What megacities would truly impress a New Yorker for their size/scale/business?

[TotalKaos]

MEXICO CITY IMPRESSES ME - First, I would not describe is, as did OP, as high rise sprawl. Not like NYC high rise anyway. Sprawl yes. But there are only 3 buildings with 50 or more floors, at 55, 52 and 50. NYC has at least 70 that are 50 floors or more.

Mexico City is not like the laid back tequila sipping image of touristy Mexico It is vibrant, commercial, financial and full of culture and history. I go there twice a year, returning from my 2nd 2014 trip on Sept 10. There is a park of 1000 acres in the middle of "Centro" that has 3 museums and a zoo. Bigger than Central Park at 843 but not as active. But it's there if you want it.

The subway system, the Metro is awesome. 195 stations and covering over 140 miles with 12 lines. 421, 232 and 21 for NYC. The cars could be interchangeable with NY's and they are made in Mexico. A single ride is $5 pesos, less than $.40 US. Annual rides taken rank 8th in the world at 1.685 billion rides, close behind NYC at 7th with 1.708 billion. Most riders are not courteous in terms of standing aside to let riders exit. They just pile right in. I am a big guy and I just pile right out. LOL They don't have Metro cards, just small encoded tix maybe 1.5" x 2.5". I can't remember ever having a ticket rejected, like when my Metro Card is not bent just right when I swipe it. The entertainment is good but not as good as in NYC stations.

Everyone in Mexico City speaks Spanish compared to probably 70% in NYC. A guess but trying to be funny since the number of Spanish speakers in NYC is huge.

On a typical weekday morning you see people running to and from the stations, on the streets you see guys and gals in (mostly) quality business attire, briefcases, walking fast and with a purpose, horns blowing non stop, taxis everywhere, backed up traffic and literally a Starbucks on every other block on both sides of one of the major streets, Paseo de la Reforma. A giant entertainment area called La Zona Rosa, or The Pink Zone. If there is something you want, you can get it there.

There are lots of homeless people and in the tourist zones, sadly there so many disabled people looking for charity. Diabetes is rampant in Mexico so many are amputees. But there also are tradesmen who gather outside a church in another part of town, with professional signs indicating that they are available for work, stating their trade.

An excellent downtown hotel can be found for under $125 if you do your homework and shop a few sites before booking. You can also spend over $500 but you don't have to.

So, that's my story and I am sticking to it.

[Bronxguyanese]

Sao Paulo will impress me. It's Manhattan gone made from what I hear.

[OyCrumbler]

In terms of scale/size/busy-ness, it'd be South and East Asian megacities along with Sao Paulo.

[hittheroadjack]

Paris is about the only one that I will say New Yorkers like. New Yorkers are used to having everything at their tip of their fingers......if you cannot find it here, it does not exist. New Yorkers travel a lot throughout the states, as well as abroad......very little mystifies them.......