Mefites, especially New Yorkers, can I support myself in New York?

First off, congratulations on freeing yourself from your abusive family and staking your rightful claim to independence! If you're saving $500/mo while making $15/hour you're doing really well managing your resources. All of that must be exhilarating! No wonder you want to move to your dream city ASAP. Nonetheless, I think your move to New York will be more successful if you work on your emotional resilience. Your post shows clear signs that your abuse is manifesting itself by making you either a) struggle to shake off bad encounters or b) engage in anticipatory fear that you won't be able to do so. For example: HR declined me... which has scarred me. Or the bus driver closed the door on me... I felt assaulted and was reminded of the times my dad would hit me. Or I had a bully in [Chicago]... I am afraid [moving there] would bring back bad memories. As other have noted, you're mythologizing New York. But even if the apartment and job hunts go swimmingly, Something is bound to happen in New York that will test your emotional resilience and your high opinion of the City and its people will only make it worse. I don't know if your savings is sufficient--especially since you have no family to fall back on if things go badly--and I can't speak to the corrosive impact of feeling unwelcome or enduring racial/sexist slights. Nonetheless, I think you might benefit from sticking around Seattle a little longer to build up your financial resources, possibly find a job in your field, make more connections, plan your move better, and strengthen your emotional resources too. As a thought exercise, consider this: If your sublet wasn't ending in 30 days, would you feel ready to make this move?

It is not possible to get a cell phone with a 212 area code. I'm not even sure if 917 (the first cell phone/pager area code for NYC) is available anymore. Employers are used to the fact that most people have a cell phone from their hometown, college town, or just wherever they lived the last time they changed service plans; the area code on a phone number at this point is really irrelevant.

Honestly, it sounds like you are putting New York up on a pedestal and turning it into this dream, ideal place to avoid dealing with other issues, settling into Seattle, etc. I can tell you as a lifelong New Yorker I have been sexually harassed on the street, had racial slurs hurled at me, etc etc. No place is perfect. Your best bet for supporting yourself in New York would be to stay put where you are, keep saving, and most importantly build up a job history (at least one year tenure) and network to increase your chances of landing a good job whenever and wherever you move. Even if you don't expect to get a job working in art, it would help a lot to find a "day job" field you enjoy and feel passionate about -- employers would much rather hire someone who is interested in the job, rather than just doing whatever. Likewise, you can build up connections in that field, once you know what it is, by going to meetups, getting introed through friends and friends, attending conferences and lectures, etc.

Hi, ethnic minority in New York City here. If you are Indian, use that in every possible way you can. Minority-owned businesses tend to prefer to hire people of their minority. Banking on my ethnicity has gotten me almost every job I've ever had. I mean I didn't just show up and say "hey I'm [ethnicity]" but it's the closest thing I've ever had to, say, being from the same prestigious university as someone who is trying to hire me. In a city like this one, people trust their own a lot sooner than they'll trust anyone else. Now, I am not Indian, I have no idea about your specific heritage within India, or how close you are to it, but if you can use it to your advantage do so, and do so with vigor. White folks have, for a very long time, used their heritage to get ahead in the world. In New York City, you don't have to be white for that.

Thanks so much for all of the support. :) I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this, but I thought to go ahead and post, as it's taken me some time to gather my thoughts. I've really been overwhelmed by things, so it really helped to hear everyone's responses. I'm not entirely sure what to do yet, but I think that trying New York is something that I really want to do. The art world is there, and I really want to be there despite how hard it will be. But that aside, I just love the city, and all of the diversity there is just a wonderful thing. As a matter of fact, I actually did encounter two rude white men (separately), but I forgot about it 5 seconds later because there's just so much to take in in the city. And, like Suedehead and Sara C and others mentioned, it was easier to shrug off, than in a homogenous, less-populated place. I didn't even remember those two dudes until I read the cautionary posts here about racism in NY. But I think I definitely do put New York on a pedestal, and I'm sure I will be tested, and racism is everywhere, so yes, working on my resilience would be helpful, especially while I'm in Seattle. I'm thinking to stay in Seattle, at least until the Spring, to save money and try to shore up my emotional reserves. I've been having a hard time and I feel like quitting my job and then having to move and look for a job and place to live would be too much right now, although it would be New York, where I would be happier. So perhaps if things get too bad in Seattle, I might just move, but I think it would be helpful to work on my resilience and not just run away, as Errant and others mentioned. New York is a big proposition, so I think having some time to research and prepare would be good for me, especially since I don't have anyone but myself to rely on if things don't work out. I want to thank all of you, especially the Seattleites who wrote such thoughtful and honest answers about racism in Seattle. Your support really helped me. And I also want to thank you all for suggesting I don't write off Chicago. I will keep the Windy City in mind as I work on my resilience. Take care and thanks again, everyone. :)

