Despite the muggings, I happen to like New York.

At the moment, I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment in Spanish Harlem. It's a nice place: hardwood floors, lots of light, a big kitchen. The neighborhood is a little iffy. Nothing bad has ever happened to me, but my boyfriend, who is Mexican, was mugged at knifepoint by six black guys a few months ago. It happened a block away from our house at 7 p.m., and although the streets were filled with people, no one helped him.

I think part of the problem is that he doesn't look stereotypically Mexican, so non-Latinos mistake him for a rich white kid. Mexicans know he looks like most chilangos.