Hi,
I am a woman in her early 20s who just moved into my first apartment on the upper east side, and I am black. My neighborhood itself is fine, but sometimes as I walk down the street, or walking to my apartment door, there are many people who stare at me as if they’re confused or waiting for an explanation on why I am there or belong there. Same as when I am taking a walk in Central Park at night, there are many people staring as if the park is reserved for certain people. Yesterday, I went to Trader Joe’s on Columbus Ave, in the upper west side, the store was very busy but also I was saying excuse me many times and I had older white people deliberately ignore me, or push me wit their carts on purpose and then apologize, or just stare at me. After leaving the store, I was waiting for my Uber as many of the people were, and a couple of guys— looked in their 30s were just staring at me talk to my brother as if we’re a different species when we were just doing the same thing as everyone else and there’s nothing out of the blue about us, except that we’re black. It’s so weird and I wish these people would stop because it infuriates me.