Editor's Note: This is the second in an occasional series chronicling the lives of Dartmouth alumni as they make it on their own.
One reporter's terrible experiences in New York -- ranging from a stolen wallet to lost paychecks to run-ins with a nasty landlord -- sent her searching for an answer to the question: "What is so great about New York?" To this end, The Dartmouth interviewed two dedicated New Yorkers who also happen to be Dartmouth alumni. One is a Midwesterner who moved to Manhattan after graduation two years ago; the other, a native New Yorker approaching his 50-year class reunion. Here are their stories.
Small Fish, Big Pond
Bayard Russell '01 grew up in suburban Indiana. Before moving to New York shortly after his graduation two years ago, he had not spent any significant length of time in the city. During his Dartmouth years, he made a handful of short trips to New York, but that was enough to show him where he wanted to be.
"I had a pretty good feel for at least what I thought the night life was like," he said, frequently mentioning his desire to be a part of the "urban jungle."
Just weeks after graduation, Russell came to New York without a job. He moved in with an aunt while beginning his search for employment.
"The best is to have someone's couch you can crash on until you get a job and an apartment," he said. "The peculiar thing about [companies in] New York is that they tend to want to hire people already living in New York."
It took him about a month to find a job, but he said that it often takes longer. Russell succeeded in his search by perusing the classified section of the Village Voice.
"Basically, I got desperate and applied for a receptionist job," he said. "They said, 'You're overqualified. Come be our publicist.'"
However, with an entry-level position at a classical music company, Russell could barely afford to live in New York. For nearly two years, he lived in the common room of a two-bedroom apartment. Although he still holds the same position at the same company, a raise has just recently made it possible for him to move into a larger apartment where he has his own room.
"It was pretty tough in the beginning. I was eating ramen almost every lunch," Russell said.
However, he said his experiences have made him stronger.
"I think it toughened me up. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere," Russell said. "Rents are high but salaries not necessarily so. You either learn how to budget or go into massive debt and have to leave."
When asked what he found in New York that he couldn't get at Dartmouth, Russell replied: "Coming from the Dartmouth perspective, it's hard to say New York is better. One, you have to pay for your beer. Two, you can't just walk into a party. You have to know people. Three, your parents aren't paying your rent. Four, you don't have a meal plan."
Furthermore, he cited "lack of pervasive BlitzMail access" as a drawback of urban life, noting that there are very few internet cafes in Manhattan.
Still, from Russell's perspective, the pros far outweigh the cons.
"I think you just have to want that urban grittiness. You have to like the tall skyscrapers and tons of people around you and tons of bars and nightclubs and music venues," he said. "In the beginning, you're surrounded by culture, but you can't afford any of it. It's frustrating. But it gets better."
"One of the great things about New York City is that you can find everything here," he continued. "You just have to find it, and you have to be persistent about finding it. That's the main thing about surviving in New York. You have to be persistent."
Returning Home
Bud Konheim '57 is a lifelong New Yorker who grew up just outside the city. During his sophomore year at Dartmouth he spent nine months working on Wall Street. Immediately after graduation, he returned to Manhattan and took an apartment on the Upper East Side.
Rent for the studio was $41.75 per month, and since Konheim made $75 per week working for his family's apparel business, he got by just fine.
"I was happy as a bird, and I dreamed of someday making $15,000 a year," he said.
Konheim is now the CEO of Nicole Miller, a New York-based fashion house that pulls in tens of millions of dollars per year.
Moreover, he loves his job. He first worked in the apparel industry while a student at Dartmouth, when he traveled around New England representing the family business.
"I have now been doing this job since 1955. In almost 50 years, I've never had a dull day," Konheim said. "People ask me, 'When are you going to retire?' I'm going to retire when Campbell's Funeral Home calls me."
For him, New York is an integral part of his experience in the apparel industry.
"The apparel business and New York and what's exciting about New York are wrapped up together," he said. "It's about a real intellectual life."
Konheim's youthful intellect was nurtured among the pines and granite of New Hampshire, first at Phillips Exeter Academy and later at Dartmouth. While he loved being surrounded by "the rocks and the trees" at Dartmouth and still describes visits to the country as a nice break from city life, Konheim has found what he needs in New York.
"I was really very taken by Thoreau's Walden," he explained. "For about 30 or 40 years, I kept thinking about how to live the idyllic and simple life, living with the bare essentials. Then I realized the essentials to [Thoreau] maybe were feeding his body and looking at birds, but what's essential for me is stimulation. Mental stimulation ... the real excitement in my life is between my ears."
Indeed, for Konheim, New York teems with stimuli.
"You cannot go one block in this city without stimulation. You're assaulted at all levels, sights, sounds, smells," he said. "There's a variety of every kind of thought, every kind of visual, every kind of speech pattern, every kind of concept."
Although in many ways Hanover and New York are very different, Konheim was drawn to Dartmouth for its similar qualities.
"Dartmouth was a stimulating place," he said. "It was as intellectual as you could get north of the Massachusetts border."
He noted, however, that no place is as stimulating as New York.
"Even now, sometimes when I visit someplace else -- beautiful places, foreign cities -- I get turned on. But the fact is, if you really understand New York, you know that any part can be duplicated anywhere, but I've never been anyplace [else] where you can find the entire package," he said. "There's a real fulfillment here you don't get anyplace else. If you say 'I want to do blank,' you can do blank. Whatever it is, you can do it here."
