Jessica Shyba’s City Snapshots

Waiting for the 6 train below the American Museum of Natural History; photo by Ali Smith Photography

To view the full photo essay as a slideshow, click here.

Editor’s Note: The popular blog Momma’s Gone Cityoriginally attracted me because I appreciated how its founder, Jessica Shyba, shared a full palette of emotions and thoughts as she recorded what it was like to be a new mom in a city where she never actually expected to live. In the course of Shyba’s four years in New York, I’ve come to appreciate something else about her blog as well: her photography. For me, photos of her three young children, in their apartment or out and about in the city, are a special testament to the vast and complicated potential of an NYC childhood. When I heard Shyba’s family would soon be returning from whence they came (to that other coast), I knew I wanted to share her work with our readers as a chance for us all to see the city anew. Thankfully, she agreed. Photo after photo, her blog has brimmed with visual wonder, capturing the magical small moments of being a child and a family in our big city. –Eric Messinger, Editor: [email protected]

Four years ago, my husband and I uprooted our family and moved on a moment’s notice to Manhattan. I had been comfortable living safely tucked away in the suburban Silicon Valley town that my husband and I grew up in, raising our kids the way we were raised.

There is nothing like a New York City bagel. Even a toddler knows that.

To me, New York City represented a lifestyle that was perfect for the Wall Street suits and twenty-somethings with big dreams and packed wallets—complete with constant noise, chaos, and pollution. The concrete jungle was the absolute antithesis of where I wanted to be with my babies.

My oldest was 2, my youngest was 10 months old, and my husband was embarking on his dream of earning a doctorate in dental science at New York University. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling I had when I saw the Manhattan skyline for the first time as we drove in from the airport. I was flooded with hope, excitement, fear, and endless possibility—everything that I still attribute to living here, every single day.

The city was so intimidating at first glance, yet I still felt peace in knowing it would become my family’s biggest adventure, a classroom for learning about the wider world. Our challenges were steep, but new and interesting. We gave up the relative safety, accessibility, and trunk space of our vehicles in California. Our feet were black by the end of the day and the stroller was almost always packed with groceries, diaper bags, portable potties, and scooters. We learned to navigate the metropolis by subway, buses, and occasionally the horrifyingly car-seat-less taxi cabs. With my husband at school and my mother on the other side of the country, I was left to my own devices—which I didn’t know I had until I needed to unearth them.

Our favorite summer weekend activity: Poet’s Walk, Central Park.

I began to write about our life so that our extended family could see our transformation. My blog, Momma’s Gone City, ended up blossoming into a business that has effectively changed my life forever. But my children have the greatest takeaway from NYC life. Jack is now 6, Zoe is 4, and our newest addition, Beau, is 18 months old, and they’ve been fortunate to grow up around so many different races and nationalities. Their friends speak various languages and bring to school the culture that they practice and celebrate at home. My two sons and daughter have been to Broadway shows and toured the inside of a New York City Fire Department station. Their weekends are spent in some of this country’s greatest institutions: The New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History. Their summers often include soccer on the Great Lawn in Central Park.

But our four-year stint in Manhattan has come to a close, and now I’m facing a brand new challenge of having found a place that I dearly love—and having to leave.

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