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Have lived in Brooklyn for over twenty years. New York now looks better than it has since I moved here. Still, it doesn't matter. I loved Brooklyn twenty years ago, because you had the city and affordable housing and the riff-raff, but mainly because the city was quieter then. You could walk out on a Sunday morning and feel like you have the city to yourself. Now by 10am the sidewalks are congested. Guess I'm just bummed everyone has discovered what I knew for years.
There IS crime on the Upper East side...it just isn't as sensational as other goings on, so it's less publicized.
If you dislike NYC so much, why don't you leave instead of spewing your envy, bile and vitriole here?
I was born in Manhattan and have lived here practically my entire life, with short breaks for other places. There is NOTHING that even comes close to NYC with respect to cultural opportunities, the myriad of things to do, restaurants, and, yes, the huge demographic mix. Every city...NO - every COMMUNITY has it's problems. Those of NYC are outweighed by its positive aspects. If you can't find it in New York, it doesn't exist!
There is little violent crime on the Upper East Side. Then and now. This is why I mentioned a broken car window.
As for disliking NYC. I do, and yes I want to leave. As for Manhattan being the "best". You need to leave NYC. I have been to many cities which offer pretty much the exact same things. Food and clothing within walking distance. A nice selection too. Public transportation. More then enough things to do. All for cheaper, so you can actually afford to do different things and work less.
It's all in the name. Overhyped, Overpriced, Overrated.
Why is everybody saying it costs so much to have fun in NYC?
There are tons of free or close to free things to do that are perfectly enjoyable:
- Free nights at museums (or the many museums that are either free or have a "pay-what-you-can" admission, such as the wonderful Met)
- Tons of parks with buskers, entertainers, etc. - that costs absolutely nothing
- Exploring ethnic neighborhoods...travel at its cheapest
- NYC has a ton of inexpensive ethnic restaurants in almost any cuisine imaginable
This list of "cheap and free" things to do is oriented towards visitors to NYC, but many of the things on it apply perfectly as well to residents.
If your requirement for "having fun" requires hanging out at chic bars and restaurants with celebrities and the upper class, or dancing until the sun comes up in the Meatpacking District's hottest new club, than maybe you'll need a thick wallet. But otherwise, there is an endless list of things to do that cost nothing or almost nothing...
Why is everybody saying it costs so much to have fun in NYC?
When your putting out 2500 dollars a month towards your rent, you have to work more to surivive. Living cost are HIGH as well. $3 dollar subway soon. $3.50-4.00 two years after that. A higher price for food and personal items. You enjoy your freetime less.
Never in my life have I lived in the UES. And yes I have been a victim of crime (armed robbery). So please spare me your rants about who you might think I am.
I used to live in the East Village, and this was an area that was previously untouchable due to the crime. I remember Williamsburg back in the days of a Puerto Rican Ghetto (as well as Alphabet City).
This is a much nicer city to live in. I concede it is expensive to live here, but this trend is much better for New York.
Think of Detroit, or other American cities where everyone flees to the suburbs. IF by 'real' you mean middle class, I saw them flee the crime back in the 70s and 80s all to live in the suburbs. They are not interested in the city's future. As much as I hate to say it, those yuppies and rich people are what reviltalized the city.
Think of Detroit, or other American cities where everyone flees to the suburbs. IF by 'real' you mean middle class, I saw them flee the crime back in the 70s and 80s all to live in the suburbs. They are not interested in the city's future. As much as I hate to say it, those yuppies and rich people are what reviltalized the city.
I think instead of attracting yuppies and rich people, NYC should aim towards attracting the middle class and keeping it here. Then, the middle class will learn to sustain itself. I predict that in 50 years, New Yorkers will be pushed out for good
I grew up in Eastchester, NY which is a thirty-minute train ride from Grand Central. We spent a lot of time in 'the city' (or just plain 'New York) I had an apartment between First and Second on 90th Street. I love the city and have to go back once a year to visit family and have a fix. (Museum, show, walk-around, etc.)
