Hamish Bowles, editor-at-large, American Vogue
“I was working for Harpers & Queen when Anna Wintour offered me a job working on Vogue. It was an irresistible opportunity. I’ve found New York to be fantastically embracing. After coming here I realised how many glass ceilings there are in England. It’s more socially fluid here and my life has spanned high, low, uptown and downtown. I find it thrilling that you might be at a Fifth Avenue dinner party one moment, in some astonishing apartment with breathtaking art, and in the most energising Lower East Side nightclub the next”
Cecily Brown, painter
"In New York I felt at home instantly. I’d found the London art world quite oppressive and in the six months I’d previously spent as a student in New York I’d found it much more open. My work didn’t really fit in London at the time and I wasn’t part of the Young Brit Art scene which was at its peak. Here, I was introduced to a dealer quite early on and he liked my work straight away. The more I showed the more interest there was. There’s a feeling here in New York that people want the next big thing and they might be a little more suspicious and scathing in England. After all this time I only have two or three close American friends, most are European. I would never have known this if I stayed in England but I feel closer to French, Italians and Germans than I do to Americans despite the common language. I think much of it has to do with humour and shared history. That goes deeper than we all realise"
Simon Schama, professor of art history, Columbia University
"I first came to New York in 1964. I travelled by boat from Southampton. As we neared the East Coast we ran into a tempest. I was okay but many passengers were violently sick. There were piles of vomit all over the deck and offended deckhands would come and say, 'Is this yours?' I thought, 'No, but if it was what am I supposed to do?' We came through the typhoon to be confronted with that amazing view of the Statue of Liberty as we sailed under the Verrazano Bridge. It was mind-blowingly moving and you felt as if you were the next batch of immigrants. 1964 was the year of the Beatles and wherever you went people would ask, 'So you must know John?' I’d say, 'Of course. Yes, personally.' The city was more garish, grungier, louder and crazier then I’d ever imagined. I remember being shocked by how raw and unappealing it was and then five minutes later thinking, 'This is absolutely fucking wonderful'"
I love it, although I don't know if i for one would ever have the guts to make such a life-changing move, especially if I had no plan, it would be an amazing place to live though.
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