The thing about New York is that people are going to be an ass to you, but it's going to be more about the fact that they're being asses, and less about you. They'd have some bullshit to say to anybody standing next to them on the bus. It's equal opportunity awful, which means it doesn't have the same sting that small town awful has. New York is a much easier place to be different, than most other places on the planet. That said, as I said above, there are some major caveats to that, and there's an ugly flip side to the diversity. Someone upthread mentioned that you should leverage your background? Here's the thing with that. If there's not a specific community waiting to welcome you with open arms, you might feel like an outsider. Because just being brown, or just being from a particular post-colonial landmass, or just being a particular religion isn't enough in New York. I remember in college the Ashkenazi Jewish kids turning up their noses at the Bukharan Jewish kids who wanted to join Hillel. I was once hanging out in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with my biracial/non-Polish boyfriend, and an older Polish woman came up to me and started berating me because she thought I was Polish and associating with the wrong sort. (I'm not in any way remotely Polish, she just decided I was and took it upon herself to be scandalized about my dating life.) I remember hearing a story of a Korean-American store owner giving an Indian-American coworker of mine shit because "you people" and blah blah blah. You know that song from Avenue Q, "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist"? That song is New York, in a nutshell. If all this sounds better to you than the Seattle "BUT WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM?" then New York might be a good fit for you. If it sounds even more complicated and scary, sticking it out where you already are might not be such a bad idea.

Okay, now I feel old. So keep your phone number.

I feel really conflicted. On the one hand, when I first left home I really wanted to be in New York. But I didn't think I could handle it for a variety of reasons, so instead I chose Boston. I hated Boston almost immediately, and ultimately chose to move to New York. (Against the protest of people who thought I should have given Boston a fairer shake, too.) It turned out NYC was the right decision for me. And I firmly believe that if there's something you know you want to do, as opposed to something you think you "ought" to do, you should do the first thing. On the other hand, I recently moved across the country, and it really is hard to settle into a new city. Two months barely scratches the surface, and you could definitely find a place for yourself in Seattle if you gave it more time. However, feeling unwelcome because of your race? Ugh, no. Why put up with that? And others are right, New York is one of the few places in the US where there will be very little of this sort of thing. That said, you will be pigeonholed based on what others perceive your ethnicity to be, which is sometimes frustrating, sometimes fascinating, and I think it can be a little claustrophobic for certain people. It is also a very real possibility that you will get to New York and not find either a job or a place to live. New York can also be extremely socially isolating, if you don't already have connections here. I would be somewhat leery of moving to New York with no local resources, especially because in your situation you can't just give up and go home if you're not happy.

1. I think you should move, but if you're earning some money now, possibly put it off until you have a couple of months of rent saved up? 2. Lucky thing for you New York is an enormous hub for the ad industry -- one of the few industries that uses illustrators. Do you have a good portfolio put together? Would you be comfortable working at an ad agency? At any rate -- there are temp agencies in NYC, too, and I highly doubt you'd be blacklisted for leaving a temp job in Seattle. I highly doubt you'll be able to find a completely pest-free apartment in New York. The roaches, they're *everywhere.* 3. I'll let someone else handle that. 4. You visited New York on vacation -- so it's possible you're mythologizing the city and what it's like to actually live here. That said, if you're miserable where you are and there's nothing tying you down, then of course you should change something.