Woke up and cried all the way to the news stand today — my article made it to the front page of the New York Times this morning ♥️
This is the first time I've ever been published in print. When I cold pitched the idea in June, I didn't expect a reply. Then one came. Then I didn't expect to get a greenlight. Then I did. Then I submitted a draft that my editor told me wasn't what he had in mind. I had the choice between completely ripping apart and reimagining it or taking a kill fee. He liked my sentences, he said, he wanted to give me a chance. So I wrote another one. Then, week by week, we worked on edits, deleting commas and rephrasing lines until just a few days ago.
Taking an online story to print — esp. on the front page — is a decision that involves many eyes at the NYT. When my editor said it was under consideration he told me not to get my hopes up, that it would be like hitting a home run at my first baseball game. (In some ways it feels like that; in others, it feels like I've been moving this direction my entire life!)
It feels fitting that this story is about my hometown, the melting pot of Secaucus, NJ, and our longtime mayor. Mayor Gonnelli runs as an independent and has won 4 out of his last 5 terms unopposed. As Secaucus, an Italian-American stronghold, has flipped minority white, he has held the center. He works the phones for hours every day, taking personal accountability for things that most companies & politicians immediately hire mid-level management for: fixing potholes, getting people furniture, arranging housing. There are free baby baskets, free buses, free stores where people in need can get clothing and supplies.
I've been reading hundreds of comments on the piece and one has stuck with me from someone on the mayor's FB page: "I vote and will always vote Republican, except for Secaucus mayor," he said. "There is no person better for the job, and with better intentions for the people, and that's what really matters. If I was running against him for the position, I'd vote for him. If he ever decides not to run again, I'm writing him in."
Grateful for everything that led to this and to take the next steps over the next few years towards my dream of being a career storyteller — some mix of writer, filmmaker, interviewer, artist telling stories about cultural exchange and immigration. As my mom tells me: if Anthony Bourdain, if Werner Herzog, if Oprah, if Zohran Mamdani, if Isobel Young, if Jhumpa Lahiri, if Stephen Colbert, if RBG, if AOC, then why not you? Why not any one of us, for whatever version it is, for something we believe in?
Sharing the story again in the comments <3
P.S. Among the village of people who made this happen is Theodore Brown, who encouraged me to pitch the story in the first place and helped me decode the process all the way through. Thank you for guiding me, and I can't wait to pass it on someday.
