New York Kids

Anthony Long, 17

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“Chinatown is ours after dark.”

Home:

Queens

Parents are from:

“I’m Black, Puerto Rican, Chinese, and Trinidadian.”

Plans:

“To become a chef and open my own restaurant. I go to school on 50th Street. It’s a food-and-finance high school.”

Johanna Heuvreaux, 18

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“The resources—the people, and the places. This summer I’m working at the New York Public Library, so I meet a lot of people.”

Home:

The Bronx

Plans:

“I’m going to NYU in the fall to study physics and engineering. I’m excited, but a little nervous.”

Naeem Ahmed, 14

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“My favorite thing is basketball. My least favorite thing is the sun.”

Local wisdom:

“If you’re a kid you can get free drinks and Icees at the housing development on 11th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.”

Home:

East Village, Manhattan

Parents are from:

Bangladesh

Plans:

“I’m starting high school this fall. It’s cool.”

Victoria Cronin-Bogdanovitch, 13

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“I like being a girl in the city.”

Local wisdom:

“The best place to hang out is Williamsburg.”

Ringtone:

“Circle Circle Dot Dot” by Jamie Kennedy

Home:

Upper East Side, Manhattan

Plans:

“I’m going into the eighth grade. I don’t want to stay in New York for college but I definitely want to come back after.”

Christian Martinez, 13

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“Being a kid, ’cause when you get older you can’t do the same things.”

Local wisdom:

“Every night at sundown we play manhunt in the park. There are two teams with equal numbers of kids, maybe ten or more, and you run like crazy and try not to get tagged. It’s a summertime game, ’cause we can’t play on school nights.”

Home:

Lower East Side, Manhattan

Plans:

“Workin ’til school starts. This summer I’m packing bags at C-Town. My uncle got me the job.”

Michal Tegeler, 15

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“We’ve gone to lots of barbecues and we saw the Fourth of July fireworks from this apartment on the 16th floor of a building. The windows were huge.”

Local wisdom:

“The guys in New York are a lot shorter and way more stylish. We’ve been asked out a couple of times, like right on the street. Some guys are like, ‘Hey ladies,’ and we’re like, ‘How old are you, 30?!’”

Home:

San Angelo, Texas

Plans:

“We did our nails at home but we want to have them redone. We also plan to see Rent and Sweeney Todd.”

Jahrell Brown, 12

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“I like riding my bike every day and going to the pool, but it can get kind of boring.”

Home:

East Village, Manhattan

Plans:

“I’m going to camp this summer.”

Nicole Clemens, 15

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“The shopping and the culture. You can be yourself and no one judges you.”

Home:

San Angelo, Texas

Plans:

“I’m here, you know, to look at colleges. I’d love to go to college here.”

Christian Rivera, 14

Best thing about New York in the summer:

"Skateboarding at Union Square. I met a girl here once. It was mad random. I called her, but I never saw her again."

Ringtone:

“I broke the phone skating. I didn’t have a ringtone.”

Home:

The Bronx

Parents are from:

The Bronx

Plans:

“To keep skateboarding.”

Yesenia “Tita” Espinal, 18

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“All the options. You’ve got Coney Island, Six Flags, random cafes, clubs, lounges. And now that I’m 18 I don’t have to run back and tell my mom everything.”

Local wisdom:

“We say you’re ‘talking to somebody’ when there’s something going on but it’s not a relationship. When you’re just talking. You don’t have the same expectations or commitment. It’s less serious.“

Home:

Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Parents are from:

US and Malaysia

Plans:

“To study advertising at City Tech in the fall.”

Spencer Tullis, 15

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“The atmosphere, the nightlife. My curfew during the summer is 12 AM but it’s flexible.”

Worst experience in New York:

“Earlier this year a guy came up to me selling candy and when I opened my wallet he snatched all the money and ran.”

Local wisdom:

“People our age are thinking mostly about what they want to do as a career and about finding a companion.”

Home:

Tribeca, Manhattan

Parents are from:

“My dad is a black Native American and my mom is European.”

Plans:

“I’d like to compose my own music, you know, as a career. I play the guitar and I am moving from acoustic to rock.”

What day of the week is it:

“Ummm…I don’t know.”

Chris Velez, 15

Best thing about New York in the summer:

“Everyone knows each other around here. I grew up watching the old-school guys play basketball here. Now I play with them. I was captain of the varsity team at my school when I was a freshman.”

Local wisdom:

“Don’t hang out too much.”

Home:

East Village, Manhattan

Parents are from:

Puerto Rico and Colombia

Plans:

“I’ll probably go to boarding school next year to play basketball. I’m aiming to go pro.”

          PHOTOS BY OLIVIER LALIN

INTERVIEWS BY ANNIE CORREAL