New York! New York!

I'm into people's experiences, i.e. my love for autobiographies.I just finished reading a great piece from the New Yorke Magazine, called Waking Up to New York, where actors, artists, models, entrepreneurs speak about moving/arriving to the Big Apple for the first time and becoming citizens of the world's capital

Here are my favorites:

Richie Rich, Heatherette designer

Arrived: 1993

The first night I moved here, I met Madonna. She walked up to me at the opening of Club USA with a lollipop and a beer, and she was like, “Hmmm, you look cute.” And I was like, “You’re Madonna!” I’m like, This is New York. Wow.

Diane Von Furstenberg, designer

Arrived: 1970

I was 22 years old and had just gotten married to Prince Egon Von Furstenberg. I was pregnant and carrying a big suitcase of stencils I was hoping to sell in America. I decided that instead of flying, I wanted to come very slowly in order to think about my future. So I took a boat. I arrived in October, so it was New York at its best—that beautiful, blue crisp. Coming from Europe, I had expected the city would look modern, and actually, it didn’t. I was a young princess, so I lived on Park Avenue and had some small children and blah blah blah. But we were a young couple, and fairly good looking with a nice title, so we were invited everywhere. We would see Andy Warhol, Halston, Diana Vreeland, Giorgio Sant’Angelo, and, of course, lots of Europeans. It was a movable feast: Gino’s and Elaine’s and La Grenouille. And I threw many dinner parties. What I remember clearly is that you could go to the supermarket and for 50 dollars you could buy pasta, salad, and a big ham.

Connie Chung, newscaster

Arrived: 1983

I came to New York to work at NBC News. They put me up at the Helmsley Palace hotel, and I thought New York was incredible, fully based on the fact that I was staying at the Helmsley Palace hotel and ordering room service. NBC finally asked me, “When are you going to get an apartment?” So I finally did.

Mike Myers, comedian

Arrived: 1988

I was from Toronto and had this fantasy that the only time I would ever come to New York is if I had an audition for Saturday Night Live. They were very exclusive conditions. But in fact, that is what happened. I landed at La Guardia and the cabbie took the 59th Street Bridge. I looked up at the city as we crossed the river, and it brought me to tears.