I'm not from here, but I'm here now.

This is what I call home. Someone told me that the red brick warehouse was built in 1869 as a waystation to store goods coming and going from ships. I like to stare at the sea where this building has been gazing at for 150 years. The dark water reminds me of all coffee beans and other food arriving at the harbor in those days. This building must have been full of coffee aroma back then. The place is no longer a warehouse; it is a fully renovated residential building with a large grocery chain at the ground level. When I found out about the apartment, the advertisement described the place as luxurious, chic, and high-end. But, inside, the store is still full of coffee aroma.

I moved to this neighborhood in the industrial part of Brooklyn eight years ago when I found a job at an architectural design office in New York City. On my first day at work, I joined a team working on a building project near this neighborhood. There was going to be a brand new building on a vacant lot next to an abandoned factory. Everyone seemed to be excited about the project. The team spent months rigorously designing a residential apartment with shiny glass windows and brushed aluminum frames. The building would have a faux leather sofa in the lobby and some trees on the rooftop terrace. Once the contractor began excavating the ground, someone from the client's office excitedly praised how beautiful this building would be. We all cheerfully nodded.

During that time, I worked long hours every day. I had to work most weekends just to meet all those seemingly arbitrary deadlines. I remember being utterly exhausted in the B61 bus on my way back. I would just stare out the bus window, looking at closed stores and factory buildings at night, feeling like I'm back home. I cannot remember when I started to think that I belonged here, but I call it home now because that is how it feels. The neighborhood is already home to many people I have met in the last eight years here. Some of them seem to have strong opinions about what is happening in this neighborhood. A guy at the grocery store always complains how gentrification is ruining all good things here. A girl next door can't stop telling me how safe this place feels despite her friends' comments about this area. In this neighborhood, things stay, things change, and things disappear.

Nevertheless, I call this home now because that is how I want it to be. I'm not from here, but I'm here now.

I'm home.

480-500 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231