Is New York a Pit? (1 Viewer)

[Jefferson]

It is unique.
I think NYC is what you make of it. It is like the land of OZ.."Some of it wasn't very nice, but most of it was beautiful".

 

[Jack Briggs]

No offense, but so do I. I want NYC to be a healthy city, but I preferred the pre-Rudy mean streets. Ah, but for the heyday of CBGB's, Patti Smith, Taxi Driver, etc.

[thread crash]Anyway, Los Angeles, man. Yeah, baby, the West is best![/thread crash]

 

[Jeff Gatie]

The last time I did ride the city's subway I did see a couple of huge rats going through some trash on the rails, no joke,

Rats, did you say rats? In NYC? I'll admit my home city of Boston is inferior to it's rival to the south in many ways , but you have not even seen a rat until you've seen a Boston wharf rat. NYC rats are fat mice compared to our small dog sized, tail as pink and big around as a thumb, web-footed rodentia. I once saw a Boston rat carrying a dead cat in it's mouth down an alley at Northeastern U. Could not determine if the rat killed the cat, but I would not bet against it. I've seen rats take 2-3 shots from a .22 hollow point and keep on walking. I used to work at NU's Matthew's Arena and saw a rat under that place bite the toe of my brother's boot and hang on with the whole toe in his mouth. There was one that lived under the Garden that was nicknamed "King Rat" cause he used to eat the poison laid out for him like it was candy. NYC rats, pffft!

 

[Lew Crippen]

Don’t you just love the hometown boosters.

 

[JoshF]

Yeah, the subway rats here border on cute compared to the monsters in Boston.

NYC is very safe. I feel safer walking the streets here late at night than I do in a dark suburban town.

I love not having a car.

I love the people. If you don't like people, you'll hate NYC. You gotta deal with people here. There's no car and front lawn protecting you from socializing.

As far as cleanliness, well, depends on where you're at. It's pretty clean as far as cities go, but I work down in the meatpacking district, and there are some nasty things on the streets here. But it wouldn't be NYC without it.

 

[Khoa Tran]

Hey i live near LA and i think it's pretty dirty, they are trying to clean up though and do a pretty good job of it. As for NYC i too heard that NYC is a dirty place but just in those places. Every city has it bad/good area some better then others. it's just how you see the city and mostly where you stay when you visit. Every city is clean from far away

 

[ThomasC]

Comparing DC and NYC the thing I really hate about DC is that the homeless have these complex methods to get money out of you, one even sang a song to our lady friend. I don't hate homeless people or anything but when you get hassled 3-4x a visit and they make you feel guilty if you don't give it's very annoying. In NYC people will pretty much leave you alone and let you go on your way.

When I was there last May, on a Friday night, my friends and I were heading back to our hotel around midnight, and while crossing one of the streets, one homeless guy wouldn't stop bothering us until I gave him a few coins. That's the only bad thing that's happened to me in New York though, so I'm glad about that. Heck, I was in the Bronx at Christopher Columbus High School (I was on a choir tour), and thanks to the NYPD security, nothing bad happened there except for some of the boys acting really immaturely towards some of the ladies in the choir on our way back to our bus.

 

[Michael Reuben]

one homeless guy wouldn't stop bothering us until I gave him a few coins

New Yorkers can spot an out-of-towner a mile away.

M.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

What can I say Lew, we have to take em' where we can get em'.:b

On the topic of the post, I used to hang in NYC back in the late 80's, mostly Lower East Side, SoHo, the Village and my girlfriend's dad lived off Fordham Road in the Bronx (a trip down Fordham road'll make a man out of you real quick :b). It was much worse then. I thought I was dead one night in Alphabet City when a friend of mine from the Deep South told two drug dealers to "chill out Homeboys!". They just laughed at the fool, thank god. We used to go down to the border of Chinatown and Little Italy to visit the chalk sillouettes on the sidewalk.

Was back last year, what a difference! Clean, safe, less homeless and the taxi drivers are even polite. I won't say I didn't like it, but I agree it has lost some of it's "grit", which also means it has lost some charm.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I want NYC to be a healthy city, but I preferred the pre-Rudy mean streets.

That's a pretty easy thing to say from the other side of the country, though, isn't it?

 

[Steven K]

I don't like San Francisco very much, but NYC really feels safe and clean

Hahaha, damn this is funny! This quote, to me, insinuates that NYC is safer and cleaner than San Francisco... all I can say is that you must never have been to both cities.

Dont get me wrong, I love NYC to death, but NOT for it's cleanliness or safety.

 

[Carl Miller]

Pit? No way! It's a great city, but like others have said, it's not for everyone. My nephew from Seattle is in his sophomore year at NYU now and loves it there. He had a rough 1st semester learning how to live in the middle of all that nightlife while also finding time to study, but that was his biggest problem.

One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't spend a couple of years living there when I had the chance in my early 20's.

 

[ThomasC]

quote:

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I don't like San Francisco very much, but NYC really feels safe and clean
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Hahaha, damn this is funny! This quote, to me, insinuates that NYC is safer and cleaner than San Francisco... all I can say is that you must never have been to both cities.

Dont get me wrong, I love NYC to death, but NOT for it's cleanliness or safety.

I should've said it differently. The streets of San Francisco seem a lot more disorganized with all the hills and such, and NYC just seems a lot more structured. Something about trying to walk up and down hills with a never-ending barrage of people coming towards me is a lot less appealing than the flat roads of NYC. Yes, I know San Francisco isn't all hills and such, I've been to Pier 9 or whatever the heck it's called ...Bottom line, when I'm in a more "structured" city, I feel more "safe and clean."

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

I'll take Boston over NYC. NYC is great to visit, but I like Boston better. Cleaner and a bit less stressful. Oh yeah I'm moving to Boston tomorrow morning as well. heh. I actually visited both cities 2 weekends ago. Had a blast partying in both places. I'd describe Boston as being "less extreme" than NYC, if that makes sense.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Michael - stop gloating ! I spent a few hours in Manhattan one evening. Walked from Grand Central to Times Square and up to the park. I was never approached once for $$ and three people asked me for directions. It's just the way you carry yourself.

Glenn

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's just the way you carry yourself.

Absolutely true. A lot of people never figure that out.

M.

 

[ThomasC]

quote:

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It's just the way you carry yourself.
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Absolutely true. A lot of people never figure that out.

Is there any way that they couldn't have figured out that we were from out-of-town, being that we (except me) were all a bunch of young, white college folk? Our hotel was on Broadway and 70-something, more than 40 blocks from Columbia. I don't know where other colleges are...

I don't think we were even trying to act like we were NYC folk, so there!

 

[Jack Briggs]

The hills are a result of geography.

I don't know of a more beautiful city than San Francisco.

Don't know if I've ever mentioned it to anyone, but the only two U.S. cities other than my town I'd be razzed about living in are SF and NYC (with the nod going to SF because I'd feel wildly homesick outside of California).

There are cities outside the U.S. that really excite me, too.

 

[Vickie_M]

I don't know of a more beautiful city than San Francisco.

Seattle.

 

[LewB]

my girlfriend's dad lived off Fordham Road

I used to live off Fordham Road near the Deegan.
You guys are making me feel very nostalgic !