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New York City

city · in 124 videos (2007–2026)

The city where John lived as a writer when the channel began in 2007, before he and Sarah moved to Indianapolis. It recurs as the scene of milestones: Hank's 2008 deal to sell EcoGeek to Scientific American, film premieres, tour stops, and the 2018 launch of Hank's first novel at Town Hall.

Includes: Manhattan, Times Square

Videos by year: 2007: 27 · 2008: 10 · 2010: 5 · 2011: 6 · 2012: 3 · 2013: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2015: 11 · 2016: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2026: 9

Also known as: New York, NYC

Threads

Also named in the threads: John's wife Sarah as 'the Yeti' (2007) · John catalogues his home library (2007) · Hank challenges John to attend a Step It Up rally and show it on video (2007) · John and Hank: develop the Evil Baby Orphanage into a story (2007) · Looking for Alaska film adaptation in development (2007) · Brotherhood 2.0 scavenger hunt (2007) · John's 8/8/08 event in Chicago: library talk, Grant Park and The Bean (2008) · Hank and Maureen Johnson's unsanctioned Nerdfighter gathering at Barnes & Noble, Union Square, New York (2008) · John: how Looking for Alaska was written, revised and won the Printz Award (2006) · Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 edition · John asks Nerdfighters to submit cover designs for An Abundance of Katherines (2011) · An Abundance of Katherines fan cover contest (2011) · SciShow: launch of Hank's science channel (2011) · John points viewers to the doobly-doo for Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 tickets (2011) · John's six-year dream of owning a Chevy Volt comes true (2012) · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall (2013) · Paper Towns film: production and release (2014) · Hank in SciShow ads for YouTube's channel promotion (2014) · Tour Because Awesome 2015 edition: Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers' East Coast tour · The Financial Diet: YouTube show, one of Hank's newest video projects (2015) · John's European Paper Towns press trip with Nat Wolff, starting in Madrid (June 2015) · John: go to Wembley to watch AFC Wimbledon if they reach the play-off final (2016) · John's 36 hours from the Indianapolis 500 to Wembley and AFC Wimbledon's promotion party (May 2016) · Turtles All the Way Down: announcement and publication of John's novel (2017) · Turtles All the Way Down tour: John and Hank's US book tour (2017) · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: announcement and publication of Hank's first novel (2017) · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing book tour (2018) · John attends and speaks at the UN High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis (2023) · Hank's bit that the 2026 Project for Awesome is already in 2027, with every problem solved (2026) · Hollywood, Ending book tour (2026)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Chicago (city) (19) · Indianapolis (28) · Sarah Urist Green (30) · Los Angeles (12) · Looking for Alaska (novel) (13) · Hollywood, Ending (7) · The Fault in Our Stars (film) (8) · Paper Towns (11) · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (7) · London (5)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

Also named in: Brotherhood 2.0: February 13, 2007, Brotherhood 2.0: April 18th: Prom and Consequences, Brotherhood 2.0: April 30: Hellos from Los Angeles, Brotherhood 2.0: June 20: Moving

2008

  • 2008-08-05 · Everyone's Your Friend… — Hank reports he is in New York, in Times Square. — 00:00:00
    • Hank says this is the only New York video, since they are going to Chicago next, and he will see John in about three days. — 00:02:14
  • 2008-08-12 · Eight Days of Awesome — Hank: In New York City Hank met the editor-in-chief of Scientific American, who said he admires EcoGeek; Hank says it felt like being king of nerddom for a day. — 00:00:40
  • 2008-08-15 · Metric Sabbath — Hank says that around day twelve he is coming down: he spent a lot of time thinking and writing about Terminus and New York, and part of him is crashing and missing Terminus. — 00:01:36
  • 2008-09-04 · Paper Towns Tour Dates! — announcement: John announces an October 16 New York launch party for Paper Towns' release with Hank, their parents, the Yeti, Maureen Johnson and other authors; Julia Nunes is floated as a 'rumor'. — 00:01:12
  • 2008-09-23 · Paper Towns and Touring Question Tuesday — announcement: John says Julia Nunes will not be at the New York event but will be at the Boston event. — 00:02:10
  • 2008-10-09 · Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow — announcement: Hank says the brothers will be at the New York City launch event, viewers can RSVP on Facebook via papertowns.com, and he hopes to see many across the US through November. — 00:02:48
  • 2008-10-17 · Vital Status Report from NYC — Alex Day: Alex says that after finishing Paper Towns and seeing it would launch in New York, he asked Charlie to come and booked tickets leaving in about two and a half days. — 00:02:03
  • 2008-10-21 (said on 2008-10-20, implied) · Travel Tips, Delivered Hoarsely — John tells Hank he is awesome: the two days they just spent together in New York and Boston were the most awesome of his life. (playful) — 00:00:33
  • …and 2 statements more in 2008 — all statements of 2008

