what is new york

i was listening to krs1 analyze hip hop and started thinking about all the people who i've met recently and their reactions to me being from new york. and i've started thinking, what is new york?

"have you ever gotten mugged?"
"wow that's really crazy. it must be pretty scary."
"it's dangerous there, right?"
"do you ever go to twilo?" (honey, that club closed too long ago!)
"where you in the world trade centre when it happened?"

i have to constantly assure people of the safety of new york, tell them how i live alone and have been lucky to never have anything happen to me but it's not like it's super scary and there are guns everywhere. they're also surprised i don't talk like a thug and carry a gun. this is the image new york exports of itself.

but the world trade center...so many people ask me about it and when i tell them i work down there, they say, "what's there now? have they started rebuilding? it's just a hole, right?" and i tell them about how the tourists piss me off taking photos of it. i'm not taking photos of any destruction here. but the sensitivty--no one has said, "i hate americans," but i have heard, "i hate bush" or "your president is horrible, i'm sorry"--he's not my president.

viva la cuidad de nueva york en europa!