Here at Before, we’d first like to say thank you. Thank you to the artists in the following pages for letting us share your vision and thoughts, thank you to our contributors, and thank you most to you – the reader– for taking the time to pick up this issue. It has been quite an effort bringing you our first issue – months of preparation, planning, a hurricane, re-planning, and eventually finishing; but it is finally here. In these pages you will find the artists, musicians, designers, and everyone you need to know about (but may not yet). In this issue we focused on our home base: New York City. In a city as established and historic as New York, we wanted to shake off the dust and show you the new creative minds who inspire us. Before the rest, we bring you the undiscovered gems found across the boroughs we call home.—The Editors of Before: Julia Buchmiller, Benjamin Fainlight, Nicole Hoffman, Jacobi Hollingshed, and Michelle Lim.