Moving to New York City
Published July 20, 2023 · 49s · 288,082 views
About This Video
Van Neistat spent 20 years in New York City and reduced the whole experience to one rule: move there if you have a mission, or the city eats you alive. The video runs 49 seconds and says more about relocation than most essays manage.
Van's pitch is that every American should live in New York for one year, "like the draft." In your twenties, the city delivers on its own advertising campaign. The people, the excitement, the restaurants. It all checks out. But Van draws a line between visiting and surviving. A mission gives the city something to organize around. Without one, New York becomes a machine that processes people and returns nothing. With one, Van says plainly, "it made a man out of me." He arrived in his twenties and stayed two decades. He made his first internet video, The Holland Tunnel, in 2000 while living in the city. He now lives in Topanga, California.
Related: The Struggle of Living in NYC, Miserable In New York City, and The Spirited Man, which documents the life Van built after leaving.
FAQ
How long did Van Neistat live in New York City? Twenty years. He moved there in his twenties and stayed through the making of his first internet video, The Holland Tunnel, in 2000. He eventually settled in Topanga Canyon, California.
Does Van Neistat recommend moving to New York? Yes, but with a condition. He says every American should live there for one year, "like the draft," and that it works best if you arrive with a specific mission. Without one, the city can eat you alive.
Where does Van Neistat live now? Van lives in Topanga Canyon, California, after spending 20 years in New York City. He moved west and started The Spirited Man channel from his Topanga workshop.
Transcript
I think every American should live in New York City for one year like the draft I lived in New York City for 20 years and I would say in your 20s New York is everything that you read about New York lives up to the New York advertising campaign right there there's all the people there's all the excitement there's the restaurants but it's really a place to move to if you have a mission if you have a mission and part of fulfilling the mission requires you to live in New York City it sort of eats you alive and for me New York City made a man out of me