Figuratively and literally, New York City has it all. Talk shows, Fashion Week, movie screenings, The MET Gala, anything else you could possibly imagine, is here. But, NYC has changed immensely from being the classic place where romantic comedies were filmed and where everyone wants to spend their Christmas. In recent years, especially with the rise of TikTok and influencers sprouting from left and right, the city has changed drastically and pivoted into Los Angeles part two.

Normally, influencers would be sprawled all across Los Angeles living in houses together, creating YouTube videos and doing dangerous pranks for larger viewership in an effort to gain fame. But times have changed and many don’t want to be surrounded by that kind of life anymore. That particular way of living has become impractical for some, but it’s also leading towards the corny route. 

Internet personality and major influencer Emma Chamberlain experienced this first hand when her audience noticed that even though she is LA based, she began spending more time in NYC and fell in love with it. Her reason for exploring out East is most likely because Los Angeles has an air of toxicity rooted in its modern culture, especially with the rising influencers trying to be like everyone else. LA isn’t for everyone, of course, it’s where people want to start out, but now that’s changed. There’s no specific reason for this happening since things naturally come and go. 

The upside to living in the Big Apple comes down to one thing: its reputation for vast opportunities. In the past, movies, shows and music has been created here and the need to be a part of that is at an all-time high. The opportunities are physically endless here if one puts their mind to it. Putting your effort, money and time into becoming something pays off pretty easily here, and this seems to be why influencers are ‘migrating’ over to NYC rather than LA. 

Being in a city like LA, there is room for influencers to be “fake” or have ulterior motives that would be discouraged if it was not also for their wealth, though, the same ideology follows in NYC. The younger generation who move here because they want to become something costs money that not everyone has. Dimes Square (located in the Lower East Side) is a popular place where mainly young influencers reside, and the location seems to become more popular by the second. Dimes Square offers a lot and is home to different bars and restaurants that are too expensive for some people’s liking.

Dimes Square is only a section of the city that is commonly populated by influencers. There are a plethora of them across the entire island of Manhattan and now even into Brooklyn. This migration is a phenomenon of sorts that hasn’t been completely identified, with new influencers gaining traction on TikTok for an outfit check posted right on the city’s sidewalk, with viewers devouring the content. Whether it’s because their ‘fit check is scroll-stopping or it’s just because they’re in NYC is up to the viewer’s discretion.

These influencers work hard to make a name for themselves and insert their lives into mainstream celebrity culture, dreaming to associate with public figures like Bella Hadid or Kendall Jenner. NYC is where these icons mainly occupy, especially when you get the timing right, and there are numerous connections that influencers can make here that still tie back to LA, but make networking a lot easier. 

Influencers won’t ever stop moving from place to place regardless of the public’s liking or disdain. They take over the locations where they reside by storm no matter if they’re in NYC, LA or even in Paris. Influencers have a certain knack for creating and keeping up with trends to make it somewhere in their life. However, trends inevitably die out as they get oversaturated, which means NYC will slowly lose its influencer-oriented reign soon. What comes after NYC is for the future to know, and for us to find out.