Added 5 years later: The inexplicably high ranking search engines give this little rant has led to a lot of comments below, including some excellent rebuttals to my original points. There are also a lot of people adding their own complaints about the city that never sleeps. All comments are welcome, but overall I find the ones who disagree with me to be more interesting, and a few are worth digging up and reading. There are definitely some things to love about the city. My favorite comments of all, however, are the ones on both sides of the fence that hide their whiny, entitled attitude behind foul language, apparently unaware of the irony.
Recently the quality of comments has been so low that I’ve considered not allowing any more of them. Semi-literate ravers, please don’t bother anymore. There’s already plenty of barely-coherent blather on both sides.
Anyway, on with the original episode:
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In the unlikely event there are two New Yorkers capable of mounting a meaningful defense of their home city, I’ll publish them both. More than two, either I’ll pick the one hardest for me to rebut, or I’ll figure out a way to let the polls decide. Messages of the form “F%*$ you, you f^%#ing f$^*!” will just add to my smug belief that I am better than you are and will be deleted and mocked.
I have for a couple of years now held the opinion that New York City is filled with victims and crybabies. Everyone knew already that the city was filled with arrogant assholes.
To start with the arrogant assholes, here’s a case in point. Tonight I was sitting in a bar, and at the next table was a pair of Yankees fans. Yankees were playing the Bosox, a game with history and significance. You would expect a Yankees fan to be passionate about such a game, and these guys were. I’m OK with that. That’s why God made baseball. That’s why Steinbrenner bought it from Him.
I overheard part of their conversation early. “They’re still talking about ’98 here. Was it ’98? The Yankees humiliated them. It was a sweep.” Now, I don’t know if it was ’98 or ’96, and yes, the Yankees did completely dominate the Padres. It was a sweep. But that year San Diego won the pennant. When dad buys you a pennant every year, that may not seem so special. But when you earn it, doesn’t it mean so much more? No point explaining that to a Yankees fan.
And that’s what New Yorkers just don’t seem to understand. They seem to believe that simply being from the hive is enough to entitle them to all the respect the world has to offer. Later, the New York fans were outraged among themselves when the best TV was switched over to the Padres game. There was still a TV right in front of them carrying their game, but it wasn’t Hi-Def. “What the f@%& are they doing showing the Padres game?” one NYB asked the other (B is for bastard). Had the man been grandstanding, trying to get a rise out of the other people in the bar, I would have simply labeled him as an asshole and shrugged it off. But the simple fact was that as a New Yorker he expected to get his game on the hi-def TV. He was entitled.
New York is inexplicably proud of being a bunch of arrogant assholes. They call it “street smart” and other transparent euphemisms. When I passed through New York I was not prepared for the incessant whining and victim attitude.
I was passing from Aruba to San Diego, and because I’m a cheap bastard my return flight included a sleepover in New York. No problem, I figured. I’d just find a less-uncomfortable place to crash at JFK. Best case, I find a bar and just hang out all night. It was a naive notion, I now realize.
My first welcome as I came off the plane set the tone for my stay in the city that never sleeps. “Did you see what he just did to me?” I heard an angry woman behind me say. We made our way to an escalator and I tell you now I have never seen such concentrated uncivilized behavior. Poor little Jerry was pushed aside and every time I said, “Oh, I’m sorry” as I was shoved into someone else I was answered with “eat me” or something worse. “Screw the other guy before he screws you” was the rule of the day.
The airport was closing. There would be no crashing in the terminal, no all-nigher in the bar. The bartender was terribly appologetic. I called a hotel and they said the shuttle would be right over. It was a cold night, freezing rain, and I was in shorts. People were not looking at me with sympathy as I stood waiting for the shuttle; they were looking at me with suspicion. I watched two old men get into a fist fight over a taxi. I shook my head. The cold rain on my legs hurt far less than the anger all around me hurt my poor west-coast brain.
It turns out the signs telling me to wait for a hotel shuttle did not direct me to the place hotel shuttles were going. After freezing my ass off (proudly, stoically, without whining) I tromped back to the terminal and called the hotel again. The friendly person apologized and the shuttle was redispatched. I stood longer in the bitter New York sleet until I was finally swept away to the warmth and security of a nearby hotel. I was happy to see that guy, and he was downright nice. Maybe New York isn’t so bad after all. Pff.
