I moved to New York at 24. My move-in day was the day of SantaCon. I was young enough to find it kind of charming. (It was not, it is not.) My first apartment had ceilings so low that I couldn’t lift my hands all the way above my head. I didn’t care. I was excited to be here, but I figured I might live here a year or two, then move onto the next thing.
I had no clue what I was getting myself into.
I didn’t know that BuzzFeed would become what it was in the mid-2010s — a rocket ship where I’d get to learn from some of the smartest people on the internet. I didn’t know that I’d get the chance to work at The New Yorker and be a small part of an incredible team guiding that publication onto its next chapter. I didn’t know that newsletters — this weird little corner of the internet that no one seemed to really care about! — would be my calling card. I didn’t know I’d get the chance to start Inbox Collective and work with so many amazing teams around the world.
I didn’t know that I’d live here long enough to go, “Yeah, I remember when that Duane Reade used to be a pretty great indie music venue!” I didn’t know that I’d develop such strong feelings about specific bagel places and pizza shops. (I made sure to get one last everything at Ess-a-Bagel and make one last trip to Spumoni Gardens!) I didn’t know that those only-in-New-York moments happen to everyone if you live here long enough. (Meeting Clyde Frazier, while he was wearing a Dalmatian-print suit, at the tailor! Seeing a show in Central Park and having Jackson Browne show up as a surprise guest! Accidentally scaring Matthew Broderick when I walked past him on 21st St!)
And I certainly didn’t know about all the lifelong friends I’d meet in New York. I didn’t know I’d meet my incredible wife here. I didn’t know I’d start a family here. I didn’t know I’d get to watch my son grow up here.
I hope I’m leaving New York a better person — more adventurous, more curious, more kind — than I was when I showed up.
What an incredible gift and joy it’s been to be a small part of such a wonderful place. New York has been so good to me.
I’m excited for what’s next, but I’m going to miss this place.
Thanks for everything, New York.
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At top: Me in early 2013, before I discovered the importance of hair product, in front of the yellow BuzzFeed “WIN” wall in the lobby of the 21st Street BuzzFeed office.
At bottom: Me in May 2024, on a bright stage at The Newsletter Conference in New York City, interviewing a few fellow newsletter operators (Stephanie Talmadge, Louis Nicholls, and Chenell Basilio) about newsletter growth strategy.