Once you’ve called NYC home, it’s home forever. (Alexander Spatari/Getty Images)

Question: What happens when you leave New York City?

—Living on the Left Coast Now

Dear Living:

You can’t leave New York City. It won’t let you.

Yes, of course, you can move your body and belongings anywhere, but you can’t really leave NYC. It follows you. Whether you’re a native or, like most of us, you chose to live here, New York is in you and all around you, wherever you go.

Manhattan Rentals Under $3,500 Article continues below

Gramercy Park

338 East 15th Street

$2,800 No Fee

1 |

1

Gramercy Park

332 East 15th Street

$2,850 No Fee

1 |

1

Kips Bay

234 East 25th Street

$2,700 No Fee

2 |

1

South Harlem

226 West 111st Street

$2,800 No Fee

2 |

1

Lenox Hill

399 East 72nd Street

$2,995 No Fee

Studio |

1

East Harlem

171 East 105th Street

$3,500 No Fee

4 |

1.5

Upper East Side

166 East 82nd Street

$2,800 No Fee

1 |

1

West Harlem

2 Saint Nicholas Terrace

$3,375 No Fee

3 |

1

East Village

338 East 14th Street

$2,829 No Fee

1 |

1

Murray Hill

311 East 38th Street

$3,100 No Fee

Studio |

1

East Harlem

1875 Lexington Avenue

$3,300 No Fee

3 |

2

South Harlem

115 West 117th Street

$2,500 No Fee

Studio |

1.5

Intellectually and emotionally, becoming a New Yorker is a kind of rebirth. Whether you started out in San Diego or Memphis, Manhasset or Secaucus, once you have thoroughly amalgamated yourself within New York, you can no more disassociate yourself from your New Yorkishness than you can change the composition of your DNA. New York becomes a part of who you are — quick, focused, determined, smart, aware, self-assured, all of the positive energies that make us who we are and make the rest of America call us “rude,” “bossy,” “aggressive,” or “overly ambitious.” Like those are bad things.

That’s just interior New York. Outwardly, New York culture is American culture, and much of the world’s as well. It’s the only city in the world with such a vast reach. Nowhere can you go to escape the city’s presence in media, news, popular culture, advertising, art, drama, music, books, politics, business, finance, science, fashion, education, food, architecture, design, or other creative and intellectual efforts. (Before you rant about how the city is so out of step with the “real America” between the coasts, just remember that both Donald Trump and Fox News come from New York.)

Manhattan 1-2BRs Under $1M on StreetEasy Article continues below

Murray Hill

630 First Avenue

$900,000

1 |

1

Gramercy Park

201 East 21st Street

$700,000

1 |

1

Sutton Place

212 East 57th Street

$995,000

2 |

1

Turtle Bay

345 East 52nd Street

$725,000

1 |

1

Sutton Place

345 East 56th Street

$850,000

1 |

1

Yorkville

345 East 80th Street

$950,000

1 |

1

East Village

323 East 8th Street

$960,000

1 |

2

Yorkville

510 East 80th Street

$849,000

1 |

1

Financial District

3 Hanover Square

$715,000

1 |

1

Financial District

15 William Street

$995,000

1 |

1

Lincoln Square

155 West 68th Street

$850,000

1 |

1

Lincoln Square

155 West 68th Street

$950,000

1 |

1

So you may be living on the other side of the continent now, but your attitude and your way of expressing yourself will always reveal who you really are. You’ll jaywalk in Portland without giving it a second thought. You’ll absentmindedly wait for a green light to make a right turn in Los Angeles. In Seattle, you’ll order coffee “regular” and what they call a bagel with a “schmear.” You’ll stand on line at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco.

And someday, someone somewhere will casually ask you where you’re from. You’ll answer without a moment’s hesitation, “New York.”

David Crook is a veteran journalist and author of The Complete Wall Street Journal Real-Estate Investing and Homeowner’s Guidebooks. Note: Nothing in this column should be considered professional legal advice. If you have a legal issue, consult an attorney.

A note from the author: This is my last Ask Us column. Thank you all for reading and writing in over the years. I also want to thank the folks at Zillow and StreetEasy for their support, especially my former editor Diane Tuman, who gave me the opportunity to write the column, and her successor, Ian Port.

—
Inspired to find your next place in New York? Whether you’re looking to rent or to buy, search NYC apartments on StreetEasy.