This is New York

There are some things that money can buy and some things that it can’t, and then there’s the thrill of being able to deliver both.

When Wellington Z. Chen was young he migrated from country to country with his family, always an outsider, always starting over from square one.

NEW YORK—Alex Nsengimana’s mother died from HIV/AIDS when he was 4. For the next two years, his grandmother and his uncle were his world. They lived on a farm in Butamwa village, Rwanda, where they grew avocados, bananas, and sweet potatoes. He watched his grandmother plant their food and run their house.

For 23 hours a day, and for more than 300 days, there was nothing. There was nothing except the screams from nearby cells. The screams that drove the teenaged Ismael Nazario to wail, and press himself against the solid door of a 6-foot-by-8-foot room where he was held in solitary confinement.

The Brooklyn Brewery has an interesting connection to the Middle East. A hieroglyphic mural outside the brewery states: “Beer has dispelled the illness which was in me.”

Amid the challenges of dealing with school bus strikes and teacher evaluations, Dennis Walcott, NYC schools chancellor, knows how to remain calm and keep things in perspective.

Retiring NY District Director for USCIS Andrea Quarantillo speaks of difficult times on the job after 9/11, and the importance of helping immigrants gain citizenship.

The elevator door opened to a metal gate, which was bombarded by a horde of yelping dogs. Anne-Marie opened it as she chatted to the animals, “Why, hello my silly children.”

Muhammad attributes a large part of his success to the events and literature he was exposed to as a child.

“I really learned discipline and time management from competitive figure skating,” Lappin said.

At 80 feet below the Atlantic ocean, diver Gene Ritter realized he was running out of air. He didn’t panic, knowing he had his emergency tank. But as he was trying to get out of the Lizzie D shipwreck, it got stuck.

Pete Pin spent the first years of his life in a Cambodian refugee camp. As an infant, Pin and his parents emigrated to Long Beach, Calif., like many survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

For two years, there was no such thing as a weekend for council member Ydanis Rodriguez.

Imagine only having to work four months out of the year by throwing wild parties for thousands, and spending the rest of your time traveling the world.

Vance Hinton wore a polished suit and tie while sitting outside of the Citicorp atrium, blending in with sharp businessmen chatting nearby. At second glance . . .

Jon Forrest Dohlin had one final assignment to complete before hitting the real world as an architect: design a new exhibit at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium.

If you run into a man holding a jar of parasitic worms in Washington Square Park asking for a donation, don’t be alarmed. It’s just Aaron Jackson.

In recent animated movies such as “Tangled” and “Brave,” movements such as how a character’s dress creases as she walks are becoming increasingly similar to the movement of clothes on real, live humans.