By Sophie Gruetzner
Even though I didn’t live in the West Village when I first moved to New York, it still became my Sehnsuchtsort (German for “an intense yearning for a certain special place”): I loved the Bohemian vibe of days long gone; I pictured Dylan Thomas sitting/writing at The White Horse Tavern. I’d walk the charming cobblestone streets where time stood still—especially on Charles, Perry, 11th, and Bank—thinking: “If only, one day, I could live here…” And now I do. Reminding myself every now and then that I’m living the dream my 18-year-old self once had.
Another incident that brought me even closer to both the city and the West Village in particular were the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. And it was once again the smell that I remember most vividly. The smell of burned buildings—and bodies.
We would go to St. Vincent’s Hospital to donate blood, study the flyers of missing persons, and paint tiles at a pottery studio across the street. Those tiles would later be hung as part of “Tiles for America” on a big mesh wire fence at the corner of Greenwich Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and 11th Street, where I live today. My tile read “I love New York more than ever” and that’s what the Daily News printed on its September 19th, 2001 cover—a reinterpretation of Milton Glaser’s famous 1975 poster. The framed cover has been hanging over my sofa ever since.
When I left New York in 2002 to attend journalism school in Munich (with a broken heart but under the optimistic assumption I’d only be gone for two years), I really couldn’t have loved the city more. The city that was so wounded still felt so strong. MY city.
Whenever I went back to visit my friends, I’d always stop by the fence to check on my tile. Over the years, the colors faded, cracks rippled its surface, pieces broke off, and then, one day, it was gone. It reminded me of how long I had been gone, too. If only I could move back. But “German journalists write for German newspapers and magazines. American journalists write for American ones.” That’s what I learned from my first mentors and this ‘rule’ manifested itself in my head. So I knew I had to wait for the needle in the haystack.
It wasn’t until 2013 that I’d return for good: I took a job that would allow me—a German journalist and writer—to follow my passion for writing while making a living in the city. Today, I work as the U.S. Editor at Large for a German magazine and I’m loving it. But I never thought I would be able to write for an American paper. This is my first article in English for an American paper and it feels incredible!
But back to my long-anticipated return to NYC in 2013: It was once again an incredibly hot summer when I landed at JFK. I passed immigration, got the same giant old aluminum suitcase off the luggage belt as in 1999, and when the sliding airport doors opened, the hot humid air hit me like a hammer. I knew right away that I made the right decision. As much as I love the Old World and miss it at times, all doubts disappear the very moment these doors at JFK (or Newark) open and I inhale the city’s dirty air with its distinctive smell. That’s when I know where I belong. That’s when I know: “I’m home!”
Sophie Gruetzner is a new Contributing Editor at WestView News and can be contacted at tompkin.superstar@gmail.com.
