Published in GEN·Mar 12, 2021Member-onlySurviving a Year Without TouchI live alone. It’s been a very long year. — It has been one year since I’ve been properly hugged. I have never been a casual hugger, and yet it was this fact I kept coming back to as we approached the first anniversary of the pandemic. …Pandemic9 min read
Published in GEN·Oct 26, 2020Member-onlyThe Death and Life of the Greatest American CityWelcome to New York City’s #NoFilter era — A running joke on social media among New Yorkers who stayed put for the pandemic roller coaster ride these last seven months is to match evidence of joyful city life that has exploded everywhere against proclamations of the city’s death. “New York Is Dead!” run the headlines next to photos…Cities10 min read
Published in GEN·Apr 16, 2020Member-onlyThe New York You Once Knew Is Gone. The One You Loved Remains.Those of us who stayed in New York are faced with the task of keeping the city alive. We aren’t going anywhere. — GEN asked two writers to explore what it means to stay in New York, and what it’s like to leave. Meghan Daum left New York to quarantine in Appalachia. Glynnis MacNicol stayed in the city: New York City is not as deserted as the pictures will lead you to believe. …Community9 min read
Jul 13, 2018Member-onlyI’m in My 40s, Child-Free and Happy. Why Won’t Anyone Believe Me?Since I turned 40 I’ve encountered disbelief that I could possibly be enjoying my own life. But then there’s the other unexpected gift of this age: just how little concern I have for others’ opinions. — A few months before my 42nd birthday, I was out to dinner with friends and found myself seated next to a well-known older male writer. I happened to be in the final stages of finishing a proposal for a memoir about being a single woman over 40 without children and…Self6 min read
Published in Human Parts·Jul 11, 2018Member-onlyThe Stories My Mother Gave MeGlynnis MacNicol on being single, childless, and suddenly motherless in her 40s — For someone who has always been bad at math, I have a weird fixation on numbers. Take my mother’s death. Officially my mother died on March 20. A Monday. This is the date on her death certificate and the date on her gravestone. This is also what the staff at…Family9 min read
Jan 29, 2015A Blizzard of PrivilegeSubway Closure Reveals Much About Cuomo and Media’s Understanding of City — As the snow settles from the Blizzard of 2015, that wasn’t (at least in New York, New England is another story) it’s becoming clear that Monday night’s historic shutdown of the New York City Subway system had less to do with public safety than Governor Andrew Cuomo’s power-hungry ego. There…Culture6 min read
Nov 19, 2014Where the Fuck Is Princess Leia?Help me, multi-gazillion dollar toy industry, you’re my only hope. — When I was growing up my childhood devotion was split between two women: Princess Leia and Laura Ingalls. At first glance these may seem like divergent idols: One a fictional, intergalactic princess, the other a real-life 19th century pioneer girl. But to my mind they were two sides of the…9 min read
Aug 12, 2014Why You Should Be Smoking Cigarettes at Your PTA MeetingAnd other jaw-dropping advertisements from New York Magazine’s Oct. 1969 issue — The other day I came across a 45-year-old issue of New York magazine. I quickly cracked it open and eagerly paged through expecting to find some journalistic gems. New York in 1969 was in the early golden days of its legendary Clay Felker era. Begun as an insert in the…4 min read
Jun 7, 2014Off to the Races: My Summer Job as the Only Teenage Girl at the RacetrackWalking hots, placing bets, and learning to drink like a ‘lady’ — In the annals of strange summer jobs held by teenage girls my high school stint as a “hot walker” at the racetrack from age 16-19 must rank near the top. It’s not unusual for girls to go through horse-crazy phases. …7 min read
Apr 1, 2014Willing to Be LuckyArriving in NYC before the Internet — In the last few years I’ve gotten in the habit of telling people I moved to New York before the Internet. That when I first arrived here in the late nineties, I was immediately advised by those in the know to linger in front of the Village Voice offices on…10 min read