Also named in: Breakdancing in Missoula Montana

2010

  • 2010-01-11 · Ecosystem Services 101 with Hank — Hank says when New York City's water became undrinkable, restoring the Catskill watershed matched an $8 billion filtration plant at about a tenth of the cost. — 00:01:19
    • Hank says New York City has some of the best water of any American city, and the Catskill ecosystem keeps up although water use keeps growing quickly. — 00:01:48
  • 2010-03-10 · New Tour! New Book! (Remember Books?) Your Q's A'ed! — announcement: John will be in Indianapolis on March 15 talking about vlogging, then on tour in April in Chicago, Boulder, Austin, New York City, Madison (Connecticut), LA and San Francisco. — 00:00:29
  • 2010-04-12 · On the Separation of Conjoined Twins — John is in New York City, still on tour for Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and thanks the Nerdfighters who came out and those who gave him t-shirts. — 00:00:00
  • 2010-09-29 · MY FRIEND CHESTER — John says that three years ago he and Sarah (the Yeti) moved from New York City to Indianapolis, where more space meant buying a lot of furniture. — 00:00:43
  • …and 2 statements more in 2010 — all statements of 2010

2011

2012

  • 2012-06-05 · The Dangling Rope of Terror: It's Question Tuesday — announcement: John: Asked what happened to the An Abundance of Katherines cover contest, John says it is part of why he is going to New York: on Thursday (7 June 2012) he announces the winner and reveals the cover. — 00:00:31
    • From the 39th floor of his New York hotel John sees a rope dangling outside the window; not knowing if someone is on it, he is afraid for them and a bit for himself, and too nervous to approach the window. (playful) — 00:00:47
  • 2012-06-12 · Chris Colfer, John Green, Mob Wives, and Jeffrey Eugenides: Thoughts from Places Book Expo — John spent last week (week of 4 June 2012) in New York City at BookExpo America, which he calls essentially the VidCon of book publishing, and found it a celebrity fest. — 00:00:00
  • 2012-11-08 · VOLT! A Dream Comes True. — John: Living in New York, John and the Yeti had no car; after moving to Indianapolis in 2007 he inherited his parents' old car, whose windows don't roll down. — 00:00:00

2013

2014

  • 2014-03-18 · Is the American Dream Real? — John recalls that when he and Sarah moved to New York in 2005, a Craigslist mover told him that in New York anyone who can work, can work. — 00:00:01
  • 2014-04-29 · Influence, Airports, and the Nerdfighter Book Club — John says Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world, so he is going to New York for its party. — 00:00:04
  • 2014-06-06 · Thoughts from the TFiOS Premiere! — Hank flew in a tiny plane to New York City and lists weird and fancy things he found there. — 00:00:00
    • Hank says he came to New York for the TFiOS premiere, his first viewing of the film, and walked the red carpet with his wife; photographers published none of their pictures, but his mom took some. — 00:01:01
    • Hank finished Shades of Milk and Honey in New York and describes it as like Jane Austen with magic; the description calls it good. — 00:01:50
    • Hank kept seeing hidden systems on display in New York: a Uniqlo escalator with a side window showing its workings, and the Museum of Modern Art Design store. — 00:02:08
    • Hank admits feeling overwhelmed: afraid of missing opportunities, of not making sense to the New Yorker or the Wall Street Journal, and worried about all the external attention. — 00:02:56
  • 2014-10-17 · MY FACE ON A BUS — announcement: Hank reveals he was in LA for YouTube's channel promotion: he, Michael Aranda and Caitlin Hofmeister were shot for SciShow print and TV ads now in Chicago, LA, New York and on TV. — 00:00:58
  • …and 1 statement more in 2014 — all statements of 2014

