“I was ballet dancing at four, playing piano by six, and doing commercials by 12. When I was 21, I was on the number one live comedy show in Puerto Rico. I told my parents, 'I'm going to New York to become a performer.' And I left.” ShowsLeftParentNumbersComedyFourNew YorkSixDancingPianoPerformersBalletPuerto RicoRicoComedy ShowsPlaying PianoBallet Dancing Author:Roselyn Sanchez
“I grew up in New York till I was 5, and I remember going to see 'Annie' and some musicals as a kid, and I remember my parents being somewhat okay with us watching 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,' which, it boggles my mind that they allowed me to watch it.” MindShowsKidsRememberParentWatchesNew YorkGrewHorrorGrew UpOkayAnnieRocky Horror Author:Gabriel Macht
“I was very much an only child who was raised by the television and movies, and I grew up in New York. We weren't, like, rich people, but we were middle-class people and my parents supported this love I had for entertainment.” PeopleChildrenParentClassRichMiddleNew YorkTelevisionGrewGrew UpRaisedEntertainmentMiddle ClassRich PeopleOnly Child Author:Billy Eichner
“Im from Boston, and I get easily overwhelmed in New York, so I go to Boston and stay with my parents for a few months at a time to write, or edit, or just to cry.” WritingParentCryNew YorkMonthsOverwhelmedBostonEdits Author:Alex Karpovsky
“People often assume New York City is no place to keep a dog. This is certainly what my parents told me when I was growing up there. But I have found this not to be the case at all.” PeopleFoundParentCitiesCasesGrowing UpGrowingDogNew YorkAssumingNew York City Author:Jill Abramson
“I grew up in northern New Jersey - the banlieue of New York - and I now live in Brooklyn. I am separated from my parents by about 50 miles, but really there is almost no distance between us. I speak to them nearly every day.” SpeakParentNew YorkGrewGrew UpDistanceMilesJerseyBrooklynNew Jersey Author:Jonathan Ames
“My parents were entrepreneurs. They ran a small ad agency in upstate New York.” ParentNew YorkEntrepreneurRanAgencyAdsUpstate New York Author:Mike McCue
“It used to be said that, socially speaking, Philadelphia asked who a person is, New York how much is he worth, and Boston what does he know. Nationally it has now become generally recognized that Boston Society has long cared even more than Philadelphia about the first point and has refined the asking of who a person is to the point of demanding to know who he was. Philadelphia asks about a man's parents; Boston wants to know about his grandparents.” KnowsMenWantFirstsPersonsLongDoeSaidUsedAsksParentNew YorkAskingUsed To BeGrandparentBostonRefinedPhiladelphia Author:Cleveland Amory
“I engage with New York and America but my parents pretty much hang out in this radius of Long Island where their friends are and where their work is. That's why you have people who have lived in New York for like 20, 30 years who don't speak English. They just live in a Chinese community or an Indian community. More than anywhere you'll find that in Queens.” PeopleYearsLongAmericaSpeakParentCommunityNew YorkChineseIndianQueensIslandsHanging OutJust LiveSpeak EnglishLong IslandRadius Author:Himanshu Suri
“When we were visiting New York City, I took my kids to the same playground where I went growing up. It was fun to feel that connection of having gone there as a kid and being there as a parent.” FeelsKidsFunParentCitiesGoneGrowing UpGrowingNew YorkConnectionsNew York CityVisitingBeing TherePlaygrounds Author:Ben Stiller
“I grew up in New York City in Greenwich Village and had parents who were somewhat bohemian so I was always on the nonconformist side of the equation.” ParentSidesCitiesNew YorkGrewGrew UpVillageNew York CityEquationsBohemianNonconformistGreenwichGreenwich Village Author:Anne Waldman
“I wish my parents had raised me in Manhattan because I think it's the greatest thing you can do for a kid is to raise them in New York City. I can see this with my own children.” ThinkingChildrenI CanKidsWishParentCan DoMy OwnCitiesNew YorkRaisesRaisedNew York CityManhattan Author:Woody Allen
“I used to run away to New York from Baltimore all the time.I would get on the Greyhound bus and tell my parents I was going to some sorority weekend. I'd even make up fake permission slips, come to New York and just ask people on the street if I could stay with them and go see midnight movies.” PeopleIfsRunningUsedAsksParentStreetsNew YorkFakeIf I CouldBusWeekendSlipsRunning AwayPermissionMidnightBaltimoreSororityGreyhoundsGreyhound Bus Author:John Waters
“I got a liberal arts education just because I felt like I should to keep my parents happy, but it was for them. If it was up to me, I would've just moved to New York.” IfsShouldArtFeltParentNew YorkMovedArt EducationLiberal ArtsLiberal Arts Education Author:Kathryn Hahn
“Ed Koch once said that New York City is where immigrants come to audition for America. That's what happened to my parents; that's what happened to me.” SaidAmericaParentCitiesHappenedNew YorkImmigrantsNew York CityAuditions Author:Lin-Manuel Miranda
“My parents are my biggest influences. My parents and my city. Brooklyn, New York, New York City, the community I grew up. I don't feel like I'm special in that. I feel like that's everybody.” FeelsParentCommunityCitiesInfluenceSpecialNew YorkGrewGrew UpNew York CityBrooklynBrooklyn New York Author:Talib Kweli
“I feel like your city - with hip hop in particular, because we're always beating our chest and shouting where we're from - your city is just as influential as your parents. Even the grimy, hardcore gangster rap from New York - KRS-One and Wu Tang, the stuff acknowledges it.” FeelsStuffParentCitiesNew YorkParticularLike YouHip HopRapHipsAcknowledgeHopsChestsInfluentialShoutingGangstersHardcoreGangster RapKrs One Author:Talib Kweli
“I was always around people who were in the business from the time I was an absolute baby. I grew up in New York City, and my parents, my sister, and I had a house on Fire Island, and they were part of a set of people that were all close and friendly, most of whom were involved in show business in one regard or another. So it was always familiar to me, and I kind of enjoyed it.” PeopleKindShowsHouseParentCitiesFireNew YorkBabyGrewInvolvedGrew UpAbsolutesRegardFamiliarEnjoyedIslandsFriendlyNew York CityMy SisterShow Business Author:Fred Melamed
“I both loved and hated South Pasadena. On the one hand, it was so diverse - all my closest friends were immigrants or had immigrant parents. On the other hand, it was a bit conservative - in a sort of wholesome, Midwestern, small-town sense. I never met a single writer until I moved to New York City for college.” HandsBitsParentCitiesNew YorkCollegeMetsTownsMovedSouthConservativeHatedImmigrantsNew York CityDiverseClosestSmall TownClosest FriendsImmigrant ParentsPasadena Author:Porochista Khakpour
“I always think about Katharine Graham - she was the publisher of The Washington Post. In her autobiography she talks about the way her parents met. Her father was, I think, in New York just walking by on his way home and looked into a store and saw the lady that became his wife. It was just pure luck. And she said that it once again reminds her of the role that luck and chance play in our life. I really believe that, too.” ThinkingWayBelieveSaidPlayHomeFatherParentChanceRolesSawsOur LivesWifeNew YorkWalkingMetsPureLuckStoresPostsAutobiographyPublishersWay Home Author:Owen Wilson
“I was raised in New York and spent two years in Rio. My parents met at the University of Southern Mississippi, and they had me there, and then we moved to New York. I'm not very familiar with Mississippi.” YearsTwoParentNew YorkMetsMovedRaisedUniversityFamiliarTwo YearsSouthernMississippiRio Author:Fred Armisen