New York City

New York City seems almost like a foreign country to a lot of Americans. We see it on the movie screen, on TV, and in books, so its almost seems like something made up for the media. Most of what I know about New York comes from the New Yorkers on my blogroll, Carl, Jacek, and Figlet. Two are in the process of leaving the city (Jacek is flying out tomorrow-bon voyage!) but I’ll be keeping up with them anyway. There are thousands of New York bloggers listed at NYC Bloggers. You can even find them by subway stop!

But this post is not intended for New Yorkers. I’m sure they’ve already heard it all.

Take a look around (and up and down) with the panoramic view of Times Square.

If you yearn for the way NYC used to look, here’s a website you need to check out, Lost New York.

New York is the most polite city in the world? Well, only compared to SOME cities in other countries. To explain the excessive politenes, here’s Amy Poehler’s Eight Simple Rules for being a Civilized New Yorker. For more on how to get along in the city, here’s City Living with Ruth.

New Yawkers Are Polite ... So There!
By Madeleine Begun Kane

New Yorkers are very polite,
Says this study, and damn it, they're right!
We're kind and we're sweet,
And our help can't be beat.
Don't believe me? You're in for a fight.

Last week, a list came out of the best and worse places to get a job, factoring in salaries, opportunities, and cost of living. (Thanks, Ed!) Notice New York came in at the BOTTOM! Should I cross NYC off my short list, or should I take that as a challenge?

SIGNS YOU ARE A NEW YORKER

1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan.

2. You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skill.

3. You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.

4. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.

5. The homeless are invisible.

6. The subway makes sense.

7. The subway should never be called anything prissy, like the Metro.

8. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multilingual.

9. You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.

10. You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple".

11. Your door has more than three locks.

12. You go to a hockey game for the fighting. In the stands. To participate.

13. Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it.

14. The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

15. You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

16. You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard.

17. You complain about having to mow it.

18. You are a skee-ball juggernaut.

19. You consider Westchester "Upstate".

20. You cried the day Ed Koch took over for Judge Wapner.

To find out what they are saying in New York (and where), check Overplot, a Google Map version of Overheard in New York.

The Kid from Brooklyn ALWAYS has something to say!

Names you may want to remember: The Ten Funniest New Yorkers You’ve Never Heard Of.

OUT OF PLACE

Two men were driving through North Carolina when they got pulled over by a State Trooper. The cop walked up and tapped on the window with his nightstick. The driver rolled down the window and "WHACK," the cop smacked him in the head with his nightstick.

"What the hell was that for?" the driver asked.

"You're in North Carolina, son," the trooper answered. "When we pull you over in North Carolina, you better have your license ready by the time we get to your car."

"I'm sorry, officer, "the driver said, "I'm from New York and didn't know your laws here."

The trooper runs a check on the guy's license--he's clean and gives the guy his license back. The trooper then walks around to the passenger side and taps on the window. The passenger rolls down the window and "WHACK," the trooper smacks him on the head with the nightstick.

"What'd you do that for?" the passenger demands.

"Just making your wish come true," replied the trooper.

"Making WHAT wish come true?" the passenger asked.

"I know you New Yorkers," the trooper says, "two miles down the road you're gonna turn to your buddy and say, 'I wish that asshole would've tried that shit with me!"

Thought for today: One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years. -Thomas Wolfe

A special PS for Jacek: Have a wonderful time in Barcelona, don’t forget to post, but remember studies come first!

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Comments

[Rosa]

Look at you on the Jumbotron! You go girl!! Thanks for sending me to your new site! I heart NY! My hub is from there so we get up at least once a year. You should read my first couple of posts -- on visiting NY.

[Raggedy]

Thanks for the trip around New York! Every link worked! I loved the North Carolina cop joke!
Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) meow hugs
(")_ (")Š from da Raggedy one
*

[jacek]

hey!!! :) ok ok ok,... a couple of things. 1. thank you, i love this city, ive been here on and off for 19 years now, and seeing that silly little you tube thing made me all nostalgic for it even before I left. plus I got to see it soom in on my old office building :) Thanks for posting it, and thanks for posting about NY, it really is a wonderful place.

2. when i first opened your site, i had total deja vu, or one of those dream things... i think something important happened today, i guess i'm getting older, but thank you for that.

3. that top 20 list was definately not written by a new yorker, id go into the semantics, but i dont really care that much about it, and im tipsy (go america, all old and shit!)

and four - yes I wrote it out. thank you for this site, it keeps people laughing, and that's just important, and from your smile, demeanor, and whatever else i got from you here, you really seem like a wonderful and amazing person, and this world needs more people like you. :) so thank you for being you - and that's not the booze talking - that's from the corazon :)

Cheers,
- J

[goldenlucy]

Just got back from a little jaunt to Santa Fe. Catching up on your posts is always so much fun. By the way, how did you get that photo of me shopping in the grocery store?
Your Gothgrrl is a real beauty and her mag cover is a hoot!
Time to TRY to get some sleep. When toads fly.
Nitety-nite!

[Peter]

Seems to me there is the USA and then there is New York, don't know if that's right but that's how I feel about it.

