Welcome "You mean people are actually FROM here??"

Urban Dictionary defines boroughbred:
1. boroughbred

Noun. 1. An inhabitant of New York, New York that was actually born and raised on Manhattan Island itself.
1a. One that is a native of the borough of Manhattan, with intentions to continue living in Manhattan, alongside fellow boroughbreds, imports, and non-boroughbred New Yorkers.


Greetings
I welcome you into a select club. If you are like me (and there are damned few of us left) then you were born and raised here on Manhattan island in the city of New York. You and I are relics. A myth. People think of Manhattan as the ultimate destination, but for some curious, short sighted reason-never a point of origin. We smile when we hear a hipster marvel-"You mean people are actually FROM here?"
You, very much like me have seen vast changes in our fair city. We were born here. (Polyclinic in Hell's Kitchen welcomed me to the world)We went to school here. (I attended PS 187 from K-8 grade. I graduated from Bronx Highschool of Science, then Brooklyn College for undergrad)
People and trends have come and gone, neighborhoods have been gentrified, and the fortunes of our local sports teams have crested and fallen.
The only constant seems to be us- apart from the cliche-
"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Patterns appear to the random seeming changes, if only one steps back far enough.
You and I are authentic. We aren't the people we meet when traveling that claim to be from New York City, but really mean Louwongeye-land, as their accent betrays them. Nor some performance artist from Des Moines who has lived in New York (Williamsburg)for 8 whole months! Now before I start to sound like " Bill The Butcher" from "Gangs of New York" and spout the Nativist agenda of hatred towards anyone coming to "our" lands, let me take a step back and say that without these Hipsters, Transplants, Emigres, etc, I wouldn't feel nearly as unique nor ubiquitous. Besides, like most natives, my parents were immigtrants to New York. They came to Manhattan by way of Piacenza Italy and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
They settled in Washington Heights in the very early seventies (which I will go into in my next posting on evolution of neighborhoods) before it was "Hudson Heights" - a term I will NEVER use.
People have come to the shores of this city for centuries now looking for the same things- Freedom, opportunity, a shot at prosperity.
Transients are as New York as Lady Liberty, muggy summers, and class strife.
Natives (or the group that came before) have looked down upon transplants since the Dutch got here. http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/kingston/colonization.htm
This article gives some great perspective on the whole thing.
The difference is that we consider New York and more specifically Manhattan- our home town. We love where we are from.
And based on results- We mean it. We never left. If we have we have come back. We were here in the lean years of the 70's and 80's- when it wasn't "cool" nor chic to live in Manhattan. We remember muggings, crime, unemployment, inept politicians, drugs and police corruption. We stayed through it all. What do I want, you ask? A pat on the back? A medal? A rent stabilized apartment?
Nope. None of the above.
A tax exemption however would be nice. Sort of like a "loyalty incentive" that car companies give for repeat buyers.

What do you think? Hit me up. My next posting will also touch on the great works of film set in or about Manhattan.
Stay Tuned