During Rachel Beardsley’s first New York City half marathon, the route took runners through Central Park and Times Square and along the West Side Highway to Lower Manhattan.
“It was overwhelming,” Rachel remembers, now an eight NYC half marathon veteran. “To run through Times Square – they were playing Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York – I got misty-eyed.”
Rachel (’02 Spanish & political science) runs several days a week – often on the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway near her high-rise apartment building in Lower Manhattan, sometimes across the Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect Park or in Central Park, the most visited urban park in the United States.
Since she moved to New York in 2003, Rachel has also found a new passion: sailing. Her husband, Peter Beardsley, grew up sailing in New Rochelle, N.Y., and introduced Rachel to the sport. She’s now on the water with him for as many as 100 sailboat races each year.
Rachel and Peter met at Brooklyn Law School. Rachel practices immigration law with Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, the world’s leading global corporate immigration law firm. She oversees as many as 850 foreign nationals at any given time, working with individuals and employers to obtain employment-based visas and green cards. The process is complex and sometimes takes years to complete.
Rachel says she loves the vibrancy of New York City.
“The city is so alive, and there is always something new to explore,” she says. “With so many people always out enjoying the city, I rarely feel alone. When I moved to New York, I wasn’t sure if I would make it here. I feel very lucky.”
On the road 
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