Once safely installed in my room, and with the local anger fizzing in my head, I made my way with laptop to the hotel bar. There I sat and watched the local victim hour, also known as the news. Crap, can’t there be one story on the evening not spun as injustice? The weather report was “here’s how mother nature is fucking us over today.” I have never heard a more consistent, pervasive whining than I did in NYC. I have gone out of my way in this story to mention people that were not whiny little fucks who thought the world owed them something. Two were bartenders, one drove a van. Who knows what they thought when they weren’t sucking up to travelers. [Unfair - the bartender at JFK was the read deal. She was funny as hell and a true sweetheart. I would have loved to stay up all night in her bar.]
The next morning I caught the plane back to San Diego. I staggered down the jetway and heard someone say, “Oh! I’m sorry. Go ahead.” I laughed not from humor but from joy, back where we may not be intimate but we are certainly polite, and we don’t feel that the world owes us happiness. We make that for ourselves.
Here’s a good one or two.
#1 When I took out a mortgage on my home, I paid over $3600 for a “recording tax.” No other state in the union has such a thing. With my outlandish mortgage, and lower finance rates, I decided to refinance. Closing costs included a $3600 recording tax AGAIN!!!
I have spent a total of $7200 in recording taxes in 5 years..OUTLANDISH!!!
Here the housing economy is folding, I try to get some relief, and NY performs something that they are best at..economic rape.
#2 My wife and I run a small business that employs one person full time and one person part time. I recently received a letter in the mail that NY will be taxing small businesses above and beyond what we are already taxed. A NEW TAX. For every dollar over $10,000 that we make we are taxed extra. What does it mean? We will downsize and let an employee go. Keep in mind you dems out there, small business is the backbone our this country. No mention of them in the stimulus however.
NY is out of control. I am as liberal as they get in many ways, but when it comes to economic rape, leave it to the NY and the democrats to find evrey penny you got, and invent a way to take it. In both cases above, in the long run. NY has hurt the economy. I will spend less, and NY can pay my employee unemployment. There is so much more but I’ll save it for later
I will NOT retire here to say the least.
GIT OUT OF NEWYORK THEY WILL TAXS ALL YOUR MONEY FROM YOU GO TO THE WEST IT IS THE BEST.BOYCOTT NEWYORK! WE ARE YOUR FRINDS IN THE WEST.GOD BLESS THE WEST.FOR THE WEST IS THE BEST.DONT FORGET THAT!
All I have to say is, I agree. I live in the putrid state of New York and I hate every minute of it. People do have that stupid bitch mentality, that the world owes them happiness, but really, they’re all just fat idiot american-italians. This state sucks, stay clear of it. As soon as I can, I’m calling out and moving north to Montreal.
Being FROM Montreal… I’d simply like to say that, although we are known for being civilized and very welcoming to ALL tourists, we do not take kindly to expat ‘Neo-American-Canadian’ immigrants.
Come visit un anytime you want… but please do not infect the province of Quebec (namely Montreal City).
Stay home or head west of Quebec.
See you soon!
you’re making the right choice by moving to montreal nino. now i dont hate new york city but it did get on my nerves when i lived there. ive been to montreal plenty of times and it offers a great quality of life, amazing nightlife, great people and women, good job market, its also clean and very safe and most importantly, its very affordable not only in comparison to NY but in general. being canada’s 2nd largest city its the 10th cheapest place to buy a house. anyway i hope you enjoy your time when you move to montreal
WE ARE BOYCOTTING NEWYORK. STAYE OUT OF NEW YORK OR THAY WILL TAXS YOU TO. IF YOU LIVE THER GIT OUT OF THER. NOTHING IS GOOD THER FROM THE HIGH TEXS SHITY FOOD WILL MAKE YOU FAT AND THEN IT WILL SLOWEY KILL YOU. DUM SPORT TEMS.ALL THE PEOPLE ARE ASSHOLES. SOME PEOPLE WONT TO BLOW IT UP.O YA SOME PEOPLE DID. GOVERMENT WELL TEX THE DIED. YOU WONT YOUR FAMILY TO LIVE BETTER AND LONGER AND BE HAPPY GET OUT OF NEWYORK. IF YOU DONT KNOW WHER TO GO. GO TO THE WEST FOR THE WEST IS THE BEST.GOD BLEE THE WEST.WE ARE YOUR FRINDS IN THE WEST.DONT FORGET THAT!
