What Do You Love About New York?

[smellslikeabid]

Hi guys

Thought id make my first thread.

Ive introduced myself briefly in the introductions bit.

My name is John and i am the world biggest New York fan.

I currently live in the UK with my wife and daughter, About 30 miles from The city of Cambridge, in a small town called Bury St Edmunds. ( i will post pics at a later date)

We have family in Brooklyn, New York ( Big Up all you Bay Ridgers)
and we try to see them as much as possible!! (not as often as id like)

I have an unhealthy obsession with New York, everything in my house is related to New York, even down to my Solicitor (His office is in New York St) and my BBQ is "the manhattan!!"

So that leads me on to;
What do you love about New York?

For me it everything, its the centre of the universe imo, but i adore the buildings the most, nowhere in the world do you have a collection of such incredible styles and types of architecture. It makes the city what it is!

Tell me what you love about New York!

Peas Out.!

[Encideyamind]

The Smells.
The People.
Atmosphere on a rainy night.

[The Benniest]

I'm going to have to agree with the point Encideyamind made about the atmosphere on a rainy night. It's great! :D

I came out of "Hairspray" with some friends and it was downpouring with rain. We started walking down Broadway with no shoes on, trying to hail a cab back to Brooklyn. Was quite hilarious and a perfect way to end my trip. :D

[Mohamed]

i wish to go to NY to see
The clean live and clean peolpe
rain on the skyscrapers
big streets and roads

[stache]

Years ago I spent a couple of months in downtown Billings, Montana and what I missed most of all was walking down the street with thousands of people around me.

[Ninjahedge]

Actually, I don't like that.

I like seeing all the people sometimes, but there is almost no place in NYC to go to be alone. Even if you find some alley (what few there are left) or park or whatever, it is hard to go strolling w/o bumping into someone.

In Suburbia, you still had people around, but if you truly wanted to be alone, you could just walk outside your door. There would be a section of woods to sit in, walk to, whatever. You could go on the school playground after hours and no-one would be there, etc etc....

I am not saying that I hate people, but sometimes when you are depressed BECAUSE of them, you just want to have a bit of time to yourself that does not require you locking yourself away from them.





But, as for NYC, the thing I am now forever spoiled on is being able to WALK to just about anything. The car is now for longer trips, or large loads, not to go say "hi" to a friend. Hoboken the same thing. Being able to walk to a restaurant, bar, park, grocery store. Hell, being able to walk/mass transit quickly into NYC!!!! ;)

If we ever move back to the 'burbs, I think that freedom will be missed the most. And, from what I can tell from real-estate prices, many agree! (Most of the highest priced places still have some of that convenience...)

[Winola]

I enjoy having 50 bazzilion things to do when in the city.Something for everyone in my family.The boy's love the museum of Natural History and a taxi ride through Time Square.They also love the subway ride out to Shea(yeah we are Met's fans) the smell of the subway, as nasty as this may sound,is like gretting an old friend every time I enter.They are also mesmerized by the all the buildings as am I , we can sit for hours watching a construction site.My wife just enjoys being able to walk and shop all over without sinking her heel into mud.The sleepless nights my wife and I used to spend in the city before our son's were born are some of the fondest memories we have .

[stache]

Perchance did those sleepless nights lead to the pitter patter of little feet? ;)

[Winola]

Perchance did those sleepless nights lead to the pitter patter of little feet? ;)
No doubt about it.:)

[justfabulouslyme]

Why do I love NYC? Let me count the ways..



Tons and tons of people all around me
New York in summer, particularly in August when people hook up the neighborhood with the fire hydrants (all you native NYers know what I'm talking about!)
I can walk around after midnight and feel safe because the streets are lit up
I don't need a car to get around
I hear tons of different languages on my daily commute
I can go into a supermarket and ask for various ethnic foods and not be looked at like a weirdo
I love my NY accent!!!
Mr. Softee
We're actually really, really nice people

[Zephyr]

I do like and even admire much that is in New York. After all I called it home for "quite a spell" over a decade ago.

But fanatic I am not.

I guess I like to get away from people, all people, every so often. Then I go far out into the midst of what remains unclaimed by whichever horde that we belong to on this planet - the only requirement that it be attractive or interesting to the eye.

It's increasingly difficult to return, each time, to what is more familiar.

[chris]

The density of people.

