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I love New York a lot and find it hard to image ever loving a city so much, but because I'll probably be leaving soon, maybe doing this will be a cathartic experience.
1. The complete lack of a middle class. That if you're not a doctor or a lawyer or a broker or a corporate executive or otherwise independently wealthy, there's really nowhere for you to live unless you're in your twenties and don't mind a roommate situation or something If you want to raise a couple of kids in three bedrooms, sorry, you're not rich? We've got some very nice housing projects for you. (Except we don't, because you make waaaaaaaay too much money to qualify.)
2. Scaffolding and sidewalk bridges. Why are they everywhere? I've been to places equalling or approaching the density of Midtown Manhattan that don't have nearly as much ugly scaffolding. Whenever you're walking around and trying to appreciate a perfect streetwall, there's always scaffolding to break it up. Nothing ever looks finished.
3. The fact that our airports look so bad. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. I always imagine tourists from Tokyo and Paris and Dallas getting off the plane and looking around and getting a sinking "uh-oh, did I make a big mistake?" feeling.
4. Subway panhandlers in general, but specifically these two: a) the "if you don't have any change, at least have a smile" guy. Why would anyone think that being so mean-spirited would inspire people to smile at him? (Oh, yeah, because he's a little crazy.) And b) the woman who mutters "please help, please help" while walking down the car with a toddler strapped to her. Listen, this isn't Athens. The American social contract clearly states: begging OK, using your child to beg not OK. Everyone else figured out what to do with their kid, why can't you?
5. The time the MTA announced: "Guess what? We just found a billion dollars under the mattress. Free money for everyone!" then something like a year later, were like: "Sad face, we don't have any money. Don't blame us, it's just the state of government agencies today. We're going to have to raise fares now, by a lot."
6. The fact that subway stations look so awful. Embarrasses me as a New Yorker.
7. When the subway starts going some crazy alternate route without any announcement or obvious signage. (I know more than half of these are about the subway, and I mean them, but I like it overall, really I do.)
The ghetto people (aforementioned numerous times in this thread already), the lousy MTA service, the freaks on public transportation, crackheads stopping me asking for a dollar (claiming they need to buy food, ha what a joke!) and well... this basically sums it up: If I had the money, I'd get the hell out of here in a New York minute.
The rest I could deal with after having been stuck in "the South". Man... imagine just like... whole counties of people that could qualify as... bus-station people, I know most of you know what I'm talking about here.
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