When I moved to New York City, I thought I pretty much knew what to expect. Having family from in and around the city, having lived in a big city on the East Coast (Boston), and having traveled here several times on vacation, I thought I had NYC pegged to a T.

For the most part, I had the right idea. It’s full of tourists, full of rats, glowing with bright lights dimmed only by a fine layer of grit that permeates the air and settles on every surface. It’s a big metropolis, with a little bit of everything: from hobos to millionaires (often sharing the same sidewalk), from thrift stores to couture boutiques (often sharing the same block), from Thai cuisine to falafel stands (often sharing the same stoop).

Fitting so many stereotypes–and at the same time offering so many peculiarities at every turn–New York City hasn’t really come to shock or surprise me yet. However, every time I come across some little, personal, minor, unexpected detail about NYC life, it makes the city feel that much more like home. The details you come to anticipate, the ones you never knew to expect, are the things let you know you belong in NYC.

The first thing that I never knew about New York City was that ice cream trucks rule the streets in the summertime. On my own block in Brooklyn, the ice cream truck runs from about 11am to 11pm, circling round and round, up and down my street–when it isn’t parked around the corner, idling and awaiting customers. The children’s music wafts up to my open windows and swims through my apartment several times a day. In Manhattan, these trucks are parked or roving all over the place. If you spend any amount of time in the city, you can’t miss them. They’re pretty loud, somewhat gaudy, and overpriced ($3 for a small cone??). But even though I’ll groan aloud and complain each and every time ‘Do Your Ears Hang Low’ accosts my ears, this little annoyance is part of my new NYC life—even though I still get my ice cream cones at McDonalds, for about $.99 per cone; let the tourists pay $2 more for novelty and sprinkles.

The ice cream trucks are such an integral part of NYC, competitors such as the cupcake truck and taco truck have emerged to carve their own niche. I’ve even seen a pink-colored cotton candy car that totes a popcorn machine in the trunk! Thus far, these new roving food wagons have not adopted the blaring siren-call of the ice cream truck, thank goodness. And while they pay sufficient homage, we all know they’ll never be the same in prevalence or spirit as the original ice cream truck.

The second thing that I never knew about New York City was that it bears rubber bands the way a Christmas tree bears ornamentation. Rubber bands are everywhere; in the streets, on the sidewalks, in the grass. You can’t help but notice them. There’s really no need to ever visit Staples for this particular office supply. When I moved here, as I was setting up my home office, I realized that I hadn’t brought rubber bands with me. So when I discovered one immediately on the ground I thought aha! what luck! and I put it in my purse. Same with the next few. And then I picked up a few more for my cat to play with (she loves the challenge, I suppose). Then I realized that I was consistently finding rubber bands all over the place, and there was no need to collect them any longer. They would always be there, just under my nose, if I ever needed one. I cannot explain this phenomenon, but realizing this uncanny trait of New York City makes me happy. I hope that when winter snows coat the sidewalks in white, I will still be able to locate and snag spare rubber bands when I need them.

Rubber bands and ice cream trucks—these are two of the quirks that give NYC dimension. I hope to keep discovering little-known, bizarre characteristics as I settle in. It’s quite a treat to separate the Hollywood version of NYC from the minute, mundane realities. Like knowing that your partner brushes his teeth with his left hand and hums while he cooks, knowing the intimate details of NYC makes me fall in love with it even more.

~ SB