While taking a semester
o during the pandemic,
I went with my sister
to New York for fun.
I had always loved baking
but never seriously
considered that being
my life. But after a
couple of weeks in New
York, I started working
as a pastry cook,
and two months after
I started there, the
restaurant got a Michelin
star. Now I’m working
at my second Michelin-
starred restaurant. I’m
just still so in love with
the city. I’m the happiest
I’ve ever been.
... MY WRITING
... PASTRIES
... TREES
XI CHEN, 25, VIA ROCHESTER, N.Y.
THEO MERRILL, 25, VIA BANGOR, MAINEZOE NEUSCHATZ, 21, VIA SAN FRANCISCOLiving in Flushing
was my fi rst time in a
place where everyone
looked like me. I hadn’t
expected the anti-
Asian violence. I walk
my fi ancée back
from the train station
at night. Even reading
at a bookstore, I get
this wave of anxiety
whenever a stranger
walks behind me.
In spite of this isolation,
New York is the only
city where I’ve found
such a huge mass
of Asian Americans
who share my intense
passion for words.
I was in northern Maine working
on the Sara Gideon campaign for
Senate. We lost, badly. An old
friend called and said: ‘‘Hey, I was
so sorry to hear about the election.
Do you want to go down to New
York with me and live out of a
van for a month selling Christmas
trees?’’ It was this totally crazy,
freezing-cold, dirty job, and I was
like, ‘‘Yeah, sounds great!’’
Our spot was on 87th Street,
and one of us would need to be
working 24 hours a day. We
would sleep in the van, sharing
a twin mattress. Every other night,
an 18-wheeler would show up
and dump more trees on the street.
And then at 3 a.m., a man would
swing by and pick up our cash to
take back to headquarters.
Slowly, we made friends with
people on the street. We gave a tree
to a super, and he let us shower
in an empty apartment in his
building. We gave the nearby liquor
store a tree, and they gave us
discounted canned cocktails. New
York won me over on Thanksgiving.
We were freezing and wishing
we could be home with our families.
And all these people we had never
met came out of their homes and
o ered us their still-hot leftovers.
It was a true feast.I
MOVED
TO
NEW YORK
FOR...
While taking a semester
o during the pandemic,
I went with my sister
to New York for fun.
I had always loved baking
but never seriously
considered that being
my life. But after a
couple of weeks in New
York, I started working
as a pastry cook,
and two months after
I started there, the
restaurant got a Michelin
star. Now I’m working
at my second Michelin-
starred restaurant. I’m
just still so in love with
the city. I’m the happiest
I’ve ever been.
... MY WRITING
... PASTRIES
... TREES
XI CHEN, 25, VIA ROCHESTER, N.Y.
THEO MERRILL, 25, VIA BANGOR, MAINEZOE NEUSCHATZ, 21, VIA SAN FRANCISCOLiving in Flushing
was my fi rst time in a
place where everyone
looked like me. I hadn’t
expected the anti-
Asian violence. I walk
my fi ancée back
from the train station
at night. Even reading
at a bookstore, I get
this wave of anxiety
whenever a stranger
walks behind me.
In spite of this isolation,
New York is the only
city where I’ve found
such a huge mass
of Asian Americans
who share my intense
passion for words.
I was in northern Maine working
on the Sara Gideon campaign for
Senate. We lost, badly. An old
friend called and said: ‘‘Hey, I was
so sorry to hear about the election.
Do you want to go down to New
York with me and live out of a
van for a month selling Christmas
trees?’’ It was this totally crazy,
freezing-cold, dirty job, and I was
like, ‘‘Yeah, sounds great!’’
Our spot was on 87th Street,
and one of us would need to be
working 24 hours a day. We
would sleep in the van, sharing
a twin mattress. Every other night,
an 18-wheeler would show up
and dump more trees on the street.
And then at 3 a.m., a man would
swing by and pick up our cash to
take back to headquarters.
Slowly, we made friends with
people on the street. We gave a tree
to a super, and he let us shower
in an empty apartment in his
building. We gave the nearby liquor
store a tree, and they gave us
discounted canned cocktails. New
York won me over on Thanksgiving.
We were freezing and wishing
we could be home with our families.
And all these people we had never
met came out of their homes and
o ered us their still-hot leftovers.
It was a true feast.I
MOVED
TO
NEW YORK
FOR...
6.5.22 Interviews by Alexander Samaha