New york? Concrete, no green, no beaches, no sun, smells like piss, no right to defend and arm yourself, ugly rich jewish girls, 1 hot chick for every 100 guys, no ethenocentricity?
Fuck that.
I’ll keep my beaches, beautiful skyline, “Cleanest city” awards, most amazing nightlife, beautiful women, multiple monkey making opportunities and option of city life, beach life, rural and suburan life any time over a bunch of fucking mick, wop jews in their fucking tax exempt schools and bullshit. Fucking snow, strees smell like piss, expensive as fuck for some shitty cockroach infested 1920′s studio, FUCK THAT.
Miami has it all. New condos, cheap for rent! Women, clubs, all the shit you want, cheaper, better, newer, stronger, and its fucking beautiful year round? Winters in miami? FUCK THAT IM IN SHORTS AND SIPPIN MOJITOS BIATCH!
I’m in Miami Bitch.
(Note: This was made to anger people who think we’re biggots and assholes. Throwout the bad and keep the goo.d
lol…monkey
I was born, raised, and still reside in Louisiana. I’ve never been to New York city, so I have no personal account to base my opinion on. However, reading all of these posts pretty much sums up everything I’ve ever heard, read, or believed about the city.
We (in the south) have what’s called ‘southern hospitality’, a term I’m sure most people have at least heard, if not experienced. I couldn’t imagine living in such a dog-eat-dog city such as NY. We love our slow pace and friendly folks in the south. Here we all smile at each other, say ‘good morning’, ask how your day is going, get to know eachother, and we enjoy good weather most of the year.
I can understand how people have become so rude and cutthroat in NY. It happened over time. You put that many people into crowded areas, invading other people’s ‘personal space’, tax the hell out of them, force them to be ultra competitive just to survive, live in freezing cold for many months…. it’s enough to make anybody as asshole. I think what it boils down to is ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality—kill or be killed. If you dropped me in the middle of NY I’m sure I’d get my feelings hurt a lot of first, and it’d take a while for me to get acclimated to the people and culture. But after ahwhile, I’m sure my survival instincts would kick in and I’d learn to be a pushy, arrogant asshole in order to not just survive, but to try and get ahead.
That being said, I love my life and my state. I love the south. I would like to visit NY one day and see the sights, but I know that I will never live anywhere else but here.
“New York is for those who have the talent or ‘think’ they have the talent to conquer the world and ‘look good’ while doing it.”
Yep. That about sums up the New York attitude – and I think it is really sad.
I totally agree with you about New York, I should know, I used to be from that overpriced overrated dump. My family still lives there, I have completely failed in convincing them they are better off somewhere else. I have two retired parents on a fixed income, they would be much better off in my part of the country where its warm year round, the cost of living is a fraction of New York(rent,insurance, etc), and the people are friendly and open. They insist on living there. I just want to add the Northeast in general sucks, from Boston to NY to Philadelphia to Baltimore-DC, it is one big city. That is how a friend of mine from Colorado described NY not as one city but part of a gigantic megalopolis that spans the Northeast USA. I have to say those cities are quite similar. My son got accepted to two very fancy colleges in the Northeast and turned them both down to stay in my region because there is no good skiing in NY or Boston. LOL.
I like New York…because I can pretend I’m from New York and then I can be an asshole! It’s great, thanks Asshole Komrads of NYC!
New York’s alright…if you like saxophones.
NY SUCKS STAY OUT OF NJ! YOU asswholes ny’ers
NY is the most overrated and overpriced city in the US. The cost of living is out of control, but you’re only paying for the city’s reputation and not any good service. The job market isn’t any good. The government wants you to be grateful that you’re paying high taxes in order to have the privilege to live in their glorious city. The art scene is dull at best. The only redeeming qualitities are that the city is very diverse and that you can find anything you want at any time As soon as I finish with my med study, I’m getting out.
I work in the Boston area, but have to provide computer support to those NY people. They are by far the most immature, self-centered, ignorant, rude and obscene collection of steaming cow pies I have ever encountered in my life. I had no sympathy for them during 9/11, and to this day would rejoice in the thought of NY being wiped out by a tsunami or other global disaster. I’m sure there may be a few good souls there, and if so, my only recommendation to them is to get out. We all need to remember, it was these greedy dishonest jerks, the golden-boys of Wall Street, that plunged our country into a deep depression, begged our government to bail them out, then rewarded their incompetency with big fat bonuses, at the US taxpayers expense. Lets all remember where Bernie Maddoff came from!!
