My grandfather came from Puerto Rico to NYC at the age of 23 with his brother-in-law who was the foreman at a warehouse factory. His brother-in-law offered him a job working as a milk delivery person. He took the opportunity to make money for a better living. When the brother-in-law made it back to the factory, he found out that he was let go, and my grandfather was never given the job. After that moment, he read the Daily News classified section daily to look for work with no luck. That lasted for at least 2 weeks with no income. Eventually his sister-in-law kicked him out of the apartment. So my grandfather met up with his cousin who lived in Manhattan and asked him if he could live with him while he looked for work in the city. His cousin showed him the area and showed him all about the transit and how to commute to and from places. Ultimately my grandfather found work as a doorman at an apartment building in Chelsea. He also found work as a fabric cutter in the warehouse. From then on he never really had a stable job working from superintendent to a truck driver. My grandfather from a young age knew that if he wanted to better his life he needed to take risks. Opportunities are not guaranteed and don't come by that often.  

– Joshua Cespedes

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant