Taking a bite out of life in the Big Apple
Adapting to New York’s cut-throat 24-hour culture can take time, but Kiwis willing to put in effort tend to have a ball, Lorna Thornber writes.
Georgia Rippin had a bit of a rude introduction to life in New York: On her first day in the city, an elderly woman tried to push her over for walking on the ‘‘wrong’’ side of the pavement.
Shocked but undaunted, the 23-year-old Wellingtonian responded as a native New Yorker might have – she pushed back.
The New York state of mind seems to come naturally to Rippin, who moved to the city after completing the last six months of the law degree she’d begun at the University of Auckland in Mexico
City.
‘‘It’s been a smooth transition because I think I’ve always lived my life at a similar pace to what everyone calls ‘the New York hustle’. Which honestly just reminds me of a dance routine I want to learn.’’
Not one to follow conventional paths in life, Rippin didn’t study law because she wanted to become a lawyer. She did it to give her a point of difference in showbiz. And NYC, she says, is where it’s at if you want to make a career in film and television.
‘‘The funding pool is huge in the USA compared to New Zealand, and it’s where the world’s largest networks are based . . . I’ve always enjoyed working on my own projects in my downtime and trying to meet people I admire. Now I feel I have the opportunities and resources to take it to the next level.’’
City of Dreams
Frank Sinatra famously sang that if you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere and a small subset of New Zealanders seem to have taken that as a personal challenge.
It’s not so much the American Dream they’re chasing as a desire to prove to themselves, those who know them – and in some cases the world – what they’re capable of. And experience life in a city that – as an art, dining, shopping and entertainment mecca constantly in search of the next big thing – hardly has time to stop for a second. Or sleep.
For those with a work-hard-playhard mindset, the Big Apple – a core centre for finance, the arts, technology and more populated by proudly tall poppies who are, or are striving to be, the best in their fields – is a natural habitat. A true land of opportunity.
Sinatra didn’t tell the whole story though. The ‘‘little town blues’’ might melt away but, for many new arrivals, the real challenges have just begun.
American hustle
Rippin believes it’s a myth that life in New York is dog-eat-dog, saying that if you’re persistent and positive, chances are you will not only survive, but thrive.
Working in film and television production development for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and on commercials and independent features, Rippin is hustling with the best of them, spending 14-hour days on set and meeting up with people in the industry she admires, hoping some of their stardust will rub off.
‘‘I’m so passionate and excited about working on set that [the long hours] don’t really matter to me.
‘‘But I try and put as much energy into creating a fun life outside of work . . . Otherwise, you’re operating from a place of no reserves and don’t have the fire to smash your career.’’
For Rippin, who shares an apartment in Hell’s Kitchen with two professional dancers, work and pleasure are often one and the same. Chipping away at projects for her production company Girls Don’t Sleep at coffee shops, attending film screenings and having dinner with ‘‘glittering friends accomplishing cool things in the film industry’’ are a few of her favourite ‘‘downtime’’ activities.
Essentially, she is living her lifelong dream, saying ‘‘I’m doing what I always wanted to do in the place I always wanted to do it’’.
She might be tempted to return to New Zealand temporarily for the right project, saying she’s keen ‘‘to make an indigenous institutional drama.
‘‘If I could return to make that, get funding and then come back, that would be perfect. Hi Taika Waititi, do you read Stuff? I have a pilot I’d love Piki Films to fund . . .’’
‘Daunted by everything’
Olivia Davison, who works as the social media manager for a small digital content agency in downtown Brooklyn, also finds it energising to be plugged into such a cultural powerhouse – but she didn’t find settling in easy.
Aged 22 when she and her best friend first arrived, Davison, who had been ‘‘feeling a bit isolated and uninspired by my career options’’ in Auckland, initially found the city ‘‘overwhelming’’.
‘‘I was daunted by everything; the buildings, the number of people, the pace of life, the attitudes . . . ’’
She couldn’t stop making (mostly unfavourable) comparisons with New Zealand, finding it ‘‘dirtier’’, ‘‘smellier’’ and more chaotic – but somehow still ‘‘amazing’’.
Reliant on limited savings until they found jobs, the pair initially shared a room ‘‘in the middle of nowhere in Brooklyn’’ with an airbed minus the air (it had an irreparable hole) and kitchen infested with ‘‘the biggest cockroaches I have ever seen’’.
If she hadn’t had her best mate by her side, Davison reckons she probably would have bailed.
Landing her current job after a month, she reached out to everyone she had even a slight connection to, joined Facebook groups to meet others and did her best to get to grips with her ‘‘crazy new surroundings’’. Two-and-a-half years later, she feels she can confidently call NYC home. Davison and her friend now share an ‘‘amazingly tiny’’ apartment with two American girls in the hipster hub of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.
Like Rippin, she’s excited by the opportunities to carve out her ideal career, no matter how niche, but says competition can be cut throat. To get ahead, Davison says Kiwis need to curb their tendency to downplay their skills and achievements.
