- Jason Eddy, who's an actor, moved from London to New York with his husband in late 2019.
- The city went into lockdown weeks later and made him confront his experience of being there during 9/11.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jason Eddy about his experiences of relocating from London to New York. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I moved from London to New York with my husband in 2019.
I'm a professional actor, but my husband is an engineer for Google. He'd never lived outside the UK before, but when they asked him if he would like to transfer to the US I knew this was an opportunity we had to take.
I was born and raised in Bermuda, finished school in Canada, trained as an actor in New York, then lived in London for 18 years. I knew how much living somewhere different expands your mind and teaches you so much about yourself and humanity as a whole.
That said, New York and I have a complicated relationship.
A strange and traumatic relationship
I absolutely love it, but the city and I have trauma bonded together.
I first lived in New York an 18-year-old trainee actor in 2000. It was fascinating and fun bopping around the city, doing all the clichéd things you'd want to do having grown up consuming American films.
But then 9/11 happened. It was a pivotal moment. A devastating, traumatic, life-changing event.
I hadn't been back since then. And then when we moved at the end of 2019 the first thing that happened shortly after was Covid.
I returned to the city only to have another apocalyptic-like event happen. There was that mass exodus. Times Square emptied and the streets were deserted.
It triggered and brought up a lot of things from the past that I had to work through. But I've learnt that the way New Yorkers respond to a tragedy is special.
New York's spirit is indomitable
There's a toughness about New York. But despite the trope that they're mean and rude, the city is actually very community-minded. It bands together and that's how they get through things.
The same thing that happened during 9/11, happened again during Covid. You saw the city galvanize and take care of each other and figure out how to get through it and how to get back on its feet.
I've also been struck by New York's refreshing lack of cynicism. The whole city has got this attitude that says "show me what you've got."
That's especially true as a creative – things seem more open than in the UK. I've quickly managed to get into rooms or get auditions that I wouldn't have thought possible back in London. And, at first, I noticed an inherent Britishness in me that said, "no, I couldn't do that."
New York has taught me to say "why not?"
I now walk down the street and feel like a New Yorker. It's incredible to feel like you belong.
New Yorkers aren't rude – they're just in a hurry
They want to know what you want quickly so they can address it and move on. Whenever I leave and come back, it's almost like jumping into a raging river.
Everybody is going, going, going, going, always working. It's relentless. When we were looking for an apartment, we'd send an email to the broker at 10 p.m. and he'd reply at 2 a.m. We just thought "why is he working at 2 a.m.?"
I think the reason New York has the energy it does is because it's a place that people come to make it. So whatever industry you're in, you are coming to do well. There's a drive and an ambition to the people that live here that shapes the whole city.
That energy is exciting and exhausting, but you kind of get used to it.
One of the great things that New York's taught me is to live in the moment.
I still have concerns about living here
We may share the same language, but living here's shown me there are so many differences in the way people approach things.
One of the challenges of moving to any country is that you have to contend with whatever the prevailing winds of politics are. We moved towards the end of Trump's presidency and the political climate we were getting ourselves into was a big concern.
Americans are not afraid to be political – they're very happy to let it all out when it comes to their political opinions.
Watching how the country reacted to Covid and George Floyd's death, especially as a person of color, was unsettling.
We don't know what direction the country will head at the next election and what we'll do if Trump wins in 2024. Those are conversations we're having.
One of the biggest struggles for me is the healthcare system. There are a lot of people who disagree with it and wish it could be different, but there is also this sense that it's just how things are done here.
As much as we like to complain about the NHS in Britain, the fact is that if you get sick you can get better.
Here, I've heard of people starting a GoFundMe page when someone in their family has cancer or if they have an accident. These are contemporaries of mine who are working but can't pay their hospital bills. And just think about what that's like if you are living below the poverty line.
I've learnt that there are things you shouldn't take for granted in the UK.