Also named in: The Fault in Our Stars Movie Premiere

2015

2016

  • 2016-05-31 (said on 2016-05-29, implied) · The Most Amazing Day — John: Leaving the Indy 500 after 160 laps, John goes to the airport and flies via New York City to London, sleeping well on the plane. — 00:01:07
  • 2016-06-28 · New Iceland — John: The coalition would create New Iceland: great weather, Björk, a soccer team apparently better than England's, and only a two-hour flight from New York, Madrid or Marrakesh. (joke) — 00:02:16
  • 2016-07-05 · The Horizon Line — John: In 2007, living in New York, John called Dad to say Sarah had a job in Indianapolis; Dad said, 'You can't be serious.' — 00:01:33
    • John sailed from a birthplace he never knew to Orlando, Birmingham, Chicago and New York, and ended up back where he started. — 00:01:45
  • 2016-09-27 · Books, Movies, and Wonder: Thoughts from a Red Carpet — John says that yesterday he and Sarah flew to New York City and met up with their best friends Chris and Marina. — 00:00:01
    • John was in New York for the premiere of the film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. — 00:00:09
    • John loves walking in New York, where one is both alone and not alone in a way he finds deeply satisfying, even peaceful, and loves catching strangers' conversations. — 00:00:31
  • 2016-11-22 · On Not Seeing Hamilton — John says Sarah got him tickets to see Hamilton in New York City; both are huge fans who have played the cast recording hundreds of times, and they planned galleries and old haunts. — 00:00:05
  • …and 1 statement more in 2016 — all statements of 2016

2017

  • 2017-01-24 · On Motivation — John: Living in New York in 2007, John railed against 'sheeple' buying houses in the Midwest; now he owns a home in Indianapolis and quite likes it. — 00:01:50
  • 2017-03-07 · Hoping for an Airport Reunion: One Refugee Family's Story — John says a court ruled much of the executive order invalid, and days later Thet Thet and Saw Kyar Min flew to New York and then Indianapolis. — 00:03:23
  • 2017-05-16 · The Introducer, My Childhood Dream Job — recommendation: John names favourite documentaries missing from Netflix: the 7 Up series, Herb & Dorothy, Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter and Slavery by Another Name, each briefly described. — 00:01:33
  • 2017-07-18 · Accio Decade Hallows — John: Fourth: in January 2006, engaged and walking in New York with his parents to register for wedding presents, John got a call that Looking for Alaska had won the Printz Award; his dad photographed the moment. — 00:01:24
    • Fifth: in July 2007 John and Sarah had just moved from New York to Indianapolis for her job and bought a first house, exciting but scary, and John had no friends there. — 00:01:54
  • 2017-09-07 · I Love and Apologize to (Insert Location Here): Surprise Thursday Bonus Video! — announcement: John lists the tour's 19 stops in one take, from New York through the South, Midwest and Northwest to two San Francisco Bay Area shows and Los Angeles, including Hank's high school auditorium in Orlando. — 00:00:25
  • 2017-10-06 · The World's Largest Fruits — Hank will see John on Sunday, when he flies to New York City on the day of the European Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off. — 00:03:38
  • 2017-10-10 · Turtles All the Way Down!!! A Reunion Video — announcement: John: On Tuesday, October 10, 2017, from a New York City hotel floor, John announces Turtles All the Way Down is out in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries. — 00:00:00
    • John points readers to a New York Times story about his own mental illness and the writing of the book, and quotes Booklist's starred review calling it challenging but richly rewarding and his most mature work. — video description
    • Recording a later insert, John shares generous reviews: the Wall Street Journal called it tender, wise and hopeful, the New York Times wrenching and revelatory; Booklist and SLJ gave starred reviews. — 00:01:04