We are retired now and can't return to NY because the taxes wouldn't be too kind on our fixed income. COL is pretty high and we don't want to end up with too much month at the end of our money.
And most New Yorkers aren't rude. Narcissistic, self-obsessed and ultra-competitive, but not rude.
Most of any place isn't rude. But NY is filled with more rude people than any place in the world, whether that is a factor of it being so highly populated and dense or something else..
New York was my home for the first 30 years of my life. To this very day, I can pick the transplants and suburbanites out of a typical Manhattan crowd, because growing up in the city shapes and chisels you into something that stands apart from everything and everyone else.
New Yorkers are adaptable, self-reliant and wary. You can't pull the wool over a born-and-bred New Yorker's eyes- he won't let you get close enough. The tolerance, street-smarts, worldliness and confidence is obvious in the way a New Yorker walks and talks. We're at our best when things are at their worst because hey, we're NEW YORKERS! We can deal with anything that's thrown in our paths because anything and everything is thrown at us every single day of our lives, living in a city that's just about the center of the world. Other Americans look at New Yorkers with a mix of awe, envy and loathing. They want to be us, but they hate us because we make them uneasy. Maybe it's our suspicious natures. Maybe it's the tough outer shell. Love us or hate us, we grew up at the center of it all. Museums. Art Galleries. Restaurants. Skyscrapers. Night life. We seem to have it all. Don't we?
Well we must, because everyone who dreams of making something of themselves dreams of doing it in New York. Sometimes I wonder whether there aren't more Midwesterners in Manhattan than there are in Tulsa, or Topeka, or Omaha. And it's not just other Americans who come here. Immigrants from all over come to New York and settle in their little cultural pockets. Hey, it's New York. The great Melting Pot. The brightest and best city in the world!
So why do people on this forum get so down on New York? Because we've lived here. We've seen what lays beyond the veneer that outsiders see when they look in and we don't like it- not one little bit. It's like the "perfect family" in your neighborhood. Everyone has one. They look like they have the perfect life- great jobs, beautiful house, kids making straight A's, little Johnny's captain of the football team, BMWs in the driveway. But behind closed doors, dad's an alcoholic, mom's banging the mailman, little straigt-A Suzy's cutting her wrists because dad and mom work constantly and don't give her the love and attention she wants and needs and little Johnny's dealing weed as a side business. New York is the SAME WAY. Behind the Broadway shows, Central Park, booming nightlife, wealth of jobs and cultural diversity lies a city that's pushing out its middle class, becoming SO overcrowded that ugly disasters of architecture are replacing historical sites and green spaces, a traffic NIGHTMARE because people insist on owning 3 or 4 cars in a city with extensive public transportation and often shops within a 5 minute walk, an abominable public school system and little money spared for the people who deserve it most- TEACHERS, POLICE OFFICERS and FIREFIGHTERS (and all the other hardworking city workers who get the shaft).
New York. A great place to visit. An awesome place to grow up in (at least it was, when I was growing up). Over hyped. Overpriced. Overcrowded. Most native New Yorkers are moving on towards greener pastures. As for me, yes, I love New York for what it is. For what it was. I'm not sure what it will be, but it doesn't matter anymore, because like all the rest of the middle class I've been priced out of my home and moved on. You need to remember that with anyplace you move, you need to have a clear perspective of what you're getting into. There are positives and negatives that NEED to be seen clearly- not through rose-tinted lenses. Beware, and don't fall for the hype.
I really think she gets NY. it is exactly how I see NY. I'm surprised that no one gave her qudos
She is so right about how NY really is. Only thing is... I hate NY for the above where she loves it. Wow I give her alot of credit. Sorry, if I could move I would do it in a heart beat but its not so easy.
lastly, the comment made about architecture here. True too! there was a very famouse architect who actually loved to VISIT the city in his liftime but said "one box on top of another and the place where the window is the exponentent to the "N" th degree". Very true again. People have lost sight what a city should be. That is why I want to move.
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