New Yorkers love to debate what makes someone a New Yorker. Is it how often you take the subway? Your sports team allegiances? How you eat a slice of pizza?<\/p>\n
Some believe that spending a decade in the city or having children here cements your status as a New Yorker.<\/p>\n
One of the most famous New Yorkers weighed in on Friday, reviving a heated debate. The actress Jennifer Lopez, who famously hails from the Bronx, said in an interview<\/a> that only one factor matters.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be born in New York to be a New Yorker,\u201d Ms. Lopez said sitting in a subway car, wearing a trench coat and baseball cap, for the popular video series \u201cSubway Takes.\u201d<\/p>\n The host, Kareem Rahma<\/a>, groaned before begrudgingly agreeing. He pressed Ms. Lopez, wondering if she would feel the same about someone who had lived in the city for 50 years, but was born somewhere else.<\/p>\n Ms. Lopez did not budge: \u201cI have to say no. You live in New York. You take on characteristics of New Yorkers probably by that time. You have a New York sensibility.\u201d<\/p>\n But she added: \u201cWhen you\u2019re born in New York is when you\u2019re really a New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n The video quickly went viral, and many New Yorkers agreed with Ms. Lopez on social media, including Kenneth Reyes<\/a>, a radio host known as Ken Starrrz, who said that you could also qualify by eating 500 bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches.<\/p>\n Julia Fox, an actress who grew up in New York City, endorsed her take: \u201cIf you haven\u2019t suffered through child hood here, you are NOT a New Yorker sorryyyy,\u201d Ms. Fox wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n Many others strongly objected, arguing that the city had long been a bastion for immigrants and there should be no litmus test. Aaron Carr, a housing activist who was born on Long Island and has lived in the city for almost 15 years, noted that nearly 40 percent of the city\u2019s residents are immigrants<\/a> and called her comments a \u201choly grail of idiotic takes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n With the New York Knicks in the N.B.A. finals, New York City is reveling in a moment of hometown pride. The city is also grappling with questions over whether native New Yorkers or newer residents should shape the city\u2019s future in political races.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda and moved to New York City as a child in 1999<\/a>. Many immigrants and younger New Yorkers helped him rise from anonymity<\/a> to win the mayor\u2019s race last year. Jalen Brunson, the Knicks star, is also not a native New Yorker. He was born in New Jersey.<\/p>\n Bill de Blasio, the former mayor who was born in New York City and grew up in Massachusetts, said in an interview that Ms. Lopez\u2019s comments were \u201cabsolutely outrageous\u201d and that New York was the \u201cultimate city of immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no purity test,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, it\u2019s been the opposite. We\u2019ve said, \u2018Come here and become one of us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. de Blasio, whose authenticity was questioned at times over eating pizza with a fork<\/a> and supporting the Boston Red Sox<\/a>, said that he identified as a New Yorker \u201cbecause of how long I\u2019ve lived here and because I raised my family here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis place gave me everything in life,\u201d he said. \u201cYour definition of home is the place that means the most to you. New York City has been my whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n The question of whether newer residents belong has repeatedly surfaced in New York City politics, especially as the cost of living has soared. When Eric Adams was running for mayor in 2020, he said that newer residents were \u201chijacking\u201d apartments from longtime residents and that they should \u201cgo back to Iowa<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n While campaigning for a competitive Congressional primary in Brooklyn<\/a> and Queens this month, Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, has focused on his roots as a lifelong New Yorker. His opponent, Claire Valdez, who is backed by Mr. Mamdani, grew up in Texas and moved to the city in 2015 to pursue a \u201ccareer in the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaun Abreu, a City Council member from northern Manhattan who was born in New York City, said that he had to agree with Ms. Lopez.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t have a right to love New York,\u201d he said, adding that people who had lived in the city for 15 years or more could have a separate title like \u201chonorary New Yorker.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Ms. Lopez, who is promoting a new film called \u201cOffice Romance,\u201d<\/a> may be an imperfect champion for New York City pride. Her 2002 song \u201cJenny from the Block\u201d<\/a> highlighted her upbringing in the Bronx, and her first album was named for the 6 train.<\/p>\n But she appears to live primarily in Los Angeles, where one of her children recently gradated from high school<\/a>.<\/p>\n