Yesterday, I returned from my 10th visit to New York. After I blogged about my New York Nostalgia last autumn, I actually went through with it and booked a 12-day trip to New York, despite some doubts I had, mainly regarding the political situation1.

Is politics a reason not to visit a place? Depends. I think if you think like that, then I think a lot of countries are off the table for a vacation as well… most countries in the Middle East and northern Africa for their treatment of women and queer people, some European countries with right-wing governments – popular vacation spots like Italy or Türkiye for example. But where do you draw the line? Do you not travel to Switzerland because that’s where Alice Weidel lives?2 IMHO boycotting yourself from visiting countries on such grounds is just virtue signaling. On the contrary, I think that traveling is the best way to learn how places like these work and why they are the way they are.

I learned a lot by revisiting New York at this stage in my life, and in the current political climate. I actually didn’t witness anything akin to the insanity you hear in the news during my visit. Getting into the country was easy, and allover, I felt like New York City does not care much for its government. Even the gaudy displays of patriotism that used to be more prominent seem to have become a lot lot less in the city.

Lately I’ve been very interested in New York history, and it was enlightening for me to walk around this city and realize that it has always been obsessed with rich, powerful, white men. I can’t speak for their intelligence or political stance, but this city, and to some extent the country, were built by its (seemingly) benevolent oligarchs. Astor, Morgan, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt,… these are names you will find everywhere in the city. They seem valued and admired by the city they helped build. In New York, almost every place or building has been sponsored by something or someone. Even the (main branch) public library has some tycoon’s name attached to it3.

If you ever wondered how somebody was elected president whose only qualification is being rich… I think this obsession with billionaires is part of why.

Beyond that, I found it interesting to see how the city is still shaped by its history of rapid growth in the 1870 to 1910s. I also have a personal connection to this, because that’s when my great-grandparents emigrated from a tiny village in Germany to New York City. They were part of this crazy period in which the city was sprawling with clusters of immigrants from allover Europe, each creating their own little enclaves, side by side.

This is one of things that make New York so fascinating and enjoyable to me. To me as visitor, in present day New York, it feels like everyone appreciates each other, all New Yorkers seem to universally enjoy their Italian pizza, their Jewish bagels and their German sausages – they’ve all become New York things. And a lot of places, especially restaurants and stores, pride themselves on having been around for 100ish years.

During this 10th visit, I took the opportunity to revisit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I haven’t been to either since one of my very first visits to New York as a teenager, so it’s been a very, very long time. It was interesting to see this monument, which all those immigrants saw when they sailed into the harbor. It’s become a somewhat trivial thing in our day, but just image you’ve left your entire life behind, and spent weeks on a ship to get to a place to start a new life. That sight must have been a pretty crazy feeling. And imagine that this was only about 120 years ago and how insanely rapidly the times have changed…

Visiting Ellis Island, which acted as the immigration processing center, was a bit of a bummer though, because half of it was closed for renovation. That was actually my main reason to go there, not so much the statue. Oh well, I’m sure at some point in my life I will visit New York an eleventh time, and I hope by that time they’ll have finished renovating.

Aside from marveling at its history, I generally just enjoyed spending time in this city. I like to wander around and spend time sitting on park benches, observing people go about their business. I admire New Yorkers, because it is without a doubt one of the hardest places to live today. Where ~120 years ago, even the poorest migrant found opportunities here, today it has sadly become a place for the super-rich.

Really, it’s become SUCH an expensive city. Last time I visited (2017) I didn’t feel like everyday expenses were so ridiculously expensive as they are now. Now, it seems a lot of people can’t afford basic necessities anymore, judging by the amount of products that are now locked up in drug stores. I never saw this in New York before (though I did see it in California when I visited in 2022 and 2024, so it appears to be a nationwide thing).

With life becoming so unaffordable for even the upper middle class here, I really wonder what will become of this city. At some point there will have to be some kind of readjustment, possibly even a nationwide one. That the US has problems is quite obvious. IMHO one of its biggest problems is that their constitution is 250 years old and in dire need of a reform. Most European countries have a constitution that is roughly 80 years old. Sadly, Americans are too damn proud to realize that their government system is seeping with corruption and is massively outdated.

Returning to the topic of my visit; sitting in parks is one of my favorite things to do in the city. Even though this city is so crowded, somehow that never felt overwhelming for me (except may for Times Square and some parts of midtown, but that’s because of the tourists, not the natives)4. It felt more like observing nature, and how the flow of people is like the stream of a river. I’ve been to New York so many times that I simply just enjoy being there, not so much chasing after adventure.

Also, now that I wasn’t under the influence of boomers5, I even dared to go out to neighborhoods that they would have warned me about (very deep into Brooklyn for example). It was very interesting to see these other sides of the city, and the places where normal people go about their lives. I found a few hidden gems here, such as for example The Bone Museum – a very small, one-room museum, but it was super interesting and I learned a lot about how diseases can affect bones, and about how crazy the bone trade was until the 1980s.

I also (re)visited a few tourist attractions, most I’ve already been to, but it’s been so long that I barely remember. The Met Cloisters was one such example, a little outlier of the Metropolitan Museum of Art very far in the north of Manhattan. It was fascinating to see this medieval building, built there with the sole purpose of exhibiting the artifacts they b(r)ought from Europe – sometimes even integrating them into the building (like stained glass windows, pillars, etc.). Oh, and there are unicorn tapestries!

However, in the more popular tourist attractions, I noticed that places have gotten significantly more crowded compared to my first 9 visits. Times Square is absolute tourist hell, and large parts of midtown as well. I found most tourists very obnoxious because they’re so unaware of their surroundings, gawking, standing in the way, and generally being impolite.

That’s one of the other things I like about New York: despite their reputation, New Yorkers are actually very nice and considerate people. They are always aware of their surroundings, saying ‘excuse me’, stopping when you’re taking a picture to not be in the way, holding the door open for you… Germans would just let the door smash into your face, as happened to me immediately after I got off the plane back home.

When going to touristy and non-touristy places, this comparison becomes immediately obvious. Unfortunately I had to go to Times Square quite often to get myself theater tickets. That’s one other touristy thing, I did – watch a lot of plays. But that deserves its own blog post, so check back in a few days 🙂

To conclude, I’m glad I went to visit New York again. Being back there was a really good break from everything for my mind, and it was great to just wander and go with the flow. I’m also glad that I took my time there, because during my last couple of visits I didn’t feel I got sufficiently soaked with that New York energy – in 2017, I was actually sick with a cold, and I couldn’t enjoy the 4 days I had in the city, and in 2012 and 2010 I only had only 5 days each, but with my ex, which was a different energy. Going back to the roots, taking it slow like I did on my first visits all by myself in 2005 and 2006, was really great. I love New York, this city is always worth a visit and it will never get boring for me.