I agree that NY sucks but wishing a 9/11/natural disaster on us…..Some people are stuck here, jerkoff. Hopefully something happens to your town/city.
Hate the New Yorkers and NJ freaks. Trying to figure out a way to creatively lure them back to their home country of f-bombs and Soprano re-runs. I’m a Southern-Boy from Ga trapped in New Port Richey, Fl. Can’t take my wife and kids anywhere without hearing some NY/NJ white trash dirt-bomb drop the f-bomb every three seconds. Every one of those idiots must pretend that they are speaking for a Soprano audience, well, that’s the only defense I have to offer for them for their actions. I have confronted many Yankee piss-ant in my time and 99.9 percent cower and run when its time to get down, the other 0.1% get their ass whopped. It’s time to erratic-ate them back to Yankee-Ville. The white trash yankee infestation is horrible here, cigarette smoking, meth-shooting, coke-sniffing, whiskey drinking, trailer park preferring scumof the earth. Go home to NY and NJ. Don’t reply to this, just get in your car and drive north til you get past the NY state line and don’t come back! Got lots of friends from Boston, Michigan and Minnesota, none of them disgust me like the typical New Yorker!
Dude, I have never heard so many f-bombs as I hear up here at school. I have 3 suite mates from NYC and 2 of them can’t get through a single sentence without some variation of that word. Thankfully, my roommate is a little better about that, but the profanity drives me nuts. I’ll see ya down south some time, my friend. I have to find a place with some decent people and weather ASAP
Hi, totally hate NY. Living here for the past 2 yrs. The first 6 months were ok, I was starry eyed and marvelled at all the places that’ve been hyped in the media, movies etc. After that – reality. Its Junk. Its group think. NY is for those who are ready to give up their proper lives so that they can be in NY. And then tell other people that they’re in NY. Senseless, humourless, frustrated, ugly & inconsiderate jerks roam are all you get here. That’s what you tend to become after a while and then you’ve got no other option but to accept it and say “Oh, I love NY”. I want to get the F outta here before that happens to me too. I am moving to either Houston or London soon, I am sure either of those is better than here. Good Article
oh my my I have many stories about the “great” state of new york. to sum it up i used to live in ny and well……. i live in florida now and new york can go to hell. its a over taxed, over ruled sess pool full of ass holes. TAX TAX TAX! TAX ON EVERYTHING. LAWS LAWS LAWS! LAWS ON EVERYTHING. SNOW SNOW SNOW! SNOW EVERYWHERE. The laws are the worse part so many of them and 90% are just dumb/dont make sense and the tax god the tax is crazy. Nope any where is better than ny. dont go to ny it sucks.
some laws in laws in ny
1. no fire works
2. car inspection that is so out of wack i cant find a word to sum it up other than CRAZY
3. you can hardly buy a gun to hunt ( i hunt so it matters to me)
4. 1st DWI you can get 5 yrs for
5. killing gold fish will get you 6 mths
6. you cant have a cook out fire bigger than 3 ft long and logs no bigger than 6 inchs around
7. no places to ride QUAD ANYWHERE. you go in the state land with a quad DEC pricks try to run you down (if they can wink wink)
8. in some towns you cant have christmas snow man that light up on your lawn
9. no lights under your car
10. no tinted windows
these are just a few off the top of my head
We are boycoting Newyork we dont like the taxs the people the food the sport tems the goverment is hell in the USA STAY OUT OF NEWYORK.DONT BUY OR SELL TO NEWYORK.THE WEST IS THE BEST! WE LOVE THE WEST. WE will NOT tack no shit from NEWYORK .THAY TAXs the DEAD. Some people hate NEWYORK SO MUCH THAY WILL BLOW IT UP IF THEY CAN.O YA SOME PEOPLE DID. All we can do is stay out of New jurk & Boycott that place. WE LOVE THE USA. BUTT NOT NEW YORK. GET YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OUT OF NEW YORK !GO TO THE WEST it is the best. LISEN TO THIS IT IS TRUE.GET YOUR WIFE & FAMILY OUT OF NEWYORK. THAY WILL LIVE HAPPER LIFE.& A LONGER ONE. If YOU HAVE A EAR YOU MUST HEAR. SO LISEN TO US. IT WILL git more dangeris if you stay ther.We hop you and your family will do the right thing.We are your frinds in the west.
