INTRODUCTION

I'm Not a Good Person, I'm A New Yorker is my raw, unflinching love letter to the underbelly of New York City. It pulses with the rhythms of survival and the defiant beauty of a place that creates and destroys in equal measure. This isn’t just a collection of poetry—it’s a memoir etched in scars, chronicling the spiritual, mental, and physical battles of growing up in a city that shaped me, broke me, and rebuilt me.

New York is the world’s greatest city, despite its relentless efforts to prove otherwise. It’s capitalism’s Garden of Eden, rooted in historical savagery and sanctified by the endless hopes and dreams of its inhabitants. Here, we walk forward with our eyes locked on the future, hearts on our sleeves, daring adversity to stop us.

And yet, through it all, New York is alive with kindness and practicality.  We native New Yorkers like to believe we are the heart of the world, the bridge between chaos and community. We’ll stop to help you find directions even when we don’t care about you. We’ll step over your dead body—even when we do.

Every poem in this book is a story in a wound or a revelation in a smile.

Cement Dusk— captures New York as it breathes in steel and exhales neon, grinding its people down even as it raises them skyward.

Sheetrock Lullaby— explores the systemic noose tightening around the dreams of the disenfranchised.

Love Of Broken Glass— reflects on love’s sharp edges in a city that never stops moving.

What I Actually Like About This Place— is a confession of an undeniable love for a city that takes so much but gives back something irreplaceable—identity, resilience, and poetry.

I'm Not a Good Person; I'm A New Yorker is a poetic mixtape of a Metropolis’ native son. It’s a love letter and a scream, paradise and prison, my life, my city, and my truth all in the same breath.