Review of NYC (New York, Pelham, Hudson: middle-class, houses, neighborhood)

[Malkiel]

I just visited NYC for a vacation and it was a very interesting experience. I think it's overrated due to the number of shows about it (Sex & City, GG). Seinfeld's actually a more realistic overview of NY although it's not set in Manhattan.

The Good:

-Broadway, the shows are awesome
-Nightlife, Times Square is filled with people at night
-Lots of museums and Zoos
-Lots of sun
-Cheap Taxi.

The Bad:

-Wealth Inequality, parts of NYC look like slums (Queens and etc.) while the other areas are super-rich (more limos than a HS prom, BMW 7s and Mercedes Ss everywhere).
-Garbage, they are everywhere! There are plastic bags hanging from tree branches.
-Food, they are cheap but not very tasty. The only difference between the cheap and expensive restaurants is that the latter has smaller servings.
-Too many tall buildings in Manhattan, not enough greenery. Central park is actually pretty small compared to ones in Vancouver
-Bad weather, I was there about a week ago so there's not a lot of snow but the air is too dry. I had to use lotions on my hands... I never had to do that before in Vancouver. There's way too much wind, almost as much as when I was skiing in Vancouver.
-Smog.
-Bad Asian food, perverted to adapt to Western tastes. Not enough of an Asian population to maintain the authentic tastes.

Neutral:

-Lack of Asians, I'm Asian and there's just not enough Asians in NY. For example I was visiting the Empire State Building and I was probably the only Asian there at the time. I'm from Vancouver and the population distribution is like NYC except you have to replace all the coloured people with Asians.

Overall:

I would visit there for entertainment and doing business (I heard the job opportunities are good) but it's not very livable. Just doesn't feel good living there.

[nei]

Queens has more Asians than Black people. A lot of Queens is a bit grimey looking but only a few areas are ghetto or slum-like.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by Malkiel

-Food, they are cheap but not very tasty. The only difference between the cheap and expensive restaurants is that the latter has smaller servings.

Its not like you've been to many places to have a large enough sample size to make this generalization. I'd bet you haven't been to 0.000001% of the places that offer food. New York offers some of the best food in the world, this is a fact... by any metric.

-Too many tall buildings in Manhattan, not enough greenery. Central park is actually pretty small compared to ones in Vancouver

Not enough greenery? What the hell? You came here during the winter. Oh and by the way, Central Park is nowhere close to being the biggest park in NYC. Pelham Bay park is over 6 times bigger than Vancouver's Stanley park, but you wouldn't know that since you haven't visited much of the city.

-Bad weather, I was there about a week ago so there's not a lot of snow but the air is too dry. I had to use lotions on my hands... I never had to do that before in Vancouver. There's way too much wind, almost as much as when I was skiing in Vancouver.

Bad weather? Dry air? Come here in the summer and you will see how "dry" our air is.

-Bad Asian food, perverted to adapt to Western tastes. Not enough of an Asian population to maintain the authentic tastes.

New York City has the largest Asian population outside of Asia and there are more Asians here than there are in Vancouver. Most of them barely speak English and are first and second generation immigrants too. Hows that for "not enough of an Asian population to maintain the authentic tastes"?

Whatever seems to be the case, your perceptions and experiences were different than the facts.

[Design7]

You saw New York City as a tourist and. most likely, fell prey to the typical tourist traps that do not represent or show the best the city has to offer. New York has some of the best Chinese food in the states. You just have to know where to go. NYC can look pretty drab during the winter and comes to life in the spring. Give yourself another opportunity to get to know NYC. It's worth it!

[bn1]

Originally Posted by Malkiel

I just visited NYC for a vacation and it was a very interesting experience. I think it's overrated due to the number of shows about it (Sex & City, GG). Seinfeld's actually a more realistic overview of NY although it's not set in Manhattan.

The Good:

-Broadway, the shows are awesome
-Nightlife, Times Square is filled with people at night
-Lots of museums and Zoos
-Lots of sun
-Cheap Taxi.

The Bad:

-Wealth Inequality, parts of NYC look like slums (Queens and etc.) while the other areas are super-rich (more limos than a HS prom, BMW 7s and Mercedes Ss everywhere).
-Garbage, they are everywhere! There are plastic bags hanging from tree branches.
-Food, they are cheap but not very tasty. The only difference between the cheap and expensive restaurants is that the latter has smaller servings.
-Too many tall buildings in Manhattan, not enough greenery. Central park is actually pretty small compared to ones in Vancouver
-Bad weather, I was there about a week ago so there's not a lot of snow but the air is too dry. I had to use lotions on my hands... I never had to do that before in Vancouver. There's way too much wind, almost as much as when I was skiing in Vancouver.
-Smog.
-Bad Asian food, perverted to adapt to Western tastes. Not enough of an Asian population to maintain the authentic tastes.

