Would you agree New York is the city in the world that feels most like it's 'own universe'? (living in, vs)
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I know this is subjective, but there's something very unique about NYC, not in the way that any other city is unique, but it feels truly like it's own little universe in a way no other city does. The likes of London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Hong Kong are certainly unique, but maybe the fact there are other cities who are somewhat similar (e.g. London and Paris or HK and Shanghai), and the fact they don't seem as truly international as NY has something to do with it. Paris has a certain 'magic' no other city doesn't, but i mean there are other European cities that have a similar feel, whereas I feel NYC just has such a unique and irreplaceable feel to it. Chicago probably comes close, but NYC has a 'centre of the Universe' feel to it, and just seems so unique, like it's its own state of mind, it just feels like the world's no.1 city, the archetype of the modern 'big city.'
I probably like London almost as much for other reasons, but NYC just feels more like a typical 'big city.' I mean there are other cities just as busy, Tokyo, Seoul, Sao Paulo, to name a few, but they are very Japanese/Korean/Brazilian, while NYC is so international, despite also being very American and having it's own strong identity. Maybe it's the movie exposure, but there's something about NYC I feel that I can't quite explain. I've been to many big cities and none have had that same feel to them.
I used to live in NYC.
It is VERY self-contained. You basically have everything. It actually feels easier to jump on an international flight bound for Europe or the Carribbean or somewhere like that, than to fly to say California. However, if you fly to say somewhere like Venezuala, you quickly feel like you could have had the same experience if you'd stayed in NYC. You can also go to various parts of the subway and end up in 'Little India' or Greenpoint's POLISH community, or Jewish communities, on and on. Just from the subways, you can travel the world and end up in areas that absolutely everything around it is Korean or Spanish or Arabic or whatever else. Blocks and blocks and blocks of stuff.
When you are in NYC, it feels like New Jersey is the buffer between NYC and absolute nothngness. Than the only other places you'd see on a map of the U.S. would basically be Miami and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Everything else is basically stuff you have to fly over.
Describing it sounds insular, but basically NYC is the kind of place where absolutely everything comes to you. So you are exposed and see pretty much everything at your doorstep. One of the most amazing things to me was the talent and ambition of people. It was quite common to turn around a corner or exit or enter a subway, and hear or see some amazing street musicians or performers or dancers. They are all attracted to New York.
It is VERY self-contained. You basically have everything. It actually feels easier to jump on an international flight bound for Europe or the Carribbean or somewhere like that, than to fly to say California. However, if you fly to say somewhere like Venezuala, you quickly feel like you could have had the same experience if you'd stayed in NYC. You can also go to various parts of the subway and end up in 'Little India' or Greenpoint's POLISH community, or Jewish communities, on and on. Just from the subways, you can travel the world and end up in areas that absolutely everything around it is Korean or Spanish or Arabic or whatever else. Blocks and blocks and blocks of stuff.
When you are in NYC, it feels like New Jersey is the buffer between NYC and absolute nothngness. Than the only other places you'd see on a map of the U.S. would basically be Miami and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Everything else is basically stuff you have to fly over.
Describing it sounds insular, but basically NYC is the kind of place where absolutely everything comes to you. So you are exposed and see pretty much everything at your doorstep. One of the most amazing things to me was the talent and ambition of people. It was quite common to turn around a corner or exit or enter a subway, and hear or see some amazing street musicians or performers or dancers. They are all attracted to New York.
Self-contained is another good word to describe it. Like I said, it's also New Yorker's parochialism that makes it seem more cut off - this might be seen as bad to some. I find it interesting that it's both so international and globally connected yet old time New Yorkers have such an identification with their city which is expressed in the way they talk and indeed even the way they seem to think. This might occur in Philly or Boston, but watch the Sopranos, the Nanny, Seinfield or even Curb your Enthusiasm (or any Woody Allen film) and NYC almost seems to have it's own sense of humour too.
But yeah, for me it's far more than just being a big global city. It's New York itself. It's got such a brash swagger about it, such a self-confidence, that few cities can match. One can sort of literally get lost in NYC as an idea that transcends the place. I'd say Los Angeles and Paris probably come closest...maybe Singapore actually, being an island state which is also very idiosyncratic.
Close down the projects and cut Section 8 and the public pensions and that brash and swagger (which some annoyed people would call "loudmouths") will no sooner go away.
It is VERY self-contained. You basically have everything. It actually feels easier to jump on an international flight bound for Europe or the Carribbean or somewhere like that, than to fly to say California. However, if you fly to say somewhere like Venezuala, you quickly feel like you could have had the same experience if you'd stayed in NYC. You can also go to various parts of the subway and end up in 'Little India' or Greenpoint's POLISH community, or Jewish communities, on and on. Just from the subways, you can travel the world and end up in areas that absolutely everything around it is Korean or Spanish or Arabic or whatever else. Blocks and blocks and blocks of stuff.
When you are in NYC, it feels like New Jersey is the buffer between NYC and absolute nothngness. Than the only other places you'd see on a map of the U.S. would basically be Miami and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Everything else is basically stuff you have to fly over.
