Tania: I first wrote this article about New York City in April of this year, which was just 5 months ago. I never in a million years would have thought that we would be going through a pandemic (while also being the epicenter) and a revolution at the same damn time.

I spent my summer protesting in Newark, East Harlem, and Brooklyn. I celebrated Juneteenth for the very first time, surrounded by black joy and L O V E. Now, as we end September, I’m dealing with the fact that I will not be traveling on my birthday for the first time in years but also the amazing feeling of seeing New York slowly come alive again. We’re living in unprecedented times, so I thought I would highlight which places are open for dining in and of course, which are black-owned. ✊🏾

I don’t remember my first time in New York. Growing up in New Jersey, I was only 30 minutes outside of Manhattan, so naturally, my family and I would head to Manhattan as often as we could. We would spend weekends, birthdays, and frankly, find any reason to head to the city. When I was a teenager my friends and I would leave school early to go to the city. We would lie to our parents and tell them we were at each other’s homes but really, we were exploring shops in SoHo, watching skateboarders in Washington Square Park, and people-watching in Union Square.