When Candice Gwak and David Xie moved from Southern California to New York City, they settled in Hell’s Kitchen, just a block from the chaos and crowds of Times Square, the very place many New Yorkers love to hate.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of their one-bedroom apartment in The Ellery are the upper-level ramps and rooftop parking lot of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The walls of their living room glow with colored light thrown from the ever-changing giant digital billboards nearby.
Their friends who knew New York couldn’t believe they’d live there.
“We’re not really fazed,” Ms. Gwak said. “Maybe it’s because we’re so new here, so everything is great.”
The couple moved in September. Mr. Xie, who works for an executive search firm, is focused on developing a sense of direction to avoid getting lost. Ms. Gwak, a lawyer, is learning to navigate her way through throngs of people, but she’s not annoyed by the slow-moving visitors — in fact, she relates to them.
She and Mr. Xie admitted they have behaved like tourists since they arrived.
“We bought CityPASS as if we don’t live here,” Ms. Gwak said, referring to a ticket that grants admission to several tourist attractions.
They visited iconic spots including Ellis Island, the Empire State Building and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. They also took a guided boat tour around the harbor. They try to jam-pack their weekends with sightseeing and exploration.
On their excursions, they often realized that at the end of the day they’d be going back home, rather than to a hotel. Mr. Xie called that “the best feeling.”
“There were so many times we kept going, ‘Oh my gosh, we live here,’” he said.
Years before they even met each other, they had separately gotten a taste of New York City and wanted more.
Back in 2017, still in college, Ms. Gwak had visited a friend who lived in the East Village. The trip made a lasting impression on her, and she set her sights on moving permanently, at some point, though she couldn’t envision the path.