Describing it sounds insular, but basically NYC is the kind of place where absolutely everything comes to you. So you are exposed and see pretty much everything at your doorstep. One of the most amazing things to me was the talent and ambition of people. It was quite common to turn around a corner or exit or enter a subway, and hear or see some amazing street musicians or performers or dancers. They are all attracted to New York.
The bold bits - that is exactly true for London, too. For many Londoners, it probably feels easier to go to Paris on the Eurostar than go to somewhere like Newcastle which might as well be in another country. Places like Hertfordshire act as a buffer between London and the 'North' - for many Londoners, the UK ceases to exist outside of the M25. Also, in the UK, we don't have any other very large cities - the largest are Manchester and Birmingham - and they do not have the same recognition as Miami or Los Angeles - nowhere near.
Also, I see street performers all the time in my UK city, singing and dancing on busy pedestrian streets. I don't see it as them being attracted to the place - they're just trying to get money and they are choosing the busiest area they know.
I don't know how New Yorkers act or think, but no, I would not view their apparent parochialism as being a good thing. Maybe that's why people hate New Yorkers. Maybe New Yorkers are not very secure with being New Yorkers, so have to shove it in everyone's face.
I don't know how New Yorkers act or think, but no, I would not view their apparent parochialism as being a good thing. Maybe that's why people hate New Yorkers. Maybe New Yorkers are not very secure with being New Yorkers, so have to shove it in everyone's face.
How is being parochial (thinking mostly about your local area) mean you're shoving it in everyone's face? It means the locals might not be unaware of the rest of the country. It leads to some silly assumptions — the Long Islanders who assume that much of the country past the Appalachians is an undifferentiated "middle America" but otherwise is mostly harmless. Or just makes it different. The NYC region had no country music (a style rather popular for at least a segment of the population for most of the country) radio station for over the last decade. There were radio stations in a number of other languages instead. (besides Spanish, there's Hindi and Russian for instance). Is that bad or just unique?
Close down the projects and cut Section 8 and the public pensions and that brash and swagger (which some annoyed people would call "loudmouths") will no sooner go away.
I thought the brash and swagger stereotypes came from long-term, mostly white residents.
The bold bits - that is exactly true for London, too. For many Londoners, it probably feels easier to go to Paris on the Eurostar than go to somewhere like Newcastle which might as well be in another country. Places like Hertfordshire act as a buffer between London and the 'North' - for many Londoners, the UK ceases to exist outside of the M25. Also, in the UK, we don't have any other very large cities - the largest are Manchester and Birmingham - and they do not have the same recognition as Miami or Los Angeles - nowhere near.
Also, I see street performers all the time in my UK city, singing and dancing on busy pedestrian streets. I don't see it as them being attracted to the place - they're just trying to get money and they are choosing the busiest area they know.
I don't know how New Yorkers act or think, but no, I would not view their apparent parochialism as being a good thing. Maybe that's why people hate New Yorkers. Maybe New Yorkers are not very secure with being New Yorkers, so have to shove it in everyone's face.
I don't doubt many Londoners feel this way. The fact there is a highly developed and distinct local culture in London, like NYC, which is informed as much these days by the rest of the world as by the rest of England, probably adds to that, but I think the difference is England is tiny - the size of New York State. London to Leeds is a similar distance to NYC to Boston, a tiny corner of the country. Leeds might be a world away in terms of accents etc, but it's still only a few hours away by train or driving. Still, with the media physical distance is less important. The accent in Yorkshire compared to London is way different as from California to the East Coast.
Well, like a lot of Londoners, most NYers are from somewhere else: well at least the inner areas. Most people have said true NYers are friendlier than the transplants, which form the majority. Perhaps the same is true of London. What is a 'cockney' anymore? Certainly not, according to most, anyone born within the sound of the Bow Bells. Most such people (if the bells still ring) today would most likely have names like Patel or Singh, or enjoy Jamaican patties and beans with rice instead of bangers'n'mash. The City of London is mostly financial now anyway...
Me too. Generally, the Italian demographics in NYC are known for that.
I always kind of liked it...the whites that are replacing them and gentrifying NYC now days, are the yuppie types glued to their cellphones and such.
Oh yeah I was going to say that, the Italian, Irish and Jewish culture seems very much to define the New York persona, which can also be seen in Philly, Boston, and to a lesser extent, Buffalo, Providence, Cleveland etc. Nowadays Hispanics and Blacks very much define the cultural zeitgeist of NYC.
Also, in the UK, we don't have any other very large cities - the largest are Manchester and Birmingham - and they do not have the same recognition as Miami or Los Angeles - nowhere near.
Given the distance, Miami and even Los Angeles (except in some media circles) don't get a whole lot of thought paid to it by New Yorkers, though some may move to them. Not sure why you picked Miami, it seems like it gets an oddly high amount of attention from foreign tourists. Philadelphia is larger than any British city and 100 miles from NYC; Boston is about the same distance as Leeds is from London but also a larger city.
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