Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 305

"It’s been a bumpy road."

"It’s been a bumpy road."

“I grew up in Jerusalem. When I was a child, I loved to paint....

“I grew up in Jerusalem. When I was a child, I loved to paint. My father told me that he was going to send me to the biggest art academy, so that I could become a famous painter. But he died before I came of age, so I started making jewelry to support myself. I designed medallions and amulets for Orthodox Greek patriarchs to wear on their robes. I became quite known in the Old City, but when I moved to America, I had to start over. When I first arrived, I decided to try to sell my jewelry to a fancy jewelry shop on 47th Street. My friend told me: ‘You are crazy. Why would they buy from you? You are nobody.’ But I told him to watch me. I went into one of the big stores— one of those stores with 5 or 6 million dollars worth of jewelry in the window— and I told them: ‘I have some designs I want to show you.’ And the owners laughed at me. I told them: ‘You wouldn’t be laughing if you knew who I was.’ And they stopped laughing at me. Then they asked to see my work. They ended up buying all five of my moldings, and they told me to come back whenever I had something new.”

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?""When I won...

"Do you remember the happiest moment of your life?"
"When I won the lottery. Last four digits of my son’s student ID number: 0-8-0-0. I played it every week!"

“My children are 18, 17, and 15. And I think it’s just really...

“My children are 18, 17, and 15. And I think it’s just really starting to hit me that I’m about to lose them really quickly. I’m always thinking back and trying to figure out the ways that I might have been able to spend more time with them. Maybe if I’d been a little less concerned with cleaning up messes, or always cooking dinner, or going through the mail as soon as I got home from work. I don’t know… I just wish I’d been less ‘busy.’ When I was twenty, I left home and moved away to New York. I’d go home to visit my mother once a year, and each time she’d look a little older. I guess part of me is just afraid that my kids are going to do the same thing to me.”

“It’s tough to take the right steps when you grow up in this...

“It’s tough to take the right steps when you grow up in this neighborhood. It’s hard to get up and go to school everyday because you see so many other kids who are dropping out, and they still figure out a way to handle their business. A lot of kids around here don’t get any support from their family. So everything is on them. If you have a backbone of support, it’s easy to take your time and go from A to B to C to D. But when you’re looking out for yourself, you’re in a hurry. You’re looking for a way to get from A to D.”

"I’ve been an electronics engineer for thirty years, but...

"I’ve been an electronics engineer for thirty years, but it’s my dream to live on a farm. It was my dad’s dream too, but he died before he could get out of the city. So I bought myself 40 acres out in Virginia. I’m about to hop on the Amtrak and head there now for a visit, but one day I’m going to move there for good. The property is a hippie’s dream. It’s got great energy. It’s ten miles from a small town, and right next to the Blue Ridge mountains. It’s partial wood, partial field. There’s a small farmhouse. I’m going to raise chickens, live stock, and have a greenhouse. Only nine more years until retirement."
"What’s your greatest weakness?"
"Procrastination."

"I feel like my family uses the exchange of money as a...

"I feel like my family uses the exchange of money as a substitute for real communication."

“I met my dad for the first time when I was fifteen. I visited...

“I met my dad for the first time when I was fifteen. I visited him in Trinidad for two months during the summer. He met me at the airport and acted like he missed me more than anything else in the world. He ran up to me and lifted me in the air and started kissing me and saying how much he missed me. He carried all my luggage, and gave me money, and stopped by the supermarket on the way home to buy me all this food. He was introducing me to his friends like he was so proud of me. He’d say: ‘Look at my beautiful daughter,’ and things like that. It actually got me imagining how nice it would be to have a dad. Then at the end of the day, he dropped me off at my grandmother’s house, and I only saw him two or three times for the rest of the summer. The last night I was with him, he got really drunk, and he told me that I’d been a mistake. He was laughing when he said it, like it was a joke, and I should think it was funny. I pretended like it didn’t bother me, but it did. I thought: ‘So is that why you never wanted to visit or talk to me all these years?’”

"Never laid a hand on her. And that was huge for me. Because it...

"Never laid a hand on her. And that was huge for me. Because it was always the first thing my dad did."

"I’ve been a union ironworker for 34 years. One year until...

"I’ve been a union ironworker for 34 years. One year until retirement. I’ve worked on the World Trade Center, Citi Field, Museum of Natural History, Trump Tower, Penn Station. My fingerprints are on so many buildings in this city, it’s ridiculous."