How to live in New York city

[jasoncrew03]

NYC? Give me Chicago anytime. And Chicago's pizza is better too.

Gentrification ruined the flavor of Manhattan. It used to be delightfully seedy but has been scrubbed clean for the throngs of tourist families. What used to be a Mid-Town adventure you couldn't get anywhere else in the world is now nothing but Disney, The Gap and a gazillion tourists. Korvette's, Gimbel's and Horn & Hardart's are gone.

It's now filled with chain stores you can visit in Kansas City, Minneapolis or Birmingham. The homogenization of America killed the real New York. It's insanely overpriced. Buying a hot dog or souvlaki from a street vendor is fun the first time you do it, but after that their carts just block where you're walking.

However, there is the Met, the Guggenheim, the theater district. Once you visit there, you can chalk that up to one of your life's experiences.

I've been there 20+ times, first time in 1977. It's changed a LOT since then.

The only thing here I can agree with is that Mid-Town is horrid. I avoid it like the plague.

I agree with chance, New York shopping is still worlds better than 99% of the world it's just moved to Soho and the Village (and Williamsburg if you're into hipster clothing and/or vintage).

 

[Apollo]

shopping is one of the things that I've never understood about NYC.

I can't think of anything uniquely in the city that I couldn't buy elsewhere or online (in terms of clothes, accessories, etc)

It's an experience that you really dont get anywhere else. That is the whole point of it.

A great show to understand New York is "How To Make It In America" That is New York life.

 

[jasoncrew03]

I've experienced it and I still don't get it

There's the tourist experience which is pretty much buying a shit ton of clothes in Mid-Town and on 5th that you can get mostly online or in any decent mall.

The true New York shopping experience, however, is in the "boutique" (I hate that word) stores that literally don't exist anywhere and with completely unique clothes. And, contrary to popular belief, there are more of these than those reserved exclusively for the likes of hipsters. There's everything from "normal" casual clothes to suits each with some sort of flair that signifies its unique origins.

Edit: Whoa. That got deep there at the end lol.

 

[Shepherd 2]

Ah such a nice place to visit.
I ♥♥♥♥♥ NY!
Shep+

 

[chrisrobin]

NY before gentrification was dangerous and people were fleeing

If you don't like "gentrified" Times Square - and I agree with you it's gentrified in a bad way

don't go

reality is

Times Square is the LAST place one should go if visiting

NYC is about NEIGHBORHOODS

Chelsea
Hells Kitchen
Soho
West Village
LES
UWS
etc.

plus the outer boroughs
Brooklyn - Williamsburg, Dumbo, Park Slope, Bklyn Heights
Queens - Astoria, LIC

then there's Long Island - with great PUBLIC beaches

no place like it

and frankly I don't think your experience in NYC is very recent or very in-depth

Don't forget Murray Hill!

When all is said and done, NYC really is the capital of the world!

 

[chance1]

I've experienced it and I still don't get it

I'm not really a try-things-on'er, though, even when I am shopping in retail stores. even living 5 minutes outside of the heart of Manhattan, I'm a lot more inclined to just buy clothes online and return whatever doesn't fit through the post office.

LOL

are you gay? are you sure?

just teasing of course

check out near NYU on Broadway - great stores and more popping up all the time

don't you need that great t-shirt that fits JUST right for your body?

so when you go to clubs and you're dancing like a fool ............. u look great

online shopping IMO is only for re-ordering things that you know fit you right

we gotta get u a makeover loki

 

[chance1]

Ah yes, another "my favorite city is better than yours" pissing contest.

Reminds me of my lurking days at citydata.

I'm not seeing or sensing that here

just some passionate NY'ers and NY lovers making the case is all

 

[SonOfSlobone]

I want people to have a good time here, I just wish people could broaden their desire to explore once they get here. Why pay for that expensive flight to spend all of your time within the same set of blocks?

OK, that's where you lost me. First you say you don't like going to places where tourists hang out, now you're saying you want them to spread out more so they'll be everywhere?

I just always think it's kind of funny how much people everywhere, not just New Yorkers, look down their noses at people from out of town. I mean, everybody's a local somewhere and a tourist everywhere else. If you were visiting San Francisco you'd probably do all the same dumb things there that a San Franciscan does in New York.

 

[EJMichaels]

Serious request - I need some ideas for a relatively cheap place to stay. I want to attend an event in the Lower East Side and don't want to be too far away if traveling by myself.

My knowledge of the city is based on tagging along with friends who lived there 20 years ago. I never needed to figure it out myself. I'm female, in case that matters.

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

There's too much family in that state for me to EVER want to live there.