2018

  • 2018-02-20 · When Your Friend Runs for Governor — John says they stayed close through big changes: John met Sarah, moved to New York then Indianapolis and became a dad; Daniel married a historian, moved to the Chicago suburbs and had two kids. — 00:00:48
  • 2018-07-24 · Other John Greens — announcement: John says he will join Hank on tour in New York, Boston, North Canton (Ohio), Kansas City, Chicago and Indianapolis, and is excited for it. — 00:03:22
  • 2018-09-14 · Our Rivalry — announcement: Hank will see John in New York City for the book's release on September 25th and the start of their tour. — 00:02:52
    • The book tour starts September 25th in New York, then Boston, Canton, Chicago, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Bellingham. — 00:03:34
  • 2018-09-25 · You Did It! — announcement: John: Tonight they celebrate the book in New York City at the Town Hall, one of John's favorite places in the world, and then go on tour. — 00:00:00
    • John looks forward to seeing many viewers tonight at the New York launch and on the rest of the tour. — 00:02:55
  • 2018-09-28 · REUNION!!! Mountain Goats Aren't Goats — Hank: Asked what he would name a robot found in New York City at 3 a.m., Hank says Carl, an extremely metaphorically resonant name (John offers Benjamin). (playful) — 00:02:05
  • 2018-10-12 · Hank Reads from 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' — April May: With art-school loans, April settled on a design BFA and took the first job that kept her in New York, at a doomed startup, rather than move home to Northern California. (fiction) — 00:02:40
  • 2018-10-31 · The Looking for Alaska Thing — John says he and Sarah, dating almost a year, got engaged that summer on the day she learned she would attend graduate school in New York City; he had thanked 'the lovely Sarah Urist' in the book. — 00:00:20
    • John says it was unclear how they could afford two years in New York: the book was selling okay, but not quit-your-job okay. (playful) — 00:00:33
    • John says Hollywood suddenly took interest: in one day he was paid three times his annual salary for the movie rights, which let them move to New York and bought him time to write. — 00:01:10
  • …and 1 statement more in 2018 — all statements of 2018

2019

  • 2019-06-04 · On Sharing the Walk — John: In New York City for BookCon, John walked into a soccer bar, found a man alone in a Liverpool shirt, about a size L, told him of his premonition and gave him the jersey. — 00:01:22
  • 2019-06-25 · Seemed Like a Good Idea: Eugene Schieffelin and the European Starlings — John says Schieffelin was born in New York City in 1827, born rich and stayed rich, the seventh son of a famous family, working for his father's pharmaceutical company. — 00:00:00
    • John says Schieffelin, who loved birds, liked to import European bird species and introduce them into New York City. — 00:00:00
    • Schieffelin, in his own word, 'liberated' many other European birds into New York, including bullfinches, skylarks and nightingales, all of which died. — 00:00:29
  • 2019-12-17 · The Best Days of My Decade — John: On September 25, 2018, Hank's first novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing was published, and John got to support him at the launch at Town Hall in New York City. — 00:02:53
  • …and 1 statement more in 2019 — all statements of 2019

Also named in: In Defense of Bad Flags

2020

  • 2020-04-14 · books that help — recommendation: John recommends The Cholera Years, an analysis of the 19th-century cholera pandemics in New York City, a book almost 60 years old. — 00:01:30
  • 2020-12-31 · Auld Lang Syne: The Anthropocene Reviewed — John: Amy's book came out months before Looking for Alaska; then Sarah got into graduate school at Columbia and they moved to New York, and John and Amy kept in touch. — 00:12:20

2021

  • 2021-05-25 · The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated — John left Booklist and Chicago in 2005 when Sarah got into graduate school in New York; afterwards they moved to Indianapolis, where Sarah was contemporary art curator at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. — 00:07:31
  • 2021-06-01 · My Two Favorite Books of the Year — John: It is also about the present: through visits to sites from Monticello to a New York City slave-trade walking tour, Smith shows how profoundly the present is shaped by the past. — 00:00:29
  • …and 1 statement more in 2021 — all statements of 2021

2022

  • 2022-10-06 · The Pizzamas Magic Is Almost Over… — John recalls Maureen writing Suite Scarlett across the table while he wrote Paper Towns, at a New York City cupcake restaurant where they paid $2 for coffee and stayed six hours. — 00:03:17

