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I know all the cab drivers honk a lot and are very impatient but are the sidewalks really full of busy people walking very fast and not stopping for anything like you see on TV and in the movies? I mean, sometimes it seems like the pace is a little slower and that people are just taking their time and are in no hurry. Anyway, I'm just looking for some locals' opinions. I'm just curious, because I love fast-paced cities. Thanks!
Depends on where you are. When I would walk down the stretch of 5th Avenue near Tiffany's after work around christmas it was like trying to walk through a crowd at a concert. PACKED with tourists pointing and taking pictures acting like they owned the sidewalks. I actually got the back of my leg ran over by a stroller once by someone being carless and just pushing it out in the middle without any regard for anyone.
To me the more touristy the area the slower the traffic moves. In business districts people tend to walk FAST. They have deadlines, meetings, important things going on. I have also found that in residential areas people walk fast too, however the sidewalks are not as crowded.
Although NYC is packed with cars, there isn't much honking going on, as surprising as that may be. The fine for honking unless collision is imminent is $300 in Manhattan (last I checked), and cabbies are fined even higher. So there is no honking, as much as a constant swooshing and humming din that you hear all the time if you live in the City.
As for crowding, it's exactly as the previous poster said. Touristy and business areas are very crowded, packed like sardines, in fact. But there are also quiet residential streets right in the heart of Manhattan, and Central Park with its nooks and crannies is very bucolic.
As for crowding, it's exactly as the previous poster said. Touristy and business areas are very crowded, packed like sardines, in fact. But there are also quiet residential streets right in the heart of Manhattan, and Central Park with its nooks and crannies is very bucolic.
I guess I am wondering more about whether or not people are walking at a very fast-paced and are in a hurry, not if all of Manhattan is crowded because I know there are plenty of quiet areas in the city. Anyway, thanks!
Yes, New Yorkers walk fast. I notice it more when I am in DC or LA because I am passing people on the sidewalk all the time, and I'm just walking, not running.
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Around midtown the pace is pretty fast for the most part. If someone doesn't keep that pace they get ran over. Walking through the Times Square subway station, Grand Central, or Penn Station during rush hour seems a lot like playing running back: looking for holes and dodging people from all directions. The pace is a little slower after work and on weekends. Less people being out may have something to do with it.
Other parts of the city are a bit more relaxed, but still much more hectic than most other american cities.
well manhattan is really busy.
over a million people cramped in 23 sq miles.the density is off the charts.
but outer boroughs are less fast paced ANd more easy going compared to the city
Although NYC is packed with cars, there isn't much honking going on, as surprising as that may be. The fine for honking unless collision is imminent is $300 in Manhattan (last I checked), and cabbies are fined even higher. So there is no honking, as much as a constant swooshing and humming din that you hear all the time if you live in the City.
As for crowding, it's exactly as the previous poster said. Touristy and business areas are very crowded, packed like sardines, in fact. But there are also quiet residential streets right in the heart of Manhattan, and Central Park with its nooks and crannies is very bucolic.
Police hardly enforce that. There is far much more for NYPD to be doing than pulling you over for honking.
Yes - we walk really, really fast. Whenever my mom comes to visit, I have to slow down a lot so that I don't lose her. It's very difficult! My husband moved here from the south and he used to walk really slowly! It used to drive me crazy! Now he walks faster than I do (longer legs).
As to the honking - if you've ever sat at an outdoor cafe around Union Square - you wouldn't know that there is a fine for honking. I think it has gotten better in some areas but people in New York honk the second the light turns green - actually, even before the light turns green. They seem to honk for any reason. I've only had a car for a couple months and already there have been several occasions where there was something blocking traffic on a street - and people just kept honking their horns over and over and over - as if it was going to magically clear up the more they honked!!! I much prefer public transportation!
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. Thanks!