[Ed Bremson]

Great post. You're right about a lot of this stuff. My wife was from NJ, and so we spent a lot of time in "the city" over the years. As a North Carolina boy, I learned to drive pretty well in the city. I admit I had to endure a lot of horns honking at me for awhile. But recently I was complimented on how well I negotiate all that traffic.

A couple of more comments:
New Yorkers saw light at the end of the tunnel (and it was New Jersey)

The best thing that's come out of New Jersey is I-95.

You have to pay to get into New York City, but in New Jersey you have to pay to get out.

[Miss Cellania]

Rosa, so glad you came by!

Raggedy, thanks!

Jacek, you are so sweet when you are tipsy.

Lucy, I had missed your posts, welcome home!

Peter, a lot of folks right here in the US feel the same way.

Ed, I'm going to save those one-liners for a post on New Jersey!

[actor212]

My favorite views of NYC are from here:

http://snipurl.com/srmj

You'll need to register.

[:~D]

I took my twins to NY for the first time (12 years old). We just moved to a small town two hours away. We saw Al Gore, met Chelesa Clinton, went to all the big sights, stayed overnight. It was great. But expensive. Almost $80 just for the 3 of us to go to the top of the Empire State Building.

We're definitely going back! But alas, they're gone till school starts up again...

[actor212]

The reason New York came in dead last is probably due to the cost of living. NYC is the fourth most expensive city in the world to live in. No other US city made the top ten (if I'm recalling correctly...LA was near the top ten)

[Rosa]

Glad to see your visit. Now that I look closer to the pic of Times Square, I notice I made a mistake. You have your own billboard! Even better, my friend, even better. ha.

[LAZY]

Ms. C. ~ Well good to see the self-promotion back in the post here! I actually kind of enjoy "the city", but I am not sure I would if I had to actually live there. People say; "You feel SO ALIVE in the city!" Then I usually say "that's because at any moment you could lose your life there!" Fun post! THX! ~ jb///

[Old Horsetail Snake]

I think I like it in North Carolina better. At least the cops are funny.

[Tammy]

Thanks for dropping by my blog...I know what you mean about people thinkin' we ain't from the south...but you know what, we have more of a unique hillbilly thang going with some of the Southern guilt and angst just for fun...lol!!!
On this post about New York...I worked in a call center in western Ky for 5 years...I took glass claims for State Farm and Allstate insurance...you busted your glass on your car...I was yore gal!!
Upper New York people were The Nicest people in all of the USA!!! Actual New Yawkah's were polite but very fast...they wanted everything done yestidy!!!
Anyhow, come back to see me any time!!

[Lightning Bug's Butt]

Hey, you look great up in neon!

[susan-oopseedaisee]

Enjoyed the video tour! One of these days I would love to get to that side of the continent. New York is a must see and of course New England in the fall!

[Skunkfeathers]

Never been to NYC; traversed the western outskirts during an ice storm travelling from Newark to Poughkeepsie on business in the early 90s. Some NYCers are courteous; some have all the courtesy of a porcupine enema.

Same all over ;-)

[actor212]

<i>People say; "You feel SO ALIVE in the city!" Then I usually say "that's because at any moment you could lose your life there!" </i>

True.

Gotta problem widdat? :-)

It's hard to describe what living in NYC is like to someone who hasn't all their life.

It's not dangerous, not at all, not anymore dangerous than any place that has communities where you might be a stranger.

I think, if anything, New Yorkers are politer because we realize we're all in this together. Plus, of course, we have people from all over visiting, even living here, we've learned to accomodate and absorb.

When the subway goes out in Queens, say, it not only affects Queens, but it affects nearly every other borough in the city. So if my train gets punked, I know that folks who commute from other parts of the city feel the effect.

I'm blessed to be a lifelong New Yorker. Yea, there are plenty of things against it. But where else in the world can you walk to the corner at 3AM and buy a newspaper, a cup of coffee, and an antique vase, all while getting your prescription filled?

I feel the heartbeat of the city every day. It greets me in the morning when I walk out my door, and lulls me to sleep with the noise of trucks passing by on the bridge (and I don't live in the po' side of town!)

New Yorkers are at once the most paranoid and least paranoid people in the world. Give us a serial killer, and we'll paralyze the city, but we'll also take a hot dog from a street vendor who hasn't changed his water since the Reagan administration (that's the secret to great hot dogs, by the way), who wipes his nose on his hand and then digs out a bun for our dog.

And then we'll wipe the soda can before we open it.

New York is fast. Much faster than any city I've ever been in. We talk fast, yes, but we'll repeat ourselves as often as it takes for you to understand what we're saying.

And we are absolutely the kindest people in the world. We have to be. We'd kill each other if we weren't.

[lorrie]

I lived in NYC for several years. I LOVE IT. It's easy to find a job. Housing is the big, huge, horrible, expensive problem. "Nice" people live in places that a Kentuckian wouldn't let their dog hang out in.

[Morgan K Freeberg]

Linked from House of Eratosthenes.

http://mkfreeberg.blogspot.com/2006/07/attention-whore.html