I *really* like this essay. Read it, mull it over. It was written over a decade ago but it feels really true.

Every time I come back to NYC it feels more and more like home.

I thought this would abate but it's only gotten more and more pronounced the more trips I take away.

I think the moment I realized I was a New Yorker was when I was pissed that my neighborhood in Bushwick was being gentrified more and more rapidly...

pot calling the kettle black to some extent I guess :)

Do you feel like a New Yorker? When did that happen?

(disclosure: I haven't had a chance to read the essay yet)

I don't think I consider myself a "New Yorker" yet, and I'm not sure I ever will, but I definitely feel the city's influence on me. I spent two summers here as an intern and was always frustrated by the folks who would zoom by me on the sidewalk after I got off work. "The work day is over, chill out! Take it slow! No need to hurry!" Now I find myself weaving in between pedestrians like I grew up weaving between cars in Los Angeles, and I get frustrated when tourists on the High Line walk inefficiently.

Not sure I like the change, but I feel it nonetheless.

@Josh, I haven't read the article yet either.

My answer may not be as intellectual as most, but I felt like a true New Yorker the day I stopped giving a shit about what people thought of me, and that day for me was about a year ago (I've lived in NY my ENTIRE LIFE and it took THAT long). As a woman it is super hard to let go of wanting to be perfect and wanting everyone to love you. When I finally gave up and started to be my true self, I knew I was a TRUE New Yorker.

You guys are missing out - the essay is beautiful!

When I didn't care that I saw a rat crawling along the subway tracks. The first few times grossed me out but when seeing the little creatures scurrying along the tracks made me chuckle, I felt like a New Yorker.

It felt like a broader analogy for what I think it takes to thrive in New York -- knowing that there will be things that might make others cringe, uncomfortable, or scared and using those experiences as fuel for the energy you need to truly take advantage of all the amazing parts of this city.

I grew up in Brooklyn, so it never really occurred to me to identify as anything other than a New Yorker, but I've definitely felt like one most sharply when I'm outside of the city -- does anyone else feel that way? (When in LA recently I had to train myself to smile and say hello to passing neighbors; casual friendliness as culture shock?)

Also, I believe this essay was adapted from Colson Whitehead's book The Colossus of New York, which is truly gorgeous -- anyone here read it?

@Anna - I haven't, but it's on my list!

There's this really great passage from Adam Gopnik's Through the Children's Gate—itself a book about what it means to be and become a New Yorker—that struck me as a really perfect summary of this process. (And it is a process.)

"But I saw now that there was a connection between a certain kind of comedy, the comedy of assimilation, and a certain kind of courage, the courage to use your proximity to power, bought at the price of losing your 'identity,' to save your kinsmen."

The essay is actually about, in so many words, "feeling Jewish," but it's about feeling like a New Yorker, too. Assuming identities, losing them again, and the fluidity and forgiveness and purpose the city gives you. It's great.

@Libby: Yes! The piece about Charlie Ravioli kills me. I haven't read the book in its entirety, but you've given me a great reason to return to it.