My First New York

Who doesn't know someone who moved on a lark to New York - or plans to someday move there - and remembers or dreams of their own first, halcyon days in the big city? New York has always been the destination of choice for the tired, the poor, the hungry - as well as for the rich, the famous, and the well-fed. As the Census Bureau recently reported, even in these days of recession New York is gaining more residents than any city in America. Based on the hugely popular recent New York magazine cover story, "My First New York" features memorable and moving accounts of early adventures in the city by some of the legions of remarkable people who have called it home, including: Actress Lauren Hutton on jumping into a cab without a destination that first day in 1964 and saying the only New York place that came to mind: 'Tiffany's!'
; Artist Chuck Close on days and nights at Andy Warhol's nightclub, The Factory, in 1967; Chef Padma Lakshmi on arriving on Halloween night in 1974; "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels on immediately buying what he deemed essential to wear in New York in 1975: a green corduroy jacket; Restaurateur Danny Meyer on arriving the night John Lennon was shot in 1980; Comedian Andy Samberg on shooting mice with a water gun in his first apartment in 1998; and, Actor James Franco on learning to take the subway in 2008.
Other contributors include: David Dinkins, former mayor, 1933; Lorin Maazel, conductor, 1939; Yogi Berra, baseball player, 1946; Chita Rivera, actress, 1948; Jonas Mekas, filmmaker, 1949; Dan Rather, journalist, 1956; Larry Kramer, playwright, 1957; Tommy Tune, director and choreographer, 1957; Daniel Libeskind, architect, 1959; Liza Minnelli, singer, 1961; Nora Ephron, filmmaker, 1962; Tom Wolfe, writer, 1962; Judy Collins, singer, 1963; Bill Cosby, comedian, 1963; Danny DeVito, actor, 1963; Lauren Hutton, actress, 1964; Chuck Close, artist, 1967; Andre Aciman, writer, 1968; Mary Boone, art gallerist, 1969; Diane Von Furstenberg, designer, 1970; Padma Lakshmi, host of "Top Chef", 1974; and, Lorne Michaels, executive producer of "Saturday Night Live", 1975.
It also includes contributors such as: Cindy Sherman, artist, 1977; Jann Wenner, editor and publisher of "Rolling Stone", 1977; Gary Shteyngart, writer, 1979; Danny Meyer, resturateur, 1980; Susanne Bartsch, party promoter, 1981; Colum McCann, writer, 1982; David Rakoff, writer, 1982; Harold Evans, editor-at-large of "The Week", 1983; Keith Hernandez, baseball player, 1983; Ira Glass, radio host of "This American Life", 1984; Naomi Campbell, model, 1986; Audra McDonald, actress, 1988; Mike Myers, comedian, 1988; Chloe Sevigny, actress, 1991; Amy Sedaris, comedienne, 1993; Rufus Wainwright, musician, 1994; Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress, 1995; Michael Lucas, porn star, 1997; Albert Hammond Jr., musician, 1998; Andy Samberg, comedian, 1998; David Chang, chef, 1999; Michel Gondry, filmmaker, 2001; Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker, 2002; Ashley Dupre, former escort, 2004; Aygness Deyn, model, 2006; James Franco, actor, 2008; and, TK, new arrival, 2009.