My goal and dream for the last 20 years has been to leave the god foresaken state. Unfortunately, I am close with my family and my wife’s family. I love them all, but moving out of NY STATE is the ONLY thing my wife and I disagree on. In fact, we both agree that we should leave, but she won’t leave the family and I don’t want to but WILL ASAP. I had high hopes when we came back from a vacation visiting relatives out of state, and my wife and her parents almost sounded serious about ALL packing up and moving. I live in upstate NY, so while I have a laundry list of complaints, it may be different than the complaints from NYC, but all related. NYC is another world to me and of no interest. The special interests (unions) are running the state by holding the puppet strings of the politicians and none of them care if the state and its finances fall FURTHER into disrepair, as long as they get their entitlements- even though it is unsustainable. Personally, I hope the state goes belly up and rots in hell because that’s the only thing that will force them to reset everything and start over.
By the way, the good things I can think of that came out of NYC are pizza, Robert D’Niro (spelling?), and Marissa Tomei (mmmmm. …and she doesn’t live there anymore). The bad things include lawyers, lawyers, and more lawyers, the mob (check out the history, how they ran things and how the state government works- one and the same), and a concentration of the state type entitlements.
amen man amen. i too hope it rots in hell and the sooner it goes belly up the better like you were saying. you know at one time ny was nice and had lots of work but all the work left b/c its over taxed and over ruled. have you seen the new laws? Tax tax tax!!! I moved out to the south along time ago but my family who still live there tell me how bad it is. i swear they are a bunch of commies. screw ny i for one am happy to call my self a floridian
GO TO THE WEST GET YOU & YOUR FAMYLY OUT OF NEW YORK! THE WEST IS THE BEST.DONT FORGET THAT.WE ARE YOUR FRINDS IN THE WEST. EVERYTHING IS BETTER IN THE WEST. YOU & YOUR FAMLY WILL DO BETTER IN THE WEST.WE HOPE YOU LISEN TO U.S . GET THE HELL OUT OF NEW YORK NOW! DONT BUY OR SELL TO NEW YORK.THAY WILL TAXS AWAY ALL YOUR MONEY FROM YOU AND MAKE YOU THINK IT IS GOOD FOR YOU JUST LIKE A DRUG DILLER DOS. IF YOU ARE HOCK ON TAXS STAY THER & DIE THER. WE HOPE YOU DO THE RIGHT THANG AND GET OUT OF THER AND FAST. WE ARE YOUR FRINDS IN THE WEST. WE BOYCOTT NEWYORK!!!
Can you shut the fuck up? Learning to spell wouldn’t hurt either. Oh yeah, the caps lock key. Turn it off fuckface.
GET YOUR FAMLY OUT OF NEWYORK.GO TO THE WEST IT IS THE BEST.
WE ARE YOUR FRINDS IN THE WEST.DO FORGET THAT.NEW YORK WILL TAXS ALL YOUR MONEY AWAY AND MAKE YOU THINK ITS GOOD FOR YOU.BUTT IT IS NOT GOOD AT ALL. WE WILL NEVER HERT ARE FAMLYS BY TACKING THEM THER AT ALL. OR PAY THE NEWYORK TAXS.
YOU & YOUR FAMLY WILL DO BETTER IN THE WEST. EVERYTHING IN THE WEST IS BETTER .GOD BLESS THE WEST. FOR THE WEST IS THE BEST.
Been to NYC a few times…. hands down the most overrated city on the planet, and I’ve been all over. That whole state, minus a few places waaaaaay up north, can totally suck my balls. I was stationed in Ft. Drum for a little over a year, the most of which I thankfully spent in Afghanistan. Yeah, getting shot at and not drinking for a year was more pleasant than living in NY. Anyhow, the snow sucks, the women are ugly (for the most part), and their gun laws are akin to 1940′s Germany. Fuck any state that gets away with basically BANNING the 2nd Amendment (for all intents and purposes). I was in the motherfucking ARMY and they wouldn’t let me TOUCH a handgun at Gander Mountain without one of their “Pistol Permits.” Needless to say, I am embarrassed that NY is even part of our great nation. Boston… GREAT city, awesome people (minus the hippies), and a real soul. NYC… devoid of anything resembling a soul. In conclusion, fuck a donkey, New York.
so no guns no happiness? I think u belong in iran or irak.
