During one of my many Instagram and social media scrolls, while at work, I came across a post where one of my childhood friends was tagged in, giving a brief synopsis of her backstory and perspective on life and the world.

While I was familiar with some of the information given, I was impressed and intrigued by how the poster presented her. It was then that my curiosity got the best of me, and I began to look through the profile of Fiftytoo.STR.

I had never seen them before, and as I was scrolling through their page to become more familiar with them, I grew fascinated by how they presented the “strangers” they interviewed. It was as if, regardless of who they were, where they came from, and their occupation, that all fell into the background, as their authentic self was on display.

None of that other stuff mattered. While I looked into whom the owners of this profile were, trying to discover more about their backstory and how this venture came about. While looking through all the other people they had coffee with, enjoying learning something new about them. The story about Osvaldo blew me away.

It wasn’t because he was rich, famous, extraordinarily wealthy, or well-known. He was homeless. I took that post to heart because while I have often griped about the big homelessness problem in NYC, this was one of the very few occasions that I have seen a member of the homeless population treated like a human being.

I hadn’t noticed, at first, that he was in this unfortunate predicament until the end of the post. Where it was casually mentioned as he became homeless due to peculiar circumstances. It was as if that was only one aspect of him; he was so much more than that. I then decided to reach out. For an ordinary stranger to see this man’s humanity and preserve his dignity, they had my respect.

So I slid into their DM’s (respectfully), told them I was touched by what they were doing, and asked to meet for coffee. They responded, and we set up an appointment to meet. The following week, I made my way to Bluestone Lane coffee shop in Chelsea Piers to meet the person behind the profile.

Upon entering the shop, I was greeted by a man with a big smile, and we sat down and started conversing. I learned that the coffee shop was an Australian chain (where he was from), and he and his wife came to the States to visit for a year and stopped in NYC, as they were always enamored with the big apple.

We discussed the wonder of NYC and how even those who leave the city always miss it. It was then I realized that, while growing up and living in NYC had its ups and downs, you always appreciate what you learned there and tend to look for a piece of it everywhere you go.

We traded stories about our backgrounds, how we knew my childhood friend, and what inspired him to start this project. He went on to tell me that he was born in the town of Alice Springs (in the outback countryside of Australia) and grew up in the city of Brisbane.

Wanting to travel, explore and have some adventures before settling down to have kids with his wife, they decided to come to NYC. They were able to take advantage of the job market that afforded them the chance to relocate for a year.

While making memories here, he mentioned how he conversed with other Australians, who recommended the idea of visiting NYC, and some of the ones he met here, initially relocated for a year; ended up staying longer and living abroad.

When he arrived, he loved it—noticed that the city was both amazing and unsafe. A little dirty but elegant. He witnessed lots of mental health issues and unrestrained possibilities. It was the best and worst of humanity, on display, in one place.

As a native New Yorker, that was the first time I learned what kind of impression my city made on others; who were curious about what makes the big apple so great. When asked whether he was going to expand on this project and add to his conversations with the people he met over coffee.

At the same time, he considered making this a full-time endeavor. He also thought about passing this on to someone else to continue after a year.

He started this activity as a creative outlet because NYC was the perfect place to meet interesting people, showcase his photography, and learn more about people’s stories while bringing love to them.

Instead of walking past someone wondering what their story is and not having the chance to talk to them further, he set up a platform that allows everyone willing to have coffee with him, to express themselves and get their message and philosophy out there.

So if you’re ever in the Chelsea neighborhood and would like to showcase the beauty of NYC by sharing your story and philosophy with the world, reach out to FiftyToo.STR and show the world what New York City is about.