time, and LOTS more money (it will be announced soon with a Kickstarter). I have to stay patient and know that my dream will come if I keep working at it, and I'm doing just that. I also need to remind myself that timelines don't matter! I don't need to compare myself to other successful designers or peers because I am just not there yet. SO... With all of that being said, my big announcement is: IM MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY! Yup, it's decided. I need to be with my mom and find some balance. I need a new start and a new environment. I will be back in California, but I'm coming back to kill it in the swim industry! I will be ready and mentally set for what I want to accomplish. Who cares how long it takes!? I'm just so thankful that I have parents who can be there for me in these moments. I don't know what I would do without them! But here we go!! NYC, expect me at the end of February!! | not my original picture | #movingtoNYC #hereicome #itsdecided
If you've decided to move to NYC, it means you've sacrificed your safety net, your sense of familiarity, and you've packed your bags and moved to this place with tiny bedrooms and grimy streets.
If you're from here, you didn't really have a choice about whether you'd take the subway every day.
[anad]
So, yeah, it still sucks that natives have to deal with subway delays and dirty trains, but dealing with subway delays and dirty trains sucks so much more when you know what it's like to drive a car through abandoned rural streets.
We know that might be why natives hate us: because we've chosen to immerse ourselves in this sometimes-squalor, but we think we should get credit for choosing this lifestyle.
2. Then, transplants chose to stay here
Guess what? Some of us have friends who were born in NYC, and they moved out at the first shot they got.
Does that make them more "New Yorker" than people who've lived here for going on five years, and haven't had thoughts of moving?
Aren't transplants what make New York what it is? Isn't the whole allure of NYC that it's a desirable place, where people want to be?
If people could never come here, could never chase after their dreams by moving here, then it'd just be another random U.S. city no one cared about, wouldn't it?
3. We've been gazing toward NYC all our lives
You may have grown up here, but we're the ones who watched NYC on TV all our lives.
We sat with our faces glued to the TV every New Year's Eve, we watched all the movies and TV shows set in NYC forever, and sometimes we took trips with our families to the great big city to see Broadway shows.
More than that, some of us grew up or went to college and met people who grew up in NYC, and we admired their worldliness.
[anad2]
Kids who grow up in NYC have a different awareness about the world than people who didn't, they've been exposed to so many languages and cultures, and crazy and beautiful situations, too, that they carry a different self-awareness than people who didn't.
We admire that. Which is why we want to live here.
4. We're passionate
NYC is for the strong, not the weak. That's a fact. If you live in NYC, you have to stick up for yourself, and that's a lesson you learn sooner rather than later when you live here.
If someone moves to NYC, it's because they're willing to endure all that hustle, grind, and grit to get what they want.
We're here because we believe in ourselves, and we believe in NYC's possibilities. We're the ones who will work hard to make things happen. You should believe in us too.
,5. We contribute to society
jenhastheword I always get people telling me ohh why do you wanna move to New York it's so expensive, it's so cold blah blah blah. Awhile ago I found this paragraph in a book that sums up everything. "The rewards of living in New York are infinite & can't be measured in square feet or traffic flow. So, while NYC consistently ranks high in expensive cities to live in the world, it still remains the destination of choice for anybody with a dream." #ilovenewyork #dreambig #zooyork #nycliving #manhattan #brooklyn #queensny #bronx #harlem #statenisland #hudsoncounty #goals #nyctransplants #nycimmigrants #ellisisland #everybodylovesnyc
It's not like transplants are solely heiresses with trust funds who sit in our expensive apartments and order Seamless all day.
As transplants, we get up in the morning, we get ready for work, then we go to our contributing-positively-to-society jobs.
[anad]
Transplants are doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, writers, and politicians. We're musicians and artists and do-gooders who moved here because we believe in the dream NYC represents, and we believe in ourselves to achieve that dream.
So if you'd just chill out and be nice to us, we might do some good around here.
6. We have feelings
What other minority group would it be okay to call out the way New Yorkers call out transplants?
You wouldn't be able to degrade someone because of their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. So why would it be okay to denigrate someone because of where they were born?
If you're a native New Yorker and you hate transplants, we ask you to consider why. Is it because you have something good here in New York and we don't want to share it?
Guess what: it's perfectly legal for us to move here, and it's perfectly legal for us to love living here just as much as you do.
When you berate transplants, it makes us feel bad because we have, you know, emotions. Like, we're people.
7. Some of our ancestors are actually from here
Not that it matters, but the years between 1892 and 1954, nearly 40% of U.S. citizens immigrated through Ellis Island.
Plenty of these immigrants lived in NYC, worked hard, and contributed to societal life in the city for a number of years before gathering their belongings and moving to suburbs.
[anad2]
Some of NYC's transplant's families then lived in the suburbs for a couple of generations before we, their great-great grandchildren, moved back to the city our great-great grandparents left.
So plenty of "transplants" actually have deeper roots in the city than the "natives" who berate them.
Now, just because our ancestors once lived in NYC doesn't give us any more right to the city than anyone else, but we just bring this up to show you how ridiculous all this denigration is.
8. We want to #SaveNYC too
Guess what? We hate corporate chains just as much as you do.
No, we don't have those deep, emotional, nostalgic ties to places in NYC from our childhoods. That's all you.
What we do have is an intense and undying love for the verve and flavor of NYC. That's why we moved here.
If we wanted to spend the rest of our lives eating and drinking at cookie cutter corporate chains, we wouldn't have put in all this effort to move to NYC in the first place.
We're just as likely to be devastated about the loss of St. Mark's Bookstore as you, and we'll feel that devastation in a different way: we know what it's like to grow up with nothing but Barnes and Nobles in sight.
Check out 7 Harsh Realities for Transplant New Yorkers.
[Feature Image Courtesy Vivienne Gucwa]