What Makes a True New Yorker

New York City, the melting pot, has always been home to culture, diversity, and stories. People immigrate from all over the world and they bring with them a piece of where they’re from. Joan Milano’s parents did the same. After her parents immigrated from Russia, Joan Milano, once Joan Kesselman, was born in Washington Heights, New York. We discussed how growing up in New York City exposed her to different stories and different people.

I believe she embodies what a true New Yorker is.

Growing Up in New York

Joan Milano has been a therapist for 40 years. Joan told me how she, as a child, would admire the architecture of Washington Heights as well as take the subway around Manhattan with her friends and they would go to NBC together to be a part of live-studio audiences, “I think it [growing up in New York] gave me a sense of independence that I think kids who grow up in the suburbs don’t really have,” Joan says.. Joan also goes on to say how growing up in Washington Heights was, “multicultural and that was a positive experience.” Growing up in New York gives a different perspective to kids because they’re surrounded by people from all over the world with different stories. Joan said, “A lot of my friends were also children of immigrants as was I and so I learned a lot about what life was like, what kinds of emotional baggage they brought with them. Some of them had been exposed to the Holocaust… that was an education.” This shows you the one of a kind, real-life education people get in New York as opposed to other places in the world or even in the United States. There is no other place like it because of people who come from far and wide.

Although Joan no longer lives in the city, her life would not be the same if she grew up anywhere else.

Coronavirus Impact

Joan Milano used to go into the city to see her friends and family members at least once a week, however after the Coronavirus outbreak life has become more difficult and isolated. Not only did she not come into the city, but it was no longer safe for her friends and family to come and see her. Most of the family still live in small apartments in the city, so Joan’s home in Scarsdale was where everyone gathered for the big family celebrations. 2020 was the first time in years that there was no big Passover Seder in their dining room. The Pandemic was still at its height in NYC, so instead Joan and her husband Andy led it over Zoom. They emailed the Haggadah for each family member to read a portion of aloud and they ate the traditional foods, sang, and chatted at the end, but it wasn’t the same as being in person. Joan has kept in contact with friends at Zoom dinner parties. By the time Rosh Hashanah came in September, it was safer. So there was a Rosh Hashanah picnic in the park where the family could safely socialize while social distancing and wearing masks.

When Joan used to come to the city every week, she was helping support the economy by going to restaurants, the opera, theater, and museums. Now she only comes into the city when necessary. Recently she came to take her husband, Andy Milano, to a doctor’s appointment. Joan told me, “What I was impressed by was that all the people that I saw downtown were wearing masks… They were taking appropriate precautions.” COVID-19 has really changed the perspectives and concerns of New Yorkers. “I think New Yorkers are very brave,” Joan told me, “I’m happy to consider myself a New Yorker.”

How Times Have Changed

Over the years things in New York have changed, not just because of COVID but because of time as well. “I liked taking the subway at a young age because things were pretty safe back then,” Joan said, “I was able to go downtown in the city. I grew-up uptown but I was able to go downtown with my friends.” Growing up when she did, Joan experienced a safer New York. “Things have changed in New York,” Joan told me. From play-dates as a kid to wandering around New York, “You just went outside or you rang someone's doorbell and you played with whoever was out there, and no one was supervising you. Kids kinda worked things out on their own more.” New York has changed with the age of technology, viruses, and more. “It was a different New York than the one you’re growing up in, but it was nice,” Joan says.

Still a True New Yorker

A true New Yorker is someone who has seen the times change, someone who has lived through good times and bad times and can still stand proud and call themselves a New Yorker. That's why Joan Milano is a true New Yorker.

Spanish Translation

Qué hace a un verdadero neoyorquino

La ciudad de Nueva York, el crisol de culturas, siempre ha sido el hogar de la cultura, la diversidad y las historias. Las personas inmigran de todo el mundo y traen consigo una parte de su procedencia. Los padres de Joan Milano hicieron lo mismo. Después de que sus padres de ella emigraron de Rusia, Joan Milano, una vez Joan Kesselman, nació en Washington Heights, Nueva York. Hablamos de cómo crecer en la ciudad de Nueva York la expuso a diferentes historias y diferentes personas.

Creo que ella emobodys lo que es una verdadera neoyorquina.

Creciendo en Nueva York

Joan Milano es terapeuta desde hace 40 años. Joan me contó cómo ella, cuando era niña, admiraba la arquitectura de Washington Heights y tomaba el metro alrededor de Manhattan con sus amigos e iban juntas a NBC para ser parte del público del estudio en vivo. “Creo que [crecer en Nueva York] me dio un sentido de independencia que creo que los niños que crecen en los suburbios realmente no tienen”, dice Joan. Joan también continúa diciendo que crecer en Washington Heights fue "multicultural y esa fue una experiencia positiva". Crecer en Nueva York les da a los niños una perspectiva diferente porque están rodeados de personas de todo el mundo con historias diferentes. Joan dijo: “Muchos de mis amigos también eran hijos de inmigrantes, al igual que yo, así que aprendí mucho sobre cómo era la vida, qué tipo de bagaje emocional traían consigo. Algunos de ellos habían estado expuestos al Holocausto ... eso fue una educación. "Esto muestra la educación única que recibe la gente en Nueva York en comparación con otros lugares del mundo o incluso de los Estados Unidos. No hay otro lugar como este debido a la gente que viene de todas partes.

Aunque Joan ya no vive en la ciudad, su vida no sería la misma si creciera en otro lugar.