Ugh I hate New York. I’ve never been to NYC, or “The City” as its denizens call it (just another example of their arrogance), but I’ve lived in NY almost my entire life and I go to a state school in Albany. That means 70% of the people I meet are from NYC. In short, they’re assholes. They seem to think that every little thing they do for another person deserves an emphatic thanking, they’re always trying to impress someone, they’re always following some kind of trend or stereotype, and most of the chicks are either orange, ugly, or both. Not only are the people horrible, but the weather is blah most of the year, the taxes are insane, and the only beaches we have are cold most of the year. That’s not a beach as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, I’m stuck here until I can find a good enough school somewhere else (One thing we have is a good education system), but I’m out of here as soon as I do. Bring on the beach, bring on the waves, bring on the heat, the babes, and everything else you southerners/westerners enjoy!
NY is an over rated cesspool where no plain working folk can exist. It’s just a playground for self centered aspirers and embittered lonely old lefty socialist upper west side types. Park Slope in Brooklyn is the epicenter of neurotic child centered parenting where little spoiled Morgans and Sams are coddled by rich condescending yups who pretend to be down with this bullshit multiculturalism. Not to mention the unlivable crowded third-world enclaves in Brooklyn and Queens. Get over yourselves, restaurants ain’t everything.
I visited Manhattan and Coney Island twice, in summer 2008 and 2009. Sort of enjoyed it, but I went there just for the tour destinations like world renowned museums and of course Coney Island.
Unfortunately, Manhattan brims with palpable “I’m better than you” arrogance. I count myself as a nice, even-tempered man in his 30′s. I guess being from Utah seem obvious to New Yorkers who might frown upon “niceness” as an undesirable personality trait.
One thing to note as a visitor/tourist, DON’T TAKE black livery taxi cabs. If you take a yellow taxi cab, observe and document with a cell phone camera before paying fare and tipping; watch the fare. A punjab ripped me off $120 for 2 miles. I reported him to NYC TLC. It’s been several months and the case hasn’t even been processed in judicial matter because I was told the system is backlogged. Hurrah.
I gave a young freshman student who prides himself being from NYC a ripping for leaving the empty glass of chocolate milk on MY table while I waited for a friend to arrive at college cafeteria. He sat chattering with his friends. These New Yorkers are incredibly rude and inconsiderate, and should be rebuked at opportune time when they behave idiotic with self-perpetuating stereotype of New Yorker as haughty, aloof, self-entitled asshole.
Despite the attitude problem, a few vegan restaurants in Manhattan are fantastic. And don’t bother with visiting strip clubs, they gouge with $20 cover fee, plus $10 drinks (even a shot of rum or a beer bottle), and smug attitude by club operators, bouncers and hostesses who demand better-than-average tip. The dancers don’t seem well, either.
New York City’s number one motive is money, whether it is tourist industry revenue, fleecing, or plain old mugging. City never sleeps while your wallet is plundered empty by businesses’ shady deals. And gotta love NYC as a gun control central, where if you’re an average joe, no luck…only the rich, famous and politically connected will have premise and carry permit.
New York City needs an overhaul by weeding out the corrupt & seedy elements (I spotted illegal bestiality porno at a nondescript video shop in TriBiCa district) and beautifying the streets through investment of allocated tax dollars.
New York has always been known to be rough abrasive place. I left it long ago, but a lot of people from other places want to be there. My girlfriend that I met in my new city wanted to go there, I told her we will go to Paris instead, yes NYers make Parisians look polite. I also hate the fact that everything you get in NYC is always more expensive than just about anywhere else on this planet. I cannot stand living in a place where a little outing can easily make you $100 poorer.
NY Pizza btw is overrated. Big gigantic, too much cheese and oil. Best pizza I ever had was in the Ferry Building in SF. The only place that makes good pizza in the East is Pittsburgh, a placed called Primanti Bros.
