Personal Narrative: My Childhood In New York City

My childhood in New York City was very difficult for me. I grow up in a predominantly Hispanic Dominican decent neighborhood in the upper Manhattan area called Washington Heights. Washington Heights in the early 1990’s was the heart of the drug trade. At one point in the 1990’s it was considered one of the worst neighborhoods to raise a child. I remember in the news, the news anchor reported that New York City was recognized as the crime capital in the 1950's through the early 1990's. I remembered like it was today, living in a twelve’s level brick stumpy income housing development on 180 Street between Saint Nicolas avenue and Audubon avenue. The building where I lived was covered with gang graffiti, utmost of the sometimes our staircases reeked like urine. Our …show more content…
Consequently, I remembered surrendering to the peer pressure of my friends and my community, I was then involved in criminal and illegal activities. I recalled an event which occurred in the corner street of my hood, I let my excitement take over my mind during a fist fight and hit a guy numerous times with a wooden baseball bat. After the altercation that occurred in which I involve myself, I notice in me that this person was not what I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I knew that I had to make some changes. Most importantly I needed to make the changes for my younger brothers and since I was the older brother (father figure) I was the role model. Furthermore, I had a responsibility and that responsibility was to show my mother that was not like all my peers. I put my mother through hell and back, she never gave up on me. This strong woman did everything in her power to keep me of the streets grimy streets; she enrolled me in after school programs. She even got me involved in sports; I began playing basketball on a day-to-day basis, I became pretty good in