i am more afraid of downtown manhattan than uptown manhattan.

i am more afraid of downtown manhattan than the bronx.

We are not who you think we are.

We are just kids trying to get out. Or kids who followed our parents footsteps, hoping our children won’t make our mistakes.

That’s only half truths.

We want then like the adults who worked from 8 to 6.

Who took parent shifts 24/7.

We want them to understand the struggles, to see them, to face them with chins held high.

I am more afraid of downtown manhattan than my home.

It is a place of monsters and bright lights that distract you from the darkness.

This is for the kids form Harlem, from Washington Heights, from Inwood, from the Bronx.

We understood the struggle.

It’s a heart.

Beating. Pumping.

It’s eating.

It’s unforgiving.

It’s beautiful.

It’s a lung.

Breathing. Drowning.

Dead.

Please stop screaming.

Everyone is always screaming.

Why is everyone always screaming?

Stop, please.

I feel like a small child.

"You've got to be cynical in this world?"

"Why is that?"

"Because there are too many optimists in this world." She told him, a hand resting on his chest. "You see in this world, optimists are so easily shattered. They try look for the bright side and avoid the cracks of sadness and darkness looming over them. And when they finally see it, it is all horribly crashing down around them and that's when they become cynical. Now, if they were just cynical from the start none of this would have happened and that's another pessimists. So, one should always be cynical, because if you are a pessimist you are either always right or pleasantly surprised and even then those are just small flickers of hope that burn out in an instant. So yes, cynical is the way to go."