I’m actually in NYC right now on a business trip and I keep asking myself “what’s the deal with this place?” It truly, truly sucks! Overpriced, overrated, and overpopulated with smug, rude, screw-you-pal-I’m-in-a-hurry-types who don’t smile. In fact, I never one person smile once the whole time I was here. I feel so bad for anyone that lives in this city because they pay out the ass to live in what’s basically a wack-assed sewer town. Here’s what annoys me the most: the other night, my colleagues and I went out to a restaurant that was no more than 2 miles from our hotel. After walking, and walking, then walking some more, we took a subway. Then we walked, and walked, and walked some more. Finally, we arrived at the restaurant. When I asked my colleague how far we actually went (it seemed like Canada, seriously) he said we traveled about 2 miles. Two miles? Seriously? And THAT is the problem. It takes a decade to get anywhere in this town and with an enormous amount of energy expended to boot. Oh, and the weather is brutal too. I’m a proud resident of Los Angeles, and I must say I can’t wait to get back to my car, our sunshine, our (yeah, crowded) freeways, and getting to where I need to go in a timely fashion. Yep, fuck New York. But you knew that was comin’.
I hate this place, nothing is close to sane or normal here. I’m in town for work, I HAVE to be here. Trust me, I would be more than happy to stay away from your stinking island if I could but I have bills to pay. I left CA with just enough of my prescriptions to get through the original meeting schedule. Because of a request to extend, I’m here til next Tuesday. I figure, no big deal, they have CVS here so I’ll just go get enough to get me through the last 4 days. Oh no! Not in NY! Whereas I have been able to fill my prescriptions in other states without so much as a sneeze, in NY it is “prohibited by law.” Their suggestion? Go to an ER and ask a doc to write a prescription because my doc in CA is “prohibited by law” to phone in a script in NY. Sure, pay $500.00 to get a 4 day supply of pills. Makes sense… to these fucked up morons I guess. I’m with ya C, Tuesday can’t get here fast enough to get me back to decent weather, clean (compared to NY) streets and less daily shit.
New Yorkers are like locusts. They destroy their state and then move to other states to wreak havoc on them. Please, all New Yorkers, leave the beautiful state of Florida and return to your homeland. Any potential New York transplants to Florida should know that our state sucks. It is one of the worst states in the union to live in, so go to West Virginia instead. How one city can produce so many total asshats is beyond me.
I HATE NEW YORK!! What is with the rotten personality of that place?? The people are GOD AWFUL! That’s why I took off at 17 years old and never went back. Seems normal behavior there is the opposite of other places (except the midwest). Rude, crude, out of line, obnoxiuos and classless. Never mind the weather too, misery…the only good thing out of there is the food.
Ok first of all – I agree that New York does in fact suck. I live here but realize that the state is one of the largest in the country and yes the majority live in the shit hole city. There are plenty of “nice friendly” people throughout the entire state. I live as away from that sewer and still in the state. What really sucks is that all of our area’s gas and electric goes east to support that hole. And yes we still get to pay all the high taxes that New York is famous for. Our housing here is certainly much lower but the job market is slim- mostly farm land and simple type folks here. So bottom line is please make it clear that these assholes you are referring too are from or in the city, not the rest of the state. I actually tell people I am from Pa instead of NY because when you say NY they automatically think of the rude arrogant NY city type and it pisses me off. I wish they would make that septic tank its own state and leave the rest of the good people alone. Dont even get me started on them fucking Yankee fans !
GET OUT OF NEWYORK FOR YOUER OWN HELTH. THE HIGH TEXS & THE FOOD & THE PEOPLE WILL KILL YOU OR MAKE YOU SICK IN YOUR HEAD. THE WEST IS THE BEST! DO NOT FORGIT THAT! LOVE THE WEST. FOR GOD BLESS THE WEST
Thank you, THE WEST (but…)
Just spent a day driving the tiny roads of New Mexico and Arizona. Awesome. Walked into the town store in Quemado, NM, me in a loud shirt and ponytail, said “hello” to the rancher in his cowboy hat chatting up the girl at the register, and we had a nice conversation about the best roads in the area and the blessed rain. Ranchers and ‘hippies’ are traditional enemies, but one hello and that’s all history. Just a couple of guys passing the time.
So, THE WEST, your point is well taken. (Although in Kansas I was constantly surprised by just how dang friendly everyone was. Uncanny.) On top of that you’ve managed to make me do something no other commenter has ever done. I’m asking you politely to please give it a rest. If you have new stories to tell that others might find interesting, by all means share them (though perhaps you should get that caps lock key fixed first), but otherwise I think you’ve already convinced all the people you’re going to convince.
