Photo: Getty Images
Age: 28
Occupation: Writer, director, and star of Broadway's In the Heights.
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Christopher Rios, a.k.a. Big Punisher.
What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
Three-way tie. Blue Hill, on Washington Place, the night before we started previews Off Broadway. Per Se, the night before the Tony nominations were announced. And the mangu at El Nuevo Caridad is unstoppable, whenever I can get it.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I make up songs and play pretend.
Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
I’ve lived here on much less. Once you grow up in New York, everywhere else feels like summer camp. I’m a lifer.
What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Curtains. I adored it.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Depends entirely on the panhandler. I give to mariachi guys, break-dancers, and the blue UHO buckets, religiously.
What's your drink?
Rum and Coke.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
As often as my girlfriend decides to stay at her place, instead of mine. That’s a lie. I eat at the diner up the street when she’s gone.
What's your favorite medication?
Classic Tylenol.
What's hanging above your sofa?
A sense of guilt and malaise.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
If it requires a payment plan, you’re spending too much.
When's bedtime?
After The Daily Show.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
The new Times Square has my Broadway show in it. So, that one.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I don’t. Why, what have you heard?
What do you hate most about living in New York?
The loneliness of waiting for a local A train late at night, seeing the approaching light down the tunnel, and being greeted instead with the yellow garbage train.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Time.
When's the last time you drove a car?
In Puerto Rico, back in March.
Who should be the next president?
Barack Obama.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
Times.
Where do you go to be alone?
I got a spot near the Cloisters, a spot in J. Hood Wright Park, and various spots all over the five boroughs. It’s easy to be alone in New York if you know where to go.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
The distinct twin sensations of dread and hope in your stomach, mingled together every morning with your coffee.
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