Jonathan Hogue

Moved to NYC 10 years ago today.

Hard to believe I’ve called this place home for a decade now. I feel like I’ve lived a hundred different lifetimes here. Through survival jobs, late nights, writing workshops, grad studies, Broadway openings, it’s incredible how this city can continue to surprise and delight ten years later - even after I think I’ve seen everything.

My close friends and family can tell you - I talk about leaving this city all the time. It’s not easy living here. It’s dirty, loud, exhausting, stressful, soul-sucking… this suburban kid never yearned for city life. After the initial excitement of moving here wore off, it took me years of working multiple survival jobs before I got my in with the industry I long pursued. So what has kept me coming back despite it all?

The people. I’ve come to know the most beautiful, incredible, resilient, passionate, hilarious, and generous people on the planet. People with brilliant minds and boundless imaginations who come from every corner of the planet, determined to press through all the challenges because they believe in the possibilities that this community represents.

The city is magical, sure. The architecture, the parks, the events, the nightlife, the food… I really won’t ever get sick of all those perks (what I call on my bills “the resort fee”). But at the end of the day, it’s just an island of concrete without the amazing people who bring it to life.

Ten years later, I couldn’t be more grateful that I stuck it out. I couldn’t be happier that I pushed through the early years of hopelessness and fatigue. I couldn’t be more grateful to have answered that calling to return back to the city time and time again, even when I would’ve far rather fled to a beach house in Florida. The version of me that moved here ten years ago could never have dreamed of the life I’d have here ten years later.

Thanks for a great decade, NYC. I guess I’ll give you a few more months to impress me. ❤️