‘‘You’re up against the best of the best and have to learn to talk yourself up a lot – and get used to rejection. But it is worth it. The experience you get will take you far.’’
While it’s not uncommon for many of her friends to work until 11pm and at weekends, Davison says she’s lucky she’s with a ‘‘pretty chill’’ agency which hosts soul-recharging happy hours and retreats, and
generally encourages a good worklife balance.
Weekends are spent eating her way around the city’s five boroughs, enjoying the nightlife and making the most of cheap flights to other parts of the US, Canada and Europe.
Certain things, however, she hasn’t been able to get used to.
‘‘It’s crazy expensive, it’s always too hot or too cold, it’s dirty and crowded, dating is hard [she doesn’t think her dulcet Kiwi tones work in her favour], the political climate is terrible and it’s very, very far away from home.’’
All the same, there’s nowhere else she’d rather be at this stage of her life.
‘‘I honestly can’t imagine moving back to New Zealand for a while. I think London or Sydney is on the cards next. However, I can definitely see the appeal in raising a family in New Zealand. I had a fabulous childhood there. So maybe one day way, way in the future, I’ll be back.’’
Fairytale of New York
Davison’s initial disillusionment with the city is far from unusual. Often romanticised onscreen, New York can leave new arrivals questioning their move when the realities of day-to-day life in a vast urban jungle where half the population seems prepared to throw you under a bus to secure an apartment or further their career kicks in.
For most of the Kiwis we spoke with, however, things seemed to fall into place once they’d found an acceptable job and living situation, and learnt where to head to indulge their particular passions – no matter how bizarre, they’re all but guaranteed to be catered for. It’s a lifestyle that can be tough to relinquish – all those we spoke with think they may return to New Zealand eventually, but aren’t in any hurry to return.
Aucklander Toby Futter had long dreamed of living in New York so, when he was offered a job in the Flatiron District in Manhattan after finishing a law degree at Stanford, deciding whether to accept was a nobrainer.
‘‘I loved the energy and purpose here from day one – the haste of the pedestrians, the clamour of the subways, the long, stark lines cut by the streets and avenues,’’ the 39-yearold says. ‘‘Six years later, I still love those things.’’
As a litigator – ‘‘I sue Wall Street banks mostly’’ – Futter says he has greater career opportunities in one sense in that there are more jobs on offer. But he often thinks he’d be just as happy if he were still a barrister on Shortland St.
But then Shortland St doesn’t offer the many quintessentially New York experiences he has come to enjoy: ‘‘The long and consistently hot summers; running in Central Park on a spring morning; the architecture, street vendors and bodegas; the take-no-bulls... but liveand-let-live attitude, speakeasies and the bars of the Lower East Side; hanging out in Washington Square Park; the art galleries and museums; and just generally, the humans of New York.’’
Hayden Withers, who moved to New York from Christchurch to study musical theatre in June 2013, also felt an instant attraction to the city which has developed into a longstanding if, at times, tempestuous relationship.
As a college student living in a dorm, he found it easy to settle in as there was always someone telling him where to be and ‘‘it’s always easy to make friends when you’re forced to live and study with them’’.
Now 23 and an actor, Withers says he’s had more work than he would have in New Zealand but has had to fight harder for each role. And ‘‘side hustles’’ are essential.
Withers typically holds down two to three jobs at a time, working about 75 hours a week, so he can pay the bills, travel and ‘‘be carefree’’.
‘‘NYC is a tough city to live in, and it’s not worth living here if you can’t afford to enjoy it. Which is hard as an actor because you can spend more time looking for acting work than actually acting.’’
Like Rippin, however, he’s happy to hustle, and it doesn’t stop him from seeing friends most nights, trying out new bars and restaurants, going to the theatre and taking a solitary day each week to recharge.
‘‘I miss the beautiful and loving people from New Zealand and I miss my family, but I can’t imagine living there again . . . I think the opportunity and excitement offered here in NYC surpasses anything in the world.’’
No hurry to leave
For Futter, the only major disadvantages of life in the city are the long, harsh winters and smell of rubbish bins on the streets in the summer – after a day on the kerb in 30-degree heat, it can get pretty nasty.
He does miss New Zealand though and plans to return one day, but is ‘‘all good’’ where he is for the time being.
Withers intends to stay in New York until he’s no longer happy there – which may never happen.
‘‘I think it would be lovely to raise my wha¯ nau in New Zealand, but I haven’t even got a boyfriend, so it would depend on what my partner wanted.’’
Rippin, Davison, Futter and Withers all recommend the city to ambitious, hardworking, resilient Kiwis keen to further their careers while having the time of their lives.
Davison’s advice: ‘‘Do a lot of research, have a solid amount of savings, reach out to people who live there, learn how to sell yourself and stay positive.’’
You’ll have one friendly face to greet you at least – Futter’s more than happy to meet up for a chat with new arrivals. He’ll even shout you your first beer.