Chinatown

When we lived in Tribeca, I could walk to Chinatown for breakfast. In general I am a morning person who avoids crowds and noise where possible1, so I especially enjoyed being in the usually crowded and noisy neighborhood when it was on the quieter side with mostly just the residents of the neighborhood out and about, getting ready to open shops and stands and whatnot. You can get a great breakfast—you can get great food at any meal or snacktime—which is too often classified as “cheap eats” just because the prices are generally very reasonable (which feels pretty reductive, and dismissive of the skill required to consistently make a perfect soup dumpling or pumpkin bun or hand-pulled noodles or what have you)....

The cadence of life is a little different now that I live in Brooklyn and work from home. In my 12 years in New York City, I have: lived in Brooklyn and worked in Brooklyn lived in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan (the worst overall) lived in Manhattan and worked in Manhattan lived in Manhattan and worked from home lived in Brooklyn and worked from home and the one that feels most like not working at all is living in Brooklyn and working from home....