Come all the way west to the west side.We call it California wher the weather is fun in the sun.The beachs are clean & cool. Free from the east taxs. California ther is taxs. The highs taxs is the gas & the pot but the pot hits the spot and it do not make your teeth rot.The tobacco taxs is high but it is about $3.00 to $5.50 a pack. And I wish that all the girl wher California girl.The people are nice but not all of them. Just when you come hear leve the east and the Newyork attitude behind and you will be fine. And if you go moor west cross the cool pacific ocean you will find Hawaiian islands is a lot of fun to and good for your helth to. Hawaii is over tax. But that is ok it is island. If you go moor west leve the U.S ther is Japan or Thailand. Thailand is cheep Japan is not. So go to the west it is the best. Good bless the west. p.s boycott NewYork and it taxs. Thank you. and have a nice day. Good by.
Recently the quality of comments on this post has been so low that I’ve considered not allowing any more of them. Then every once in a while a really good one comes in, and that makes it worth it.
Semi-literate ravers, please don’t bother anymore. There’s already plenty of barely-coherent blather on both sides.
I just deleted a couple of comments that I’m pretty sure were spam, even though they did touch on the subject of the post. I might have just removed the email and web addresses if the comments weren’t also incoherent screeching. If you’re going to spam, at least do it with dignity.
Can we also talk about how if you’re from upstate NY, you’re not considered a “real” New Yorker, but downstate Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Knicks, etc. fans want you to side with “their” (as if each individual who uses the possessive “my” were in fact the owner of the team in question) sports teams solely because of the geographic proximity? When the team is not playing, downstate New Yorkers are shit-talking about upstate both behind their backs and to their faces. To their credit, I do not have this problem with Buffalo Bills fans, although their city is a washed-up has-been which could be blamed on downstate, as there is secessionist talk all over western New York. Back to the “real” New Yorker attitude, at Siena College, or S(ucks) I(n) E(verything) N(eeded) A(t) College, in Loudonville, New York, I ended up saying words I never thought would come out of my mouth in my home state, “I’m from New York myself.”
Wow there’s a lot of venom towards NYC! I’m actually an Australian thinking of vacationing in the U.S.A next year for about 18 days and am figuring out where to go when over there.
I’ve never been to America and NYC and L.A are a must-see due to both being very famous places, but having googled ‘NYC Sucks’ and ‘L.A Sucks’ on a whim to get a proper perspective (the one the brochures don’t give you) it’s been quite eye opening!
I’ll still check out NYC but am thinking now I’ll check out places like Long Island and Staton Island for the most part. I’ve decided the Grand Canyon is a must do also so that will definitely reduce the time I was going to allocate to NY. I’m glad this site is here, as I said it’s been quite eye opening, and I’d hate to have planned 10 days or so in NY like was the first intention, right now it’s shrunk to 3 or 4!.
The combination of growing up in a rural area in the hills outside of Albany, NY, and moving to the Bronx to go to college and work for 5 years thereafter gave me a glimpse of life both inside and outside New York City. I have not lived in any other state, so the differences may not be as stark to me as they are for others.
Much of the bile here seems fueled by bad travel experiences, shattered dreams of a glamorous life, and encounters with subhuman NY expats and tourists (sports fans, generally). I doubt the first category could be used to accurately characterize any municipality, while the second type has problems more personal than social. In the case of the third, they probably drown out the other NY expats who don’t act as though their shit doesn’t stink because they are too busy trying to lead worthwhile lives like everyone else worth caring about.
Living neither as a millionaire yuppie or ditch-dweller is possible here, though it’s easier in the outer boroughs. Just as anywhere else, you can carve out a real life by visiting the same places and talking to the same people enough. Being a regular at a good bar often results in every fourth drink being on the house, supposing you are known by the bartenders to tip on the north side of standard.
The difference is in the surroundings. Don’t expect manners or assistance from strangers, but you can similarly discount interference. The bums might get pushy, but nowhere else can you shout them down when they become so without prolonged staring from passersby. With a population of more than eight and a half million within city limits and more than 18 million in its metropolitan area (two thirds of the countries in the world have less population) and thus closely under its cultural influence, calling it a “bubble” compared to other towns, cities, and states is somewhat ironically arrogant, as is the notion that it can simply and uniformly “suck.”
In short, living here as an average person is the only way to know about it. If you worry about the way strangers treat you and the impressions you leave upon them, this isn’t the place for you. If you can mentally (and sometimes verbally) tell them to go fuck themselves, you’ll have more time to get on with your life and enjoy the cultural, culinary, and social opportunities the city has to offer.