(Editor's note: An open letter from OnMilwaukee.com sports columnist Dave Begel to Trenni Kusnierek, who is leaving her sideline reporting job at Fox Sports Wisconsin for a position with MLB Network, which is based out of Seacaucus, N.J. Provided she can find decent housing, Kusnierek plans to live in Manhattan).

Dear Trenni,

I'm writing both to congratulate you on your dream coming true, and to provide, I hope, a couple of words of wisdom about your new home.

A number of years ago, I was a consultant to urban school systems around the country. One day, I got a telephone call from the just-named Chancellor of the New York Public Schools. He wanted me to come in and head his transition team. I went and stayed 11 months. I learned some things about myself, and about New York.

First of all, New York is a tough, tough city. My first act was to tell reporters they couldn't all go into a classroom, the very first stop for the chancellor. I said they could pool the video. You would have thought I had told them that they would have to give up their first-born children. In the middle of a school setting, the profanity and squeals raised incredible hackles. New York loves tough. Oh, they really like fine art and music and restaurants. But, they really love tough.

New Yorkers ask no quarter and they give no quarter. Make a mistake in public (or in private, if you are a public person) and New York will jump on you with both feet and stamp you into the ground.

New York is also a scheme. Everybody is working an angle, scheming how to be the next big thing or get some extra cash or get a little more fame. New Yorkers will lie to your face and smile all the time they are doing it.

Having said that, New Yorkers can be the friendliest people in the world. The guy you buy your morning bagel from or the lady who sells you the newspaper are always willing and anxious to talk, find out about you and help if you need it. I had more people buy me a cup of coffee in New York in 11 months than in my whole life in Milwaukee.

New York is expensive. I mean it is unbelievable. I rented a small, one bedroom, galley kitchen, and living room in Brooklyn Heights. Back then it rented for $2,800 per month. When I gasped, the real estate agent asked what I could get for that in Milwaukee. Imagine my answer.

But the biggest thing to remember about New York is that it's a test for you. I've been almost everywhere in my life, and there is no city so seductive as New York. You are tempted every single day to stop being what you really are and start being what others think you should be. You will be wined and dined like you never imagined. People will ask you to do things that just don't seem quite right.

The hardest thing about New York is to remain a Wisconsinite. It is so easy to become what you think a New Yorker is. You will think you can be Katie Couric or Donald Trump or A-Rod or someone special. New York wants you to think that you are special.

You may be special. But, what really makes you special is what you are bringing to New York. Not what you find when you get there.

Best Wishes,

Dave Begel