Thread by @Joelsberg

The NY Times asked me and and others a few months ago what we loved most about NYC. Here was the part of my response that they printed:

Here was my full response: I love that parts of New York are as Nigerian as Lagos, as Indian as Mumbai, as Jewish as Tel Aviv, as Haitian as Port-au-Prince, as Ukrainian as Odessa, as Mexican as Puebla, as Chinese as Shanghai, etc., etc. etc. … into infinity.

I love that you can see, hear, and taste the world along just a few stops on the 7 line. I love that—if you have the money and the time—you can eat your way through Serbian sausages, Jamaican beef patties,

Tibetan dumplings, Neapolitan pizza, Salvadorean pupusas, French crepes, Australian meat pies and, befitting a city about to be led by a devout vegan*, any manner of plant-based delicacies.

I love that, when clubs are open, you can dance to Ghanaian highlife, Colombian cumbia, Balkan brass bands, Dominican merengue, and Guinean Manding Swing.

I love that NYC proves wrong the close-minded nitwits who think diversity is a national weakness, when we conclusively demonstrate, each and every day, that diversity is our greatest strength.

I love that Ellis Island welcomed my mother when she was 2 months old, along with her parents, fleeing oppression and seeking economic opportunity and freedom—and that we still welcome striving newcomers every day. Other places may sing “We are the World,” but NYC lives it.

* Turns out that the "devout vegan" mayor occasionally eats fish, not that there is anything wrong with that.