Anything that is a tiny niche, or even a party-of-one in another city or town is so large it has its own entire subculture here. There are subcultures with thousands of people here that you won't even know exists if you're not a member of their society. This can cut along either ethnic lines or (more interesting to me) simply lifestyle choices and common interest.

Also, it is unlike other American big cities in that it is a pedestrian city. There is very little car culture here (the suburbs are, I'm sure, an exception. I live in midtown Manhattan).

It is also a provincial paradox. Each neighborhood has its "Main Street". There are almost no "big box" retail stores in New York (Manhattan, in particular). So the Avenues cutting through the residential neighborhoods are lined with family owned, mom & pop stores. In many ways New York City is like one enormous small town. Or a thousand small towns all crammed together.

[Cat235D]

I like the people, everything is very convenient, I work there everyday digging the holes the will be transformed into a skyscraper, and i wished i lived there because im getting sick of sitting in traffic for 2hrs to get home to Jackson NJ.:(

[ablarc]

^ If everyone felt as you do, all the following problems would be solved: global warming, dependence on foreign oil, trade deficit, disappearance of the countryside.

[Ninjahedge]

^ If everyone felt as you do, all the following problems would be solved: global warming, dependence on foreign oil, trade deficit, disappearance of the countryside.

Not really.

Because a lot do feel like he does, they just can't afford what they also want. A place that is "big enough" by our own opulent modern standards to live in and (possibly) raise a family.

What is the cost of owning a place, even co-op, within 30 minutes of Midtown by mass transit? What if that place was a 3 BR 2 Bath?

It is not an easy task to find something like that, as many have wanted it!

[BrooklynRider]

Seltzer water

[scumonkey]

Shore fishing for Stripers!

[Alonzo-ny]

Walking full speed through a crowd and not bumping into a single person.

[Bob]

Art deco, on a grand scale!

[The Benniest]

Walking full speed through a crowd and not bumping into a single person.
Indeed. ;)

[BrooklynRider]

Italian Ices and Nathan's in the summer.

[eddhead]

The diversity. There is no place I have been to, certainly not in the US, that can match NYC for diverse cultural experiences including food and ethnicities, and intellectual observations.

I really appreciate the differences in people. In NYC you can be yourself and be accepted. It does not matter how you think, or live, or what your sexual orientation is, or what clothes you wear. You are who you are. It is not always like that elsewhere. If and when I move and exchange NYC's openness for a more monochromatic lifestyle I will be the less for not living here.

[BrooklynRider]

I also love downtown and all the prancing queens...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GVE7lRZuFM&

[scumonkey]

Prancing queens....ROTFLMAO
http://allamericancommunications.com//images/clublakers/emoticons/dance3.gifhttp://allamericancommunications.com//images/clublakers/emoticons/dance3.gifhttp://allamericancommunications.com//images/clublakers/emoticons/dance3.gif

[Merry]

50 Reasons to Be Pretty Damn Euphoric You Live in New York City

By Jen Doll

(http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/i-love-new-york.png)​Sometimes life seems hard here -- the crowds, the expense, the 24-hour-living-and-working lifestyle...But then there are days, like yesterday, when we're ever so glad we live in New York City. Like when much of the rest of the nation goes a reddish color of Tea Party, and we stick to coffee and stay (largely) blue. Like when Andrew Cuomo wins against Carl Paladino. And like when the Aeropostale at Times Square institutes an "AERO Dance Cam" (http://ny.racked.com/archives/2010/11/03/crazy_dancing_teens_attack_at_aeropostale_in_times _square.php)to keep the young folks away from the East Village on weekends and allow us to mock them via the Internet.. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKabKnFha98)

As R.L. Stine put it last night, (http://twitter.com/#%21/RL_Stine/status/29534579802)

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/assets_c/2010/11/Screen%20shot%202010-11-03%20at%2012.29.13%20PM-thumb-538x181.png (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/Screen%20shot%202010-11-03%20at%2012.29.13%20PM.png)​

Amen. Here are 50 other reasons to be blissfully happy that you live in New York City today -- and every day -- that you live here. May it be a very long time. Unless you want to leave, in which case, get the **** out, and can we have your apartment?

50. Sending your laundry out for someone else to wash and dry it is not only convenient, it's just good business. Especially since you will probably never own a washer and dryer. Which means you never have to feel guilty about not doing your own laundry. Next.

