New Yorkers - friendly or not?! (money, business, cities)

[ohiogirl22]

being a transplant i love when ppl ask me for directions! the other day two boys asked me "what party of the city are we in?" and i told them Chelsea. I thought it was kinda sweet

[Chelsa1075]

You know what the funny thing is...NYers have to defend themselves all the time about whether they are nice or not. I get "wow you were born and raised in NY" all the time. Those rude people you encounter for the most part are not from NY per se - they are both from foreign countries and other states, PA, CT, NJ and think they have to be nasty to survive here. Don't get me wrong NYers can take nasty to the next level, but I think that is anywhere. I don't get what is bad about wanting to get what you have to do done. How is this bad? I wouldn't go to another state or country and ask someone during rush hour to take my picture out of common courtesy. I mean if you are genuinely lost, of course ask someone for directions somewhere. I live here and sometimes when I come out of the train in Times Square, I have no idea which way I want to go and I have never had someone be rude when I asked which way is 6th or what have you. If it is common for things like this to happen to you as an individual than I have to say that is just really bad luck of the draw on the people you are conversing with. I have never had that happen to me once any where, not here or any of the places I have visited. Sometimes people genuinely don't know the places you are looking for and what can you do. I think you get what you what you give off - if you come off nasty or with a sense of self entitlement, you will be treated accordingly. I'm going to agree with Fred on the secret - NYers really aren't mean and rude like people think, but don't rub us the wrong way. It can get a little hairy then.

[nyiloveyou10]

People are definately not mean, they're busy. I lived in Boston for a while and I find New Yorkers shockingly friendlier and less pretentious than Bostonians. New Yorkers are much more diverse and accepting, therefore friendlier than parochial homogenized Bostonians.

[ElysianEagle]

well i was there for the past 4 days visiting and i happened to take the trains and subways for a bit. everytime i had questions or was lost i had no problem asking someone and everyone was always very friendly and went out of their way to make sure that i was able to get to where i wanted to go...

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by nyiloveyou10

People are definately not mean, they're busy. I lived in Boston for a while and I find New Yorkers shockingly friendlier and less pretentious than Bostonians. New Yorkers are much more diverse and accepting, therefore friendlier than parochial homogenized Bostonians.

I was reading something not long ago that made sense. New Yorkers tend to get to the point in their conversational style, not being people to waste time and couch things in extra words. They aren't rude, but to someone from where things are done and said differently, they may be perceived as so.

[clevedark]

Yes I agree. It can be jarring to people elsewhere. I had to learn to add an extra paragraph of speech before I got to the point when I moved to Mass. Oddly enough, even with all these extra words, we have to infer more, because it's just not done to clearly state your desires/plans/requests.

[nycricanpapi]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I was reading something not long ago that made sense. New Yorkers tend to get to the point in their conversational style, not being people to waste time and couch things in extra words. They aren't rude, but to someone from where things are done and said differently, they may be perceived as so.

That is true. For example, when someone said Hi to me in VA Beach. I did not want to say Hi, because I did not know that person. Hence, the person thought I was being rude by not saying hi back. However, now I am starting to say hi

[max's mama]

New Yorkers are friendly, but just too stressed out and it can come off as rude sometimes. They need more sunshine and vitamin D to fix it. Environment has a lot to do with an attitude.

Also, working in the city is tough, and they are always in the rush, but there are tourists everywhere. It's like Ellen Degeneres said once: New York needs a fast lane and a slow lane for pedestrians. I remember I worked in fashion district and would buy coffee at Pret, the lines would move so quick and I would be out of there in a minute, but friendly slow-paced tourists would slow up the line sometimes and everyone would get annoyed...but it's not because we are mean! We are just in a rush! I understand you are on vacation and have nowhere to go, but we do! Anyway, now I live in Florida and now I'm the one who has to adjust to slower lines in Publix.

[Chelsa1075]

That is kinda rude - LOL...if someone says hello to me and I don't know them, I would still say hello...all the while thinking, why the hell is he/she saying hello LOL!

[Design7]

Well, I was born and raised in New York, but have spent a few years in two southwestern cities, Albuquerque, NM and Phoenix, AZ. The quality of service you get in most NYC stores is pretty low, but I find people on the street can be very helpful. To the point. But helpful.

Albuquerque, and New Mexico in general, is one of the friendliest places in the US. I have had some extraordinary kindness was shown to me that I've never experienced anywhere else in the US. Phoenix is a city of strangers and sprang up much like the old gold rush towns. Rather than say anything bad about Phoenix, I will say this. It made me appreciate New York City.

NYC is not the best nor the worst when it comes to rudeness. Given its size and nature it does pretty darn well for itself.

Mod cut: off topic.