And, it seems, too much class warfare.

I'ma stick to small towns with public transportation access.

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

No, I know that there is, I was just saying I prefer living on the outskirts of a major city as long as it there is public transportation access to it - it's why I moved to where I am in Florida.

Of course, I actually don't know what major city is near me just yet... at least one with a sufficient concert venue.

 

[chance1]

OK, that's where you lost me. First you say you don't like going to places where tourists hang out, now you're saying you want them to spread out more so they'll be everywhere?

I just always think it's kind of funny how much people everywhere, not just New Yorkers, look down their noses at people from out of town. I mean, everybody's a local somewhere and a tourist everywhere else. If you were visiting San Francisco you'd probably do all the same dumb things there that a San Franciscan does in New York.

Tourists in NYC help pay the bills

Many (not all) congregate in the least best parts of town - think Times Square, 5th Avenue Midtown (where Apple Store, Tiffanys plus are)

Bloomberg just put in walkways IN where the streets were - so no cars - in a few sections - that helps

I'm not sure Naughty Arousal is accurate

Locals fight over who will help a tourist in need - how to get somewhere, etc.

I (and most NY'ers) DO NOT look down at tourists

Sure they can clog sidewalks by walking slow, together, looking up not forward

But so what

Many of them are here for the first time

Bottom line for me is the idea that NY'ers aren't nice is just silly

and inaccurate

 

[Burberry]

I agree with the statement about neighborhoods being key in New York.

Having lived in Soho, Union Square, Upper West Side, Greenwich Village, East Village, Gramercy, and Bowery/Noho -- each neighborhood is a totally different identity.

But that's sort of what makes it great.

The article is shit. TC is a bunch of Brooklyn hipsters.

 

[SonOfSlobone]

And actually I've usually been treated very well in New York when I've visited there. People would give me directions, tell me which bus to take, etc. Only time I had a problem was when I was being an asshole.

 

[kevbo]

NY pizza is so amazing. This person probably probably didn't even go to a legit pizzeria.

I'm fairly certain the worst pizza in Chicago is still better than the best pizza in NYC.

 

[nafhoosier]

NYC? Give me Chicago anytime. And Chicago's pizza is better too.

Gentrification ruined the flavor of Manhattan. It used to be delightfully seedy but has been scrubbed clean for theat used to be a Mid-Town adventure you couldn't get anywhere else in the world is now nothing but Disney, The Gap and a gazillion tourists. Korvette's, Gimbel's and Horn & Hardart's are gone.

It's now filled with chain stores you can visit in Kansas City, Minneapolis or Birmingham. The homogenization of America killed the real New York. It's insanely overpriced. Buying a hot dog or souvlaki from a street vendor is fun the first time you do it, throngs of tourist families. Whbut after that their carts just block where you're walking.

However, there is the Met, the Guggenheim, the theater district. Once you visit there, you can chalk that up to one of your life's experiences.

I've been there 20+ times, first time in 1977. It's changed a LOT since then.

This thread is way too complicated and generic, but I'll be fair here.

You need to go back to New York. I think you're off with anti-gentrification and chains analysis. Gentrification is what saved Manhattan, not killed it, though of course, I wasn't around in the 70s and 80s to witness New York in its nadir.

Manhattan (and yes, I say Manhattan only, not the other boroughs) has endless things to do and opportunities. It never gets old.

But frankly, I don't get the frequent New York attitude that it's the sole place on Earth to be. I prefer cities in Europe or South America, and yes, I prefer Chicago (though I don't get the frequent comparisons, Chicago and New York are completely different except for the fact that they both have big buildings all over the place).

 

[chance1]

But frankly, I don't get the frequent New York attitude that it's the sole place on Earth to be[/B]. I prefer cities in Europe or South America, and yes, I prefer Chicago (though I don't get the frequent comparisons, Chicago and New York are completely different except for the fact that they both have big buildings all over the place).

I don't think that's a fair representation of what's being said here by NY'ers

not at all

 

[nafhoosier]

I don't think that's a fair representation of what's being said here by NY'ers

not at all

Would you live in another city if offered a better job?

 

[chance1]

Would you live in another city if offered a better job?

Funny you ask - I'm currently interviewing with a great co. and the position is in Cambridge, MA - it's early in the process but I am considering it because the co. is fantastic and the oppty. is very good

I like Boston
I like Chicago
I like San Diego

these are all cities I could def. live in

I love NY

 

[chance1]

Just passed a Starbucks walking to meet a friend

Boy in window has his iPad out

Checking out his grindr puzzle

Only in NYC