======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ==== ======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ====
Okay, before someone completely blows a gasket, note that I didn’t come out swinging with “New York City sucks.” New York City is an above average city, even a great city in some respects, but it doesn’t live up to the hype it gets. It just doesn’t. I’m not talking out of my ass here—I have decent credentials. My dad grew up in New York City and I have family up here, so I have visited periodically growing up. I now fly up once or twice a year on business (hell, I just got back from a trip to the northeast). My parents recently gifted me a Manhattan vacation to celebrate my last promotion. I’ve been to many of the highly touted cities of the country, and the world, like Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Rome, to name some. I have a good idea what I’m talking about.
Most of the people I know who think New York City is the biggest pecker in the dive bar, so to speak, are from the Tri-State Area. That’s fair. I can understand that. As well traveled as I am, I love my home city of Atlanta, so I can’t judge home field bias. Also, there are people who aren’t really accustomed to big city life and love all the things there are to do besides cow tipping and finding random dead bodies like in Stephen King’s “Stand By Me.” Also fair. I must admit, the very first time you see New York City, especially when you are young, it is quite breathtaking. A huge jungle of steel and concrete rising out of a flat, granite island is like nothing you’ll see anywhere else in the world. It’s also full of great American history. And let us please not forget Pizza Rat. However, once you get past the initial awe, it’s really not that much different than any other major city.
First, the good. In my recent vacation to New York City, where I got to spend some real, extended time in the city, I really wasn’t that impressed. Admittedly, I spent most of my time in Manhattan, but I’m not really leaving out much with the other boroughs. It’s nice to be able to walk everywhere if you so choose. Obviously, much of the food is good, and the ethnic food scene is great. It’s tough to find bad pizza in the city and the Thai food only gave me one or two Dumb and Dumber-esque bathroom moments. Honestly, only five experiences really stand out in my mind – my morning petit dejeuner made up of pastries and coffee at the nearby Maison Kayser, duck confit at Le Parisien with the real feel of a French cafe, watching the UGA vs. Tennessee football game at the Georgia alumni bar (which I could have done at home) with ESPN (allegedly) running through with cameras, getting a Connecticut roll in Times Square, seeing dressed up Comic Con people in long lines for dollar slices of pizza, and watching New Yorkers experience the recently opened Chick-Fil-As like it was the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Mostly food related experiences. The Freedom Tower, of course, was cool, as was watching people cup the balls of the Wall Street bull.
Yeah, the parks, museums, and historic sites are nice, but not too much different than the ones in other major cities. Broadway shows are cool, but they’re expensive versions of shows I can see at the Fox Theater, up-charged for the storied venue. It’s a bucket list item, like Mann’s Chinese Theater, The Hollywood Walk in LA, The Eiffel Tower, or the Appian Way. Street performers are okay, but frankly I’ve seen much better at Venice Beach and the Santa Monica promenade. Basically, New York City has many cool venues and experiences, but they really aren’t much different than any other major city.
Now the bad. The city is fucking dirty. It’s one of the most disgustingly dirty cities I’ve seen, but unlike Los Angeles and Paris, it doesn’t have the view and weather to compensate for a few turds on the sidewalk. One of my earliest New York memories was seeing a homeless man making his child cry by putting a live rat in his mouth. Ah, so alive, this city! The roads are shit, the traffic is shit, and in the summer it smells like shit. I don’t know if it’s a new thing under de Blasio, but trash bags line the streets now. The city was still dirty when I was younger, but not “trash bags piled on the sidewalk” dirty. Then I was lucky enough to walk by a syringe disposal bin out on the sidewalk. It’s so good that New York encourages responsible public injectable drug use. I won’t even get into the politics because many major cities around the world are run by mayors of similar political persuasion. Many New Yorkers don’t disappoint with their rude and obnoxious stereotype, but to be fair, Los Angeles has even bigger assholes, as does Paris. The subway is convenient, but frankly I’d rather walk until my legs fell off. The city is way overpriced for what you get, and I don’t think you brag about a city where central air is a luxury. The median price in Manhattan for a studio apartment is $2300 per month for 550 square feet. That’s not even enough room to survive a beer fart. Also, all the abandoned rust belt buildings and smokestacks are more unappealing than historically nostalgic, and some of the apartments and high-rises look like Soviet bloc apartments.
All in all, New York City is just your typical major city. It has its trademarks and is an okay place to visit for a few days, but once you’ve seen the city once, you’ve seen it all. It doesn’t really blow your mind. I definitely would loathe having to live there, as do the hedge fund managers who move to the Hamptons or Connecticut and are willing to weather that awful commute. See you in a few months, New York. .
Respond
@5OClockShadow_
Growing up in the midwest, I prefer Chicago, but saying that “once you’ve seen the city once, you’ve seen it all” is insane. This isn’t Memphis we’re talking about here, it’s the biggest city in the country. You could probably spend your whole day just at the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. I think it’s kind of like DC in that there is always something new to see.
Memphis is a different city each time you go depending on which meth houses exploded that week.
I’m from Memphis and it’s almost a different experience when you hear of a new violent murder and/or rape that happened last weekend.
London is essentially New York’s more refined and mature older sibling. Better culture, cleaner, friendlier, more efficient transportation, basically everything is better.
But not in America. So who cares about London?
Culturally NYC and London are way more similar than most American cities and NYC.
A lot of people actually
Nah.
Their food doesn’t compare to NYC’s by any stretch of the imagination
I can agree with that, the variety of food in NYC is unparalleled.
NYC > London by far.
Lived in NYC (okay, Hoboken tbh) for a year and despite it basically being like walking through a humid cloud of urine while seeing mentally unstable and Wallstreet douches everywhere it is still the best city in the world.
