New York is a city full of excitement and wonder. From the eclectic personalities to the pulse of the nightlife, it truly embodies being the concrete jungle. Though most celebrities choose Los Angeles as their homebase, there are quite a few that opt for the fast-paced city of New York. From New York natives to artists who found their way to the city over time, here are some Black female celebrities who choose to call the Big Apple home.
Zoe Kravitz
Though she also owns property in Pound Ridge, Zoe Kravitz is mainly a Williamsburg resident. She’s been frequently spotted exploring the hipster area on foot, from grocery shopping to exploring art galleries. New York is where her start in the industry grew roots, attending the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Purchase College, NY. In New York, Kravitz told Elle, “I found my people, whom I’m still good friends with. We would hang out in Central Park and smoke weed and they would play acoustic guitar. It was an art community.”
Solange
Though songstress Solange called many different pockets of New York home, she’s found the most comfort in a more remote suburb. A village located primarily in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, Nyack is slow, green, and absolutely beautiful. “I moved to a little town called Nyack, and now that I’m there I like never want to leave,” said the Grammy-winning artist once shared during a NYFW show. Though she’s previously called Houston, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana home, New York is where Solange’s heart is.
Whoopi Goldberg
EGOT winner and host of “The View” Whoopi Goldberg is a longtime resident of NYC. Her Soho residence is chic and luxurious, with tons of natural light overlooking the expensive borough. It’s the perfect city for the theater enthusiast, currently set to play Miss Hannigan in Annie for the musical’s upcoming New York City dates.
She’s openly spoken about New York’s influence on her, penning in an essay with Time Out Magazine, “Just from growing up in New York City, I had been everywhere before I’d ever actually gone anywhere. I grew up in the Chelsea Projects, 288 Tenth Avenue at Twenty-Sixth Street. A lot of kids there were first-generation Americans with immigrant parents who were still speaking Yiddish or Chinese or Spanish or Portuguese or Russian, or just name a language and they were speaking it.”
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys is a Hell’s Kitchen native. Her name is closely associated with NY, singing about the city alongside Jay-Z on “Empire State of Mind.” Though she and husband Swizz Beats purchased an impressive Los Angeles estate, the NY native still calls the city home secondarily. It’s important to the R&B songstress that her kids have a relationship with the streets she grew up on.
Speaking to why the city is such a landmark, Keys shared with PBS, “I think the diversity is so incredible. Different religious backgrounds and cultures that people come from and foods and smells and styles of dress. It’s like everyone is from everywhere and that’s something that is a bit of a struggle for the country in a lot of ways. That provided me with a lot of open-mindedness as an artist and as a musician and as a writer.”
Mariah Carey
As if her New York accent doesn’t give it away, Queen of Christmas and R&B legend Mariah Carey was born in Huntington, Long Island. She soon moved to the city to pursue her iconic career and fell in love with its bustle. She now resides in a luxurious Tribeca penthouse, complete with limestone flooring, a home theater, and of course, a never-ending closet. Carey purchased the home in 1999 and spent years making it authentically hers ever since. She honors her home city by always making sure to host her residencies and annual Christmas shows there.