Notes 02: The Well-Connected City Effect

An evening in New York, from the 1 to the 6 to somewhere in between

Dear Life Traveler,

We are back with a shorter piece, somewhere between a personal column and a micro-essay about a night in New York. An attempt to publish more often, find a better rhythm, and not overthink.

If you want to read with music, I recommend listening to Intro by The xx.

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Few things are sexier than a big city with good public transport.

It feels like a declaration of love from the government to you.

I’m back in New York after four years, and every time I hop on a subway within a ten-minute walk, I feel a warm, fuzzy feeling in my belly.

I’m sitting on the 1, dressed up to go to a Broadway show, Every Brilliant Thing, surrounded by other people going places. A man in a slick blue suit, white shirt, and suitcase is probably heading home from a finance office, picking up takeout on the way. Three tourists in oversized hats are laughing about their obnoxious friend, who asked for the number of a cute waiter. Another man is watching Instagram videos without headphones, loudly.

A quick switch to the 6. I giggle as I move from one train to the other, floating with the energy around me, electric.

The girl next to me this time is wearing basketball shorts and two black nose piercings. They look so good on her. Maybe I should consider them, and the black hat she has too. I almost tell her she looks amazing.

It brings me back to Milan, my hometown.

A well-connected city gives you a choice. You can walk, hop on a train, or grab a cab if you need to. You don’t think about parking or traffic, or how much you’ve had to drink. It’s freedom.

You just move.

Sitting next to me during the show, there’s a woman who is there alone too. At one point, we hug during a prompt. It’s an outstanding performance by Daniel Radcliffe.

I hop on another train, meet Ambuj at a bar a few stops away, we eat some bread with pâté, and then we walk back for an hour to Wall Street.

The sidewalks are lit. People of all ages move at the same speed.

You look up and realize you’ve walked twenty thousand steps without noticing.

Energy passes through you, alive.

New York by night

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