London (where I’m currently living) is like the poor-mans version of Manhattan. Only if you’re in the city Center it’s expensive af. And the accommodation is full of black mould, damp, smelly and just awful.
Living in Philly, I agree with this article 100%. I have several friends in NYC and have been dozens of times and I am always feeling like I’m missing something. You can get a 2200sqft 3 bedroom townhouse with a garage in Philly for the price of a one bedroom in Manhattan. Sure, there’s weird pockets of crime, but this place is awesome once you get the hang of where you’re going. Do need to visit Nashville though.
Growing up in Jersey, there were 3 places my friends and I road tripped to: NYC, Philly, and the beach. We always had a better time at the beach or in Philly. Just paying tolls and parking in NYC is astronomical. It’s a great city, don’t get me wrong, but considering it took my family 8 generations to escape the Bronx to move to Princeton, I have very little desire to move there.
Grew up in the North Jersey burbs, but stayed in Philly after school. Nice place in Rittenhouse for 900/person compared to a studio in NYC for 1400? I’ll take that
Morris, Bergen, Hunterdon?
Seems like every weekend in the summer I was at a concert at the Trocadero. High school was great. Not as good as college, but still great.
what burbs are you from fam?
I’m from Atlantic county NJ originally if that was directed at me
Nvm it wasn’t. FYI I’m from Atlantic county
Saying New York is like any other big city is insane. Whether it’s better or worse New York is in a category of its own.
He literally lists off five things he did in a touristy part of midtown midtown within a fifteen block radius of each other, and then goes “once you’ve seen the city once, you’ve seen it all.” Like, please, you haven’t even come close to seeing it once, let alone it all. There’s millions of intelligent postgrads with actual experience living in the city. If PGP wants to run an article bashing NYC, fine, but at least have someone write it with some semblance of an idea of what he’s talking about.
Actually I listed five activities I enjoyed enough to remember, not everything I did.
Well if those things are what you *enjoyed*, I think it’s safe to say you didn’t really do that much.
I am making 90dollar/hour working from home. I never thought that it was legitimate but my best friend is earning 12 dollar thousand a month by working online, that was really surprising for me, she recommended me to try it. just try it out on the following website… http://WWW.buzzfeedreport.TK
Piss off, Mollie
Mollie is high on Molly. But she might be a real writer for buzzfeed. That would make sense.
Give me the Midwest 10/10 times over NYC.
Give me virtually anywhere 11/10 times over NYC.
I don’t have much experience with other big American cities, but I agree completely from the limited US big city experience (Pittsburgh doesn’t count). European/British Isles cities are far superior in cleanliness and attractions, though food variety simply can’t compare.
Better alternatives? Underrated cities? I’m just so full of questions after this article.
Same. I’d like to know what’s so great about Atlanta, for example.
Outkast.
Nothing really. As someone that lived in the shadow of NYC for 23 years, it would take a lifetime to explore NYC and the surrounding boroughs. My buddy is NYPD and has shown me some cool off the beaten path stuff. My ex was from Sandy Springs so I’ve seen a fair bit of ATL. Buckhead was alright, the Olympic area was meh (aquarium was awesome though). As an above commenter poster mentioned, NYC is one of the greatest cities to ever exist and it is in its own league. I’ve been to NYC 100+ times for various reasons but no other city I’ve ever been to can compare in sheer size. Dude is just bitter Sherman burned it to the ground (and we got a pretty sweet tank name out of it).
Not jumping on the NYC is overrated bandwagon, but will jump in about Atlanta. Sandy Springs is the burbs, the Olympic area/Aquarium (and downtown in general) are just tourist areas no one lives in. Buckhead is fun right out of college, but it’s just the ritzy part of Atlanta–not much character.
Your reasons for not liking Atlanta are similar to him not liking NYC.
Quick sales pitch on Atlanta: largest city in South, major sports, multiple boroughs (Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Edgewood, Little 5, Buckhead) that are all very unique and have their own character. Insanely low cost of living compared to any other major city, great weather, great Airport.
I never said I hated it but to compare NYC to ATL is absurd. To discount NYC based on mommy and daddy giving you a trip to Manhattan has no merit. The population is over 10x more at least and the area is much larger. There are dozens of world class museums, skyscrapers are far as you can see and many more boroughs, hundreds of restaurants, shopping and things to see.
Seattle ^ definitely a big city feel but also beautiful and green with lots of outdoorsy things to do
PDX for people who like Seattle but don’t like minorities.
Don’t give them any ideas. Next we’ll have “Top 10 Underrated Cities for Millennials”.
You have no credentials to be writing this article.
“I have visited periodically growing up” and “I now fly up once or twice a year on business” mean you don’t know anything about living in NYC. I’ve lived all over the country, and New York is in a class by itself in the US, period. No other city in North America is like it at all.
Adorable article, really. I’ve lived in Long Island, Connecticut and Manhattan/Brooklyn my entire life. The hedge fund managers that commute from Fairfield and the likes definitely preferred the city life when they were, you know, not 40+ with a family.
And comparing NYC to other US cities is impossible. It’s considered an Alpha++ City (the only other city with this distinction is London), so it literally isn’t comparable to another US city.
I’ll continue living here as long as I can afford it (not long).
Maybe I’m a sheltered midwesterner but fuck, douche much?
Alpha++ is a designation given to the cities most integrated with the global economy (in NYC’s case Wall Street and in London’s case the London Stock Exchange) and has nothing to do with the quality of a city or whether or not it lives up to its hype.
Right, but its not surprising that a city with such global significance is overcrowded, overpopulated and overpriced.
This is the most pretentious article I have ever read