49. Drinking coffee four times a day, every day, isn't the exception, it's the rule.

48. The secret Chick Fil-A at the NYU dining hall. (http://www.yelp.com/biz/chick-fil-a-new-york)

47. There is always someone crazier than you. ALWAYS.

46. The view from the Brooklyn Bridge.

45. The view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

44. The epic feeling you get running to catch a train and succeeding...just before the doors close.

43. Bored to Death (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/10/qa-jason-schwartzman-still-bored-to-death-excitedly.html). 30 Rock. SNL. And a million other things that film here and we love. RIP Law and Order.

42. Manhattan-Brooklyn/Brooklyn-Manhattan wars never cease to entertain. Nor do hipster-Hasid (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/01/hasidim_v_hipst.php) wars. Or hipsters (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/hipsters/) in general.

41. We get the inside jokes. Because, actually, we made them up in the first place.

40. That horrified look on our parents' friends' faces when we tell them we live in "Hell's Kitchen."

39. Sure, we work out next to Alec Baldwin, Padma Lakshmi, and Bridget Moynahan, and walk the streets with Willem Dafoe, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tina Fey, but, really, we're kinda too busy with our own lives to notice.

38. Drinking is like breathing. Or slightly more acceptable.

37. Because it's not enough to just love New York. New York needs to love you back, too (http://nyheartsme.com/default.aspx). Hey, we have high standards.

36. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, there is someone who will bring it to you for a price, which may or may not be negotiable. (Or legal.)

35. By the time the rest of the nation has bedbugs, we'll have figured out how to get rid of them. In the meantime, we'll mock them by dressing our dogs up as bedbugs for Halloween. (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn.thefrisky.com/images/uploads/bed-bugs-costume.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-hilarious-pets-ready-for-trick-or-treating/&usg=__5RqmwnYi5x6ekR2nI38ZD8z02pY=&h=471&w=425&sz=72&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=k4TtjF3We3tZpM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbedbugs%2Bhalloween%26um%3D1%26hl%3De n%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1203%26bih%3D602%26tbs%3Disch:1 0%2C167&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=949&vpy=42&dur=678&hovh=236&hovw=213&tx=154&ty=125&ei=E5XRTJKOEsL98Aa9nPS1DA&oei=E5XRTJKOEsL98Aa9nPS1DA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0&biw=1203&bih=602)Laugh in the face of fear, New Yorker!

34. There are almost 200 bars (http://www.villagevoice.com/locations/directory/) in the East Village alone.

33. There's no shortage of stupid rich people (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/10/socialite_lady.php) to make fun of. (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/10/socialite_lady.php)

32. The endless delights of the New York Post. (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rarerborealis.com/wordpressblog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/NY_NYP-HO-NO.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rarerborealis.com/wordpressblog/tag/news/&usg=__YhRjhtB9Jw_nMUZCWHw3B7q6HHE=&h=860&w=700&sz=196&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=d3rHomD61U4EbM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnew%2Byork%2Bpost%2Bho%2Bno%26um%3D1% 26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1203%26bih%3D602%26tbs% 3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=228&vpy=145&dur=39&hovh=249&hovw=202&tx=146&ty=144&ei=WZfRTLbvD4us8AbV8ZG4DA&oei=WZfRTLbvD4us8AbV8ZG4DA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0)

31. You don't even need a passport, or a license, to partake in goat-eyeball tacos. (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2010/11/eating_goat_eye.php)

(http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2010/11/eating_goat_eye.php) 30. The fact that one-bedroom apartments cost an average minimum of a half-million dollars means we think nothing of spending $12 on lunch.

29. Restaurants are as common as single men and women. And equally diverse. And you never have to see either of them again after the initial awkward encounter.

28. The omnipresent opportunity to Gaga-ify yourself. And the chance that it will seem, just, normal.

27. Runnin' Scared (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/) lives here! (And so does the Village Voice. (http://www.villagevoice.com/))

26. Smart people are the norm, not the exception. (Which doesn't mean they're sane, but at least no one's boring.)

25. Except in select 'hoods like Park Slope and perhaps the Upper West Side, children are viewed as mysterious beings, rarely sighted and only occasionally understood, like pixies or magical small butlers. Until they scream, in which case, they are banished from the palace.

