.. .GABRIELA... A REASON TO GO
OFFLINE
.. .COMFORT
REYNA HIXSON, 24, VIA COLORADO SPRINGSÁLVARO JOSÉ CASTRO RIVADENEIRA, 41,
VIA AMHERST, MASS.
RYAN LEE, 32, VIA COLUMBUS, OHIOI used to be a homebody, nervous
about going out and overanalyzing
social situations. I was online a bunch
— that was my thing. I graduated
in the pandemic and ended up living
with my parents in the suburbs.
I couldn’t really do anything except
be on the internet.
I was mostly on Twitter, following
a bunch of New York people. I started
having access to virtual parties
with my favorite artists. I would get
dressed up and just dance with all
these queer clubs on Zoom.
I saved up money and fi nally
moved to New York in June 2021.
That fi rst weekend, because I
had been cooped up, I went way too
hard. On Friday, I literally went to
the fi rst event I saw on my Instagram
feed. On Saturday, I went to a
fashion show I found online through
microinfl uencers and ended
up at an illegal rave under the
Kosciuszko Bridge.
In New York, I get to be the most
heightened version of myself.
The access to everything is still the
craziest part. I guess New York
is really like the internet as a city.In 2019, I started traveling from
Massachusetts to visit an
Ecuadorean friend who lived in
Queens. In February 2020,
I asked her to be my girlfriend.
Early in the pandemic, my
Ph.D. classes went virtual, and
my girlfriend, an infectious-disease
physician, became overwhelmed
with work. So — to support
her — one month after we o cially
became a couple, I moved into
the tiny apartment that she shared
with a few roommates.
Gabriela practiced at a clinic
in Corona, which was a hard-hit
area. Many of her patients ended
up dying. It was so easy to feel
helpless, especially during those
fi rst days, when all you heard
were tragedies. At least I could be
there for her. Gabriela had
been uncertain about the long-
distance relationship, and
our living together gave her the
belief that it could work.
I’m sort of impulsive, and
one day, as Gabriela was literally
walking out of the shower,
I asked her to marry me. I did a
redo later with a more formal
dinner invitation. We married as
soon as the Manhattan City Hall
o ce reopened.
Turns out, it sucks
to graduate into a
pandemic. I was fi nishing
up business school
when everything went
up in fl ames. I visited
New York that summer,
and I wished I could
live here. I grew up in
.. .GABRIELA... A REASON TO GO
OFFLINE
.. .COMFORT
REYNA HIXSON, 24, VIA COLORADO SPRINGSÁLVARO JOSÉ CASTRO RIVADENEIRA, 41,
VIA AMHERST, MASS.
RYAN LEE, 32, VIA COLUMBUS, OHIOI used to be a homebody, nervous
about going out and overanalyzing
social situations. I was online a bunch
— that was my thing. I graduated
in the pandemic and ended up living
with my parents in the suburbs.
I couldn’t really do anything except
be on the internet.
I was mostly on Twitter, following
a bunch of New York people. I started
having access to virtual parties
with my favorite artists. I would get
dressed up and just dance with all
these queer clubs on Zoom.
I saved up money and fi nally
moved to New York in June 2021.
That fi rst weekend, because I
had been cooped up, I went way too
hard. On Friday, I literally went to
the fi rst event I saw on my Instagram
feed. On Saturday, I went to a
fashion show I found online through
microinfl uencers and ended
up at an illegal rave under the
Kosciuszko Bridge.
In New York, I get to be the most
heightened version of myself.
The access to everything is still the
craziest part. I guess New York
is really like the internet as a city.In 2019, I started traveling from
Massachusetts to visit an
Ecuadorean friend who lived in
Queens. In February 2020,
I asked her to be my girlfriend.
Early in the pandemic, my
Ph.D. classes went virtual, and
my girlfriend, an infectious-disease
physician, became overwhelmed
with work. So — to support
her — one month after we o cially
became a couple, I moved into
the tiny apartment that she shared
with a few roommates.
Gabriela practiced at a clinic
in Corona, which was a hard-hit
area. Many of her patients ended
up dying. It was so easy to feel
helpless, especially during those
fi rst days, when all you heard
were tragedies. At least I could be
there for her. Gabriela had
been uncertain about the long-
distance relationship, and
our living together gave her the
belief that it could work.
I’m sort of impulsive, and
one day, as Gabriela was literally
walking out of the shower,
I asked her to marry me. I did a
redo later with a more formal
dinner invitation. We married as
soon as the Manhattan City Hall
o ce reopened.
Turns out, it sucks
to graduate into a
pandemic. I was fi nishing
up business school
when everything went
up in fl ames. I visited
New York that summer,
and I wished I could
live here. I grew up in
I
MOVED
TO
NEW YORK
FOR...
Seoul and missed being
in a big city. I landed
a job and moved.
Here, I’ve started my
career, met my
boyfriend — things
I couldn’t have
imagined when I was
stuck and struggling.
6.5.22 Interviews by Alexander Samaha