In December of 2014, my family and I flew to New-York for the first time. I did not know what to expect. When we arrived and drove through the city, I had mixed feelings of excitement and, believe it or not, disgust. I am not sure which neighborhoods we passed on the way to the hotel, but I don’t think I had ever seen garbage lying around on the sidewalks in such quantities. Some of the houses we drove by seemed abandoned, condemned or scheduled for demolition, but then I saw people go in and out suggesting they occupy those buildings. The downtown seemed confusing. We ended up walking around in circles unable to locate places we wanted to visit. I remember laughing hysterically. I was sure we would never be able to get anywhere but Central Park. Eventually, we visited the Rockefeller Center, saw the big Christmas tree and people skating. We had breakfast we could barely afford and then had some fantastic but expensive coffee at some coffee shop. I think New-York is different from other American cities. You have to know it to love it, I guess. It possesses unusual (to me) energy and character, which I have attempted to reflect in the photographs of the New-York 2014 category.