24. When you fly back into the city after a vacation or business trip, no matter how long you've lived here, you get that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling.

23. Efficiency in a drugstore checkout line.

22. How easy it is to find doughnuts, pizza, Chinese food, or any other snack your drunken self desires at 4 a.m. Or to continue to drink. Responsibly!

21. Broadway. Museums. CULTCH-AH. Even if you never actually go to see anything (though you should, at least once).

20. Yelling "****" is just a mild obscenity.

19. There's no shame in sticking your fingers in your ears like an anal weirdo when an ambulance goes by screeching.

18. Summer concerts at the Williamsburg Waterfront (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/venues/east_river_stat/).

17. So many Missed Connections, (http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/mis/?query=m4w) so little time.

16. Other places have dog and cat people. We have ferret people. (http://www.slate.com/id/2165879/)

15. The splendor of the Union Square Greenmarket (http://www.grownyc.org/unionsquaregreenmarket).

14. A bagel with cream cheese and lox from Russ and Daughters (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/2010/08/dish_no_71_russ.php).

13. There is an insane Korean day spa (Spa Castle (http://nyulocal.com/city/2010/09/09/spa-castle-where-all-your-korean-fantasies-come-true-except-that-one/)) waiting for you in Flushing. And Russian and Turkish baths (http://www.russianturkishbaths.com/) in the East Village.

12. One of our bars has 100-year-old urinals (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/11/manhattan_bar_t.php).

11. Complain about the MTA, but you can get anywhere in the city for just $2.25 (http://www.mta.info/metrocard/). Or $2.50 single ride, come 2011. Still pretty damn cheap.

10. Subway rage. Bike-lane rage. Walking rage. Random rage. These are our therapy. Although we all go to therapy, too. No judgments! We bitch, therefore we are.

9. Jaywalking (http://sauntering.blogspot.com/2007/09/simple-rules-for-jaywalking-in.html) is an art form.

8. The free Ikea ferry to Red Hook on weekends (http://www.nywatertaxi.com/commuters/ikea/)! Plus, Red Hook in general. Can you say "Lobster pound"? (http://redhooklobsterpound.com/)

7. Subway "prewalking," in which you walk to the exact right spot on the platform to board the train car that will save you the most time upon exit, exists and has a name. Gotta respect.

6. You can be alone, but never feel lonely. And vice versa. But if you die and aren't found until a year later, (http://nymag.com/news/features/52450/) you won't be the first.

5. We are, as a group, anti-fanny-pack as much as we are pro-gay-marriage. Hetero marriage, on the other hand, we can pretty much take or leave.

4. 35 is the new 26. Or is it 45? Whatever, age ain't nuthin' but a number, and as long as you're younger than your IQ score, no harm, no foul.

3. Finding your "local" is that much better here.

2. There is absolutely no reason to ever drink and drive. Added bonus: Spontaneous, fascinating conversations with cab drivers.

1. If you can make it here, you really can make it anywhere. But why would you bother to go anywhere else?

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/11/50_reasons_to_b.php

[NYatKNIGHT]

Great list! Love #25 and am always bragging about #36 to anyone who will listen.

[mariab]

LOL "Eyeball Tacos"?!?

[Merry]

Re #3, you don't necessarily need to limit it to only one :cool:.

RL_Stine's tweet is my favourite :).

[Merry]

...seeing things like this:

http://gothamist.com/attachments/jsaxena/112710xx.jpg

1987porsche944 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/1987porsche944/5210200755/sizes/z/in/photostream/)

[Ninjahedge]

Merry, I am blocked on the post, but I am always shocked that anyone would want to take a top tier sports car through Manhattan.

It is like using Ming China for Hot Cocoa, you know?

(Geez, I spelled "Cocoa" 3 times before getting the "a" in the right spot! :p)

[scumonkey]

Ninja-your last comment- I'm confused?
Do you mean you can't see the pic in Merrys last post...
The one with a grown man in a tux sitting on some outdoor stairs,
holding a giant yellow smiley balloon?
(not of a 1987 porsche - which is just the op's screen name)

[Merry]

^ I wasn't sure what you meant either, Ninja ;).

I just liked the photo for its smile factor :). And for people who aren't afraid to express themselves :cool:.

[Ninjahedge]

Yep, I just saw the link on the bottom, Porche, and not the company-blocked pic.... :(