I Used To Live In Northampton MA - Andrea Rosen (Now I Live In NYC)
"Trying to 'make it' in New York right now is like knowingly exposing yourself to elements in a blizzard. But I do enjoy being a member of the city, even if it only means I can decry the authenticity of a Gossip Girl scene."
I was introduced to Brooklyn resident and Tumblrer Andrea Rosen after reading an online account of a mugging she was recently the victim of, discovering shortly afterwards that she was raised in Northampton MA, a smallworking class affluent bedroom community in Western MA of 30,000 people that I grew up in.
Andrea agreed to an interview for I Used To Live In Northampton, and it begins below. NOTE: Any hyper links in the article were added by me for added value.
I Used To Live In Northampton - Andrea Rosen, 22, Williamsburg
You used to live in Northampton Ma. Where about, and for how long?
I was born in Hamp in 1986 at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, which sits on the cusp of Northampton proper and Florence, the hamlet of the city I've never seen as authentically "Northampton." My family lived in a house a few blocks from Smith College, right off of Elm Street, until 1998, when we moved to a larger house one street over.
Tell me a little bit about your Northampton. What did you like about it, dislike about it?
I liked straddling the line between "Hamp" and "Noho." "Hamp" was old Northampton: high school athletics, Joe's Pizza. "Noho" was new Northampton: the boutiques downtown, the vibrant arts scene. I always sensed a bit of intra-city resentment between the two camps.
When and why did you come to nyc? and what are you doing here now?
I took some time off of college and wasn't sure I wanted to go back right away. I decided to try New York for a little while, since my when-I-grow-up ideal was to work for a magazine. I was offered an internship at Time Out New York for the spring semester of 2007. I moved a few weeks later and simply never left (I celebrate my two-year anniversary this month). Now I work for alternative weekly The L Magazine, where I manage various online goings-on and contribute to bar & restaurant coverage. I came to New York to be a writer, but I've found the burgeoning tech scene suits me.
Can you talk about any notable nyc experience since you've been here?
Notable is all relative in New York, isn't it? Most of my "notable" experiences in the city have been humbling ones: getting mugged in Chelsea last weekend, having to vacate a table at Rose Bar so a pre-Wrestler Mickey Rourke could have it, scoring my first freelance writing job only to compose a really embarrassing column that will haunt me for the rest of my career.
Are there any similarities btw Northampton and NYC that you are aware of?
I see so much of Northampton in Brooklyn: the high volume of young residents, the overwhelming support for local artists. Both are full of creative overachievers, which will always keep things interesting.
"I see so much of Northampton in Brooklyn:" You mean like the outrageous real estate values, class frictions, and gentrification from the monied elite?
Ha. Hmm...I suppose it's the illusion that we're a community of hardscrabble artist-types. When in fact, we live the way we do because we have the means to.
How's your life in nyc now? Do you find it enjoyable, a struggle, both?
It's certainly a hard time to live here. It's a hard time to live anywhere, but national experiences feel so immediate in New York. It seems like everything happens here first, which is thrilling when it's a good thing (the New Kids on the Block reunion) but terrible when it's a bad thing (sad traders with file boxes week). Trying to "make it" in New York right now is like knowingly exposing yourself to elements in a blizzard. But I do enjoy being a member of the city, even if it only means I can decry the authenticity of a Gossip Girl scene.
What do you want out of nyc, and what do/are you giving back?
What do I want? Honestly, an enviable career and lifestyle. What will I give back? A few bon mots, hopefully.
http://andrearosen.tumblr.com
More IUTLIN (now I live in nyc):
Korey White
Rosa
I was introduced to Brooklyn resident and Tumblrer Andrea Rosen after reading an online account of a mugging she was recently the victim of, discovering shortly afterwards that she was raised in Northampton MA, a small
Andrea agreed to an interview for I Used To Live In Northampton, and it begins below. NOTE: Any hyper links in the article were added by me for added value.
I Used To Live In Northampton - Andrea Rosen, 22, WilliamsburgYou used to live in Northampton Ma. Where about, and for how long?
I was born in Hamp in 1986 at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, which sits on the cusp of Northampton proper and Florence, the hamlet of the city I've never seen as authentically "Northampton." My family lived in a house a few blocks from Smith College, right off of Elm Street, until 1998, when we moved to a larger house one street over.
Tell me a little bit about your Northampton. What did you like about it, dislike about it?
I liked straddling the line between "Hamp" and "Noho." "Hamp" was old Northampton: high school athletics, Joe's Pizza. "Noho" was new Northampton: the boutiques downtown, the vibrant arts scene. I always sensed a bit of intra-city resentment between the two camps.
When and why did you come to nyc? and what are you doing here now?
I took some time off of college and wasn't sure I wanted to go back right away. I decided to try New York for a little while, since my when-I-grow-up ideal was to work for a magazine. I was offered an internship at Time Out New York for the spring semester of 2007. I moved a few weeks later and simply never left (I celebrate my two-year anniversary this month). Now I work for alternative weekly The L Magazine, where I manage various online goings-on and contribute to bar & restaurant coverage. I came to New York to be a writer, but I've found the burgeoning tech scene suits me.
Can you talk about any notable nyc experience since you've been here?
Notable is all relative in New York, isn't it? Most of my "notable" experiences in the city have been humbling ones: getting mugged in Chelsea last weekend, having to vacate a table at Rose Bar so a pre-Wrestler Mickey Rourke could have it, scoring my first freelance writing job only to compose a really embarrassing column that will haunt me for the rest of my career.
Are there any similarities btw Northampton and NYC that you are aware of?
I see so much of Northampton in Brooklyn: the high volume of young residents, the overwhelming support for local artists. Both are full of creative overachievers, which will always keep things interesting.
"I see so much of Northampton in Brooklyn:" You mean like the outrageous real estate values, class frictions, and gentrification from the monied elite?
Ha. Hmm...I suppose it's the illusion that we're a community of hardscrabble artist-types. When in fact, we live the way we do because we have the means to.
How's your life in nyc now? Do you find it enjoyable, a struggle, both?
It's certainly a hard time to live here. It's a hard time to live anywhere, but national experiences feel so immediate in New York. It seems like everything happens here first, which is thrilling when it's a good thing (the New Kids on the Block reunion) but terrible when it's a bad thing (sad traders with file boxes week). Trying to "make it" in New York right now is like knowingly exposing yourself to elements in a blizzard. But I do enjoy being a member of the city, even if it only means I can decry the authenticity of a Gossip Girl scene.
What do you want out of nyc, and what do/are you giving back?
http://andrearosen.tumblr.com
More IUTLIN (now I live in nyc):
Korey White
Rosa
