When I first moved into Manhattan, I lived with a boyfriend on Greenwich Avenue and West 10th. Although I knew it was over long before it actually ended (so much so that when I finally moved out, I thought that the neighborhood would always bring back a feeling of entrapment and suffocation), I still love to wander the streets and visit my old haunts once in a while. For some reason I can’t quite place, it actually reminds me of how much I love this city. It makes me feel reassured—like I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
Maybe it’s because it brings back so many memories of who I was back then, which makes me think about who I am right now. Which in turn, forces me to see how far I’ve actually come and how much I’ve grown and changed in just a few years. This city will do that to you—it forces you to grow up at faster than normal rates. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think I’m still figuring that out.
In any case, at the very least, Jack’s Coffee serves the best cup of stir-brew around (138 West 10th Street) and that alone makes it worth the walk. I’m sipping a cup right now and it’s making me happy.
