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Have a camera around their neck and/or a map firmly in hand
Automatically pronounce the street in lower Manhattan as HYOOS-ton (it's actually HOUSE-ton, it was named for an 18th century merchant, and it's a lot older than the city in Texas!)
Refer to "the" subway, as though you can get on any train and it'll take you precisely where you want to go.
Visit New York more than once, but not set foot off the island of Manhattan
I can't believe no one has mentioned this. I used to refer to the subways, like 1/2/3 as the red line and 4/5/6 as the green line. My native New Yorker girlfriend at the time told me that New Yorkers don't do that. But why not?
123 - 7th Avenue Line because it travels through 7th Ave in midtown
456 - Lexington Line because it travels through Lexington Ave in midtown before Park Ave
I can't believe no one has mentioned this. I used to refer to the subways, like 1/2/3 as the red line and 4/5/6 as the green line. My native New Yorker girlfriend at the time told me that New Yorkers don't do that. But why not?
Atsushi
Because this isn't Boston. We don't have lines named after colors. A lot of older natives still refer to the BMT, IRT, IND or the "name/destination" of the train, the New Lots line, the Rockaway Park Shuttle, the Far Rockaway train. Otherwise, the trains are referred to by their number or letter names.
- Walking slowly, carrying a map, camera and backpack
- Wearing sports paraphernalia of non-NY teams such as the New Orleans Saints
- Going to Magnolia Bakery or speaking foreign language, specifically a language from Europe
Biggest problem I've noticed:
- Confusing the N/Q train headed to Brooklyn across the bridge for the R train going to downtown Manhattan at Canal Street
I can't believe no one has mentioned this. I used to refer to the subways, like 1/2/3 as the red line and 4/5/6 as the green line. My native New Yorker girlfriend at the time told me that New Yorkers don't do that. But why not?
Atsushi
Because like all the trains in NYC, the 1/2/3, despite all being the same color, go to different places! If you hop on a 1 train, thinking "oh, it's a red line!" and expect to go to Brooklyn, you'd be a bit angry when your "red line" train stops at South Ferry in Manhattan and goes no further.
Because like all the trains in NYC, the 1/2/3, despite all being the same color, go to different places! If you hop on a 1 train, thinking "oh, it's a red line!" and expect to go to Brooklyn, you'd be a bit angry when your "red line" train stops at South Ferry in Manhattan and goes no further.
Precisely. The colors only indicate that the trains share the same track at some point, usually in Midtown or Lower Manhattan. So telling someone to take the Red line somewhere isn't really helpful.
6 people all wearing the same stupid custom tee shirt.
also, those same 6 people walking 6 abreast down the street, super sllllloooooooow.
I am a native new yorker , and I swear by my Streetwise maps when trekking through Chinatown. Sorry, just cant get the layout down there some times.
Even better, they are following someone holding some kind of flag on a tall stick to help them stay together. I see this all the time downtown.
The slow people blocking the sidewalk traffic is one of my biggest teeth-grinders.
But I have a question in line with this topic: What about all those Children International and Greenpeace kids who step into your path at rush hour and ask you if you have "just a few minutes" to talk about children or the environment? Do they import them from Iowa or something? They all have that oh-so-friendly fake smile and THEY HAVE THE NERVE TO STAND IN YOUR PATH AT RUSH HOUR AND TRY TO GET YOU TO TALK TO THEM!
I tried to explain nicely to one once that talking to him for a couple of minutes means I miss my train, and when I miss that train, there is no other train home for another 50 minutes, so in effect, his "few minutes" means almost an hour to me. He just kept up with the zombie grin and said, "It will really only take a couple of minutes...". I just laughed and shook my head and continued walking.
I'm a NYC native and you can always tell who's not from the city/outer boros because they never keep up with the foot traffic! Like, helloooo...it's rush hour....there are tons of people sharing the same sidewalk as you...now is NOT the time to stop dead in your tracks to take a picture of some building! It kind of causes a human pile-up.
Oh - another give away for me is when people say the "city" and they think it means all 5 boros. I don't know about other natives but when I say the "city" I mean Manhattan only. If I'm referring to another boro I'm going to specifically say The Bronx or Brooklyn, etc.
Out of towners don't seem to understand that "downtown" isn't the city center - it's the actual geographic location of part of the island. "You're going to take the A train heading downtown."
In other cities they say downtown and it means the hub of the city. Not here. The whole city is a hub!
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