Neutral:

-Lack of Asians, I'm Asian and there's just not enough Asians in NY. For example I was visiting the Empire State Building and I was probably the only Asian there at the time. I'm from Vancouver and the population distribution is like NYC except you have to replace all the coloured people with Asians.

Overall:

I would visit there for entertainment and doing business (I heard the job opportunities are good) but it's not very livable. Just doesn't feel good living there.

It sounds like you hit the touristy hot spots. Did you hit the Lower East Side, West Village, or Koreatown? Harlem and the Cloisters? The Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th, Gray's Papaya hot dogs, Lombardi's pizza, etc? The Meatball Shoppe in LES, Burger&Barrel in SoHo, East Village? Or just dine at a fine NY steakhouse like Ben& Jacks (Ruth's Chris and Morton's don't count). These regions get plenty of tourists nowadays too, but they're going to give you a better experience of NYC than Times Square. I'm not even listing 0.01% of the STELLAR eats all around Manhattan and the other boroughs, cheap or pricey.

Try Koreantown on 32nd and Broadway or the Yakitori and Ramen houses around St. Mark's Place, or venture into Queens - Jackson Heights and Flushing. TONS of Asians. Way more than Vancouver or even Toronto. Probably topped by the Bay Area (for Chinese) or LA (for Korean) only. That's also where you'll find authentic Asian cuisine or great Korean Fried Chicken or ramen - Queens or across the GWB in Fort Lee and Palisades Park, New Jersey where you'll find the most dense Korean population outside of Korea. Notice I didn't even mention Chinatown.

[Cogita Ante Scribis]

Originally Posted by Malkiel

Just doesn't feel good living there.

It's absolutely horrible. That's exactly why nobody wants to live here. Most of the time, this place is actually completely empty; but when the occasional tourist from Vancouver arrives, they bring out the convicts that were sentenced to walk around town as if people actually lived here...

NYC is not for everyone, we all know that; but I was here as a tourist in 1988 and 2006, and it was nothing like living here (which I have been since last year). Living here is absolutely awesome; well, except for those annoying tourists from Vancouver...

[HAC NY]

Your observations are rather strange (and mostly false)

I'm almost certain you didn't venture much outside of Midtown Manhattan. Remember, Midtown Manhattan is the largest CBD in the United States, it's not meant to be green. It's about money/corporations, entertainment, fine dining and shopping. Downtown Vancouver isn't really green either (just dotted with hideous infamous Vancouver highrises).

Also, Central Park is nowhere near the largest park in New York City. And FYI, New York City has the largest % of parkland compared to any other city United States contrary to popular belief.

New York City has the largest Asian population in the United States, far more than Vancouver so I'm not of what to make of your observations regarding NYC's alleged lack of Asians.

Wealth inequality. Yes, all NYC caliber cities (London, Paris) suffer from large wealth inequality. They are all attract the world's immigrants and the world's elite. Nothing new. All those glamorous scenes and luxury cars you see come along with being a world city. You'd never see that in Vancouver as the wealth level there is rather low, whereas no region on planet earth holds as much wealth as the NYC region. Generally, Manhattan = rich, the outer-boroughs are more working class while the vast majority of middle-class class and above people in the region live in the suburbs not in the city proper.

Too many tall buildings? LOL. Imagine Manhattan without tall buildings...tall buildings are the strongest part of NYC's identity. What did you expect Manhattan to look like? The suburbs? A prairie?

And regarding livability, far more people live in NYC than in Vancouver so clearly many people find NYC livable. I've been to Vancouver three times and would rather drown myself in the Hudson River than live there. Hate it.

[ohiogirl22]

I think its hysterical that you think there aren't many asians here. I attend school here and in some of my classes I am the only white girl amongst the Koreans, Taiwanese, Chinese and a few Japanese people at my school.

-Wealth Inequality, parts of NYC look like slums (Queens and etc.) while the other areas are super-rich (more limos than a HS prom, BMW 7s and Mercedes Ss everywhere).

Perhaps Cuba would suit your "equal distribution of wealth" needs better...

[StreetBAller85]

hahahaha im like the only non-asian person in my neighborhood

i cant believe you said queens looks like slums

and times square was listed as nightlife




this has to be a joke

[NYChistorygal]

Originally Posted by StreetBAller85

hahahaha im like the only non-asian person in my neighborhood

i cant believe you said queens looks like slums

and times square was listed as nightlife




this has to be a joke

I agree. And a bad one at that.