2023

  • 2023-09-08 · Giraffes are Way More Complicated Than We Thought — Hank says giraffes range from just south of the Sahara to South Africa: New York and London are closer together, and John is closer to Brazil than West African giraffes are to South African ones. — 00:01:27
  • 2023-09-19 · So, um.... GOOD NEWS?!?!?! — announcement: John says that this week (week of 18 September 2023) he will be in New York to continue conversations about tuberculosis at the United Nations. — 00:04:25
  • 2023-09-28 · What the Heck is the UN? — Hank says the International Court of Justice, which he calls The Hague, is the only organ not headquartered in New York City; it sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. — 00:03:49
    • Hank says five of the six main organs are in New York City, but many UN bodies are based elsewhere. — 00:06:15
  • …and 1 statement more in 2023 — all statements of 2023

2024

  • 2024-08-02 · My Letter to the Future — Hank says America a hundred years ago seems bizarre: women had only just voted in their first presidential election, children often died of infectious disease, and getting from New York to Los Angeles in less than a week took luck. — 00:00:00
  • 2024-08-07 · Dear Hank and John Livestream! — John loves his friends, the White River and writing about Indianapolis, where he and Sarah can contribute to the culture as they never could in New York. — 00:32:44
  • 2024-09-03 · Which is Correct? — or – ? — John says en dashes are technically also used in other from-to phrases, such as a New York to London flight. — 00:02:26
    • John's example: with a hyphen, New York style pizza could suggest something new about York style pizza; an en dash shows it is a multi-word phrase. — 00:02:53
  • 2024-10-02 · What I learned from the weirdest day of my life — Hank: On one of the weirdest days of his life, in New York in 2008, just after his first Nerdfighter gathering and wearing a fan-made Nerdfighteria shirt under his suit, Hank made a deal to sell EcoGeek to Scientific American for money and a job. — 00:00:29
  • …and 1 statement more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2026

  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank: Speaking as Casey Kasem from 2027, Hank extends the 2027 bit: a squid attack destroyed New York City, humanity came together, and people gained the entire ocean. (joke) — 05:31:10
  • 2026-02-14 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! — announcement: John, who must go to New York on Friday (20 February 2026) on Complexly business, floats flying on to London to see an AFC Wimbledon game with Nerdfighters as a perk. — 00:26:17
  • 2026-07-14 · On the Road Again — announcement: John: Tour stops: New York City on release day, September 22 (tickets soon); Birmingham, Alabama, his high-school roots, on the 23rd; DC on the 24th; Winston-Salem on the 25th. — 00:02:09
  • 2026-07-21 · One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy — ask: The description tells New York City viewers that a nerdfighteria presale for the Brooklyn tour show starts Wednesday July 22 at 10 AM eastern, with the password dftba, and asks them to spread the word. — video description
  • 2026-07-28 · 'Are You John Green?' — John: The first time John was recognized for his work came before YouTube: a young woman on a New York City train asked if he was John Green, said she'd read Looking for Alaska, and got his autograph. — 00:01:27
    • John says he is often desperate to be perceived: he wants everyone in Birmingham, New York City and 17 other cities to see him on the Hollywood, Ending tour. — 00:02:58
  • 2026-08-18 · My Nemeses — announcement: John announces special guests on the Hollywood, Ending tour: Lily King in Portland, Maine, Sarah Urist Green in Birmingham, Clint Smith in DC, Suleika Jaouad in New York, Hank in San Diego, Sharon McMahon and Brandon Sanderson. — 00:01:56
  • 2026-09-22 · I Want You to Know Nothing About This — John: Yesterday John did a long press junket with his friend and publicist Elyse Marshall Pfeiffer, to whom the book is dedicated; now he is in a New York City hotel room. — 00:00:03
    • John says there have been many lovely reviews; The New York Times was kind, saying he writes with radiant empathy and devastatingly apt metaphors. — 00:00:32
  • 2026-09-30 · The Point of Life — John: A joy of John's tour was sharing a New York stage with his lifelong friend Daniel Alarcón, with whom he has talked about books since he was 14, 35 years on. — 00:01:05
  • 2026-10-27 · Should I Salinger… — John says J. D. Salinger published The Catcher in the Rye in 1951 while living in New York City, then in 1953, aged 34, retired to New Hampshire, stopped speaking to the media and eventually stopped publishing. — 00:00:12
  • …and 1 statement more in 2026 — all statements of 2026

Also named in other years (nothing said): This one's for your mom (2025-04-18)