Oh! The tragedy of the modern artist

Recently, I read an article in AM New York; the cover story was about how expensive NY was and the tragedy of artists who feel they have no choice but to move out.


I actually gave this some thought (you know I'm an artist and all).

Instead of feeling sorry for this colorful lot of artists, poets and others, I came to the realization that all the people who they interviewed to be polite, were full of malarkey.

New York has was and will always be expensive. But there are 5 boroughs: Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan.

The problem is that everyone wants to live in Manhattan; people have these silly dreams
of coming here and making it big. Stop with the whole Sex and the City/Breakfast at Tiffany's/Woody Allen thing. I'll make it here and be a big star--will you?


I say cool it, Holly Golightly, Sara Jessica, etc. and remember: Woody makes movies in England, now (that's what happens when you sleep with--sorry--marry your daughter).

Let me offer some advice --

Stop trying to live in the cool places. To be cool, you don't live in a designated area. Cool and artistic isn't Manhattan, Chelsea, Williamsburg, Park Slope or Dumbo. If you would stop posing for a second, you might your find your laces are untied; your pants are too tight and you're paying too much rent.

Me, I live in S.I. and you know what? I'm perfectly happy, I pay a fraction of what I would
for almost all other places. So is this thought of as a smart move? No, more or less, I'm derided with usually the old "isn't that where all stereotypical N.Y. people live?" This usually comes from someone who lives in Brooklyn (tell me you understand the irony). I actually had someone ask me if Staten Island had hospitals. This was coming from someone who lived in New Jersey out in the boondocks no less. Oh yeah, I lived in Jersey for almost 2 years. I would rather drink bleach than go back to that place (OK--I miss Jose Tejas and Vintage Vinyl being only 10 minutes away, but hey, that's why God made cars).

One last thing: haven't you noticed that all the "New Yorkers" are people who aren't from N.Y. (Ohio, Nebraska, Texas--wherever--then they come here and tell us how tragically unhip we are). Hey, go ahead--pay4,000 a month for a 2 bedroom apt. But how will you afford the lattes?