Someone once said a New Yorker isn’t necessarily a person who was born there, it’s someone who knows they couldn’t live anywhere else. If you do live here, you know it’s not for everyone. In fact, you probably have a friend or two who expressed their distaste for the rats, smelly subway, and cacophony of car horns not long after they touched down in the city for the first time. What you find special and romantic about New York, many others might write off as a nuisance. To give those skeptics some credit, visiting and surviving in New York are two very different things.
Moving to New York can feel a lot like urban boot camp. You have to move quickly — when you’re walking, when you’re trying to catch a train, or when you’re ordering a bagel (always keep the line moving). Because here, there’s no rest for the wicked, or for anyone who is trying to get to Brooklyn during rush hour. And most of the time, you have to learn these lessons the hard way, like when you don’t check the bike lane before getting out of a cab. Even so, once you’ve passed the city’s tests, the 304 square miles will feel as cozy and familiar as a suburban cul-de-sac.
Content creator Haley Kalil has lived in New York, off and on, for five years — and first felt truly at home in the city when she mastered the trials and tribulations of the city’s train system. “Right when I knew how the subway worked, I considered myself a New Yorker,” she tells us. Many New Yorkers follow the ten-year rule, which claims you’re not a New Yorker until you’ve been a resident for at least a decade, but Kalil follows another, entirely valid, rule: “If you’re unphased by all of the chaos, you are a true New Yorker.”
New Yorkers barely blink an eye at what tourists might consider unusual. Oh, a busker hanging from subway grab bars? A union protest starring Scabby the Rat? Those are just our neighbors. But, like we said, it’s bootcamp, so anyone attempting to make it in New York needs an arsenal of equipment that will make day-to-day living manageable.
If she’s going to face New York head on, she’ll do it with tiny, maybe even ordinary, accouterments that make the concrete jungle feel more like a ball pit you want to jump in and out of all day long (without fear of injury). From the makeup products she relies on to the headphones that help her drown out some of the noise, Kaili shares her New York must haves, ahead.
Maybelline New York Build-a-Brow
Doing your makeup on-the-go requires a skillset only New Yorkers will understand. If Kalil is going to be filling in her brows, especially while en route, she uses the Maybelline Build-A-Brow. “I like a product that’s easy and simple to use and gets the job done,” she says. “It’s just one pen that fits into your tiny bag.” It doesn’t hurt that the dual-ended pen is waterproof and equipped with a clear gel. “There’s so much I can do with one tool,” she says.
Joe & the Juice Carrot Cake
If you’re a New Yorker, you have a go-to coffee shop — with a go-to order that almost always includes a sweet treat. For Kalil, that’s the carrot cake from Joe & the Juice. A sugar rush can make any crowded train platform bearable.
Apple Airpods Pro
Unless you’re that one guy who listens to his music out loud on the Q train every morning, then you probably relate to Kalil’s inclination for headphones. “I take them with me everywhere,” she says.
Stanley The Clean Slate Quencher H2.0 Flowstate™ Tumbler
Once upon a (pre-inflation) time, you might have actually found an emergency water bottle at the nearest food truck for less than $2. Now, it’s best to carry your own. Kalil takes a tumbler with her everywhere.
Burberry Sonny Check-Pattern Belt Bag
There are tote people. There are wristlet people. And — shout out to the finance bros of FiDi — there are backpack people. But Kalil likes to take a page out of a classic tourist’s book and rock a fanny pack — a Burberry fanny pack. Here, style and convenience are not mutually exclusive. It’s not too big, not too small, and fits all of her daily essentials.
Dearfoams Women’s Fireside Sydney Shearling Fur Slipper
Yes, for the most part, New York is a walkable city, but being walkable means you’ll probably come home with a couple of blisters on your feet, especially if you left the house in the wrong shoes. What better way to remedy her aching, tired feet than a pair of shearling-lined slippers?
Anker 621 Magnetic Battery
“A phone battery pack is essential for any content creator constantly on their phone,” Kalil admits. We’d go as far as saying a battery pack is a necessity for everyone, especially if you often find yourself discreetly opening Google Maps when you emerge from the subway.
Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Eco Pads
You never know when you’ll need emergency makeup remover, whether it’s to clear off crusty red lipstick before applying a smooth, fresh layer or when you crash at your best friend’s place because you accidentally locked yourself out of the apartment. Kalil swears by these reusable, cleansing pads. “These are my favorite makeup remover pads. They’re so easy to keep on hand at all times,” she says.
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