Making Their Way

For Tasnim Huque, the past few months have been full of surprises. Her Muslim parents, who immigrated to New York City from India’s sprawling eastern city of Calcutta in the late 1980s, are gradually allowing the 18-year-old to show some independence. While there’s little inhibiting most seniors at Hunter Science High School in Manhattan from attending the prom— except, perhaps, the cost of limos, gowns and tuxes— Huque was certain that she’d be missing it for a different reason: her 6 p.m. curfew. But her parents recently told her that she could, in fact, attend.“They even bought me a nice Westernized dress,” she says excitedly. And that’s not all she’s excited about.

Hey New York! We're Number … 49?

Start spreading the news: Auckland is one of 48 cities around the world (five of them in the United States) with a higher “quality of life” than New York. Photo by: Joerg Mueller

A worldwide ranking of cities for quality of life suggests that New York is not even the second best locale on the East Coast. By: Jarrett Murphy

New York’s ego has suffered a few bruises in recent years. Failing in its bid for the 2012 Olympics. Watching both its former mayor and junior U.S. senator strike out in the 2008 presidential race.