Egotistical New Yorkers!!

The BBQ Pit
1

I’m not usually given to rants, but this one has been building up…

A lot of nasty things are thrown around about New Yorkers by people who don’t know better – they’ve been called rude, criminal, dirty, loud, pushy, overbearing, crazy, egotistical. I’m perfectly willing to admit that these most of these stereotypes are false. I’ve met lots of perfectly nice New Yorkers; when I was there about a month ago several people were very helpful in giving me directions when I was lost. So all of those stereotypes are false…except the last one. New Yorkers are the most egotistical people on earth.

I am sick to death of hearing that New York is the greatest city on earth. You hear it all the time. Saying it seems to have become an involuntary reflex for New Yorkers. When the London subway was bombed this summer, I saw a New York City police chief being interviewed on TV about tightening security in the city: “We’re working hard to keep our subways safe,” he said, “because we live in the greatest city on earth.” You hear it on movies and TV all the time – just today, I caught part of the movie “Madagascar” on TV; even the animals in Central Park Zoo were talking about New York being the greatest city on earth. I watched part of a documentary on the history of New York, and the voice-over was nauseating in its boosterism. Apparently, not only is New York currently the greatest city on earth, it’s also the greatest city the world has ever known.

I went to college just outside of Philadelphia; there was a fairly heavy New York contingent at the school (more specifically, a heavy wealthy Manhattanite contingent, which may make a difference). On more than one occassion when meeting someone and asking where they were from, I’d be told that they were from “the city,” or “about twenty minutes outside the city.” Naturally I’d guess they were talking about Philadelphia, but when I made a comment to that effect, they’d do a double-take, and say that no, they meant that they were from New York. That, to me, epitomizes the egotism of New Yorkers – there are no other cities, New York is the only city, New York is, in short, “The City” – no need to specify.

I’m sick of hearing that New York has the best of this, the biggest that, the greatest “feel” to it. I’m sick of seeing movies and TV shows about New York and what a great place it is. I’d say it reeked of desperation or insecurity if it didn’t seem so unconscious, unthinking, reflexive, taken for granted. It’s as though any other possibility hasn’t occurred to them.

And the thing is, I really don’t have anything against New York City itself. It is undoubtedly one of the world’s great cities…but see, the thing is that I’m not all that convinced that it actually IS the world’s greatest city. London, to pick another great city that comes to mind, gives New York more than a run for its money. It has more history, more variety of architecture, cheaper theater tickets, FREE museums, just as much culture and diversity, cleaner streets, and MUCH better day trips. (From London you can quickly get to Bath, Oxford, Stonehenge, Coventry, Hampton Court. From New York you can go to…Newark?) Plus, with low price airlines, you can very quickly and very quickly get from London to Paris, Amsterdam, or any number of great European cities.

So New Yorkers, yes, you come from a great city. Just shut up about it already.

Whew, rant over; I feel better.

2

You think New Yorkers are egotistical? Hang out with a group of Texans some time - doesn’t even matter what city or town they’re from.

3

You do understand the difference between ego and thinking NYC is a cool place, even the coolest place?

4

I didn’t like it because literally everyone I encountered was grumpy, yelling, or rude. I shall scientifically attribute this to the lack of sunshine (tall buildings, ya know) or at least that is what my lil’ sunshine-filled California mind thinks.

The whole city smelled funny too.

5

Yes, I know that being egotistical means having an exaggerated sense of your own, personal worth, not the worth of the place you happen to live. But in a loose sense the word seems to fit, and off the top of my head I couldn’t think of a more accurate term for what I wanted to say.

6

At least you’re not subjected to their egotism every time you turn on the TV.

7

Well, how about ‘obnoxious cheerleaders’, ‘perspective lacking gothamites’ ‘silly new-york-uber-alles folks’ ‘whores for Babylon on the Hudson’ etc…

Having said that, I simply need to add:
New York is the capitol of the Universe.

~d & r~

8

:smack: :smack: :smack:

9

Imagine how those poor bastards in Chicago feel! Granted their football team is the spawn of Satan, and they still don’t undestand they’re about half of the Wisconsin state budget every year, but it’s still a pretty cool burg. I’ll take a Chicago museum or sports stadium over NYC any day.

But they’re still Flatlanders and FIB’s, so I guess my vote for Greatest City has to be cast for Winnipeg. (Yeah, still Canadian, but just a matter of time) :smiley:

New York City residents, please take note. You are not the center of the world. You are not center of the US. The US extends west of the Hudson. Buy a friggin car and take a cross-country trip. There is much more to this great country than Broadway and Wall Street and Central Park.

And yes, I’ve been there. Great place to visit, won’t live there. I understand you can get everything within 2 miles, but so can I. And I can breath clean air. No unions running every conceivable market. And for less than $200k I can get a 4 bedroom house on 30 acres less than 10 miles from downtown.

Who the hell are we kidding? New York is the base for anything meaningful. They have a right to brag, I guess. Though it’s funny how many companies are based there but have factories in other states. I like cities that produce stuff rather than just house a bunch of suits. YMMV.

10

Meh. It’s not surprising that people keep saying it’s the greatest city on Earth. It is the greatest city on Earth. (No, I’m not a New Yorker and never have been. I’ve just been to a lot of cities. London’s awfully nice, but New York kicks London’s ass in, say, the food department.)

I think you’re mostly reading this wrong; it’s a originally a construction created by people on the Guyland and in Central-State New York for whom “The City” really is the local metropolitan area, same way all of us who grew up in the 'burbs refer to our cities when telling mom what we’re up to that afternoon, and it’s now reached the status of idiom.

Everybody’s got this to some degree, I think. For instance, there’s that old joke about how you can tell someone’s from Philadelphia (they won’t shut the fuck up about Philadelphia!). Anyway, most of this in celluloid is down to Woody Allen. Some other city comes up with as prolific a genius as that who digs, say, Texarkana, I’m sure we’ll all be clamoring to go there too.

–Cliffy

11

I can’t find the link, but the Guardian recently published a link of the 50 best restaurants in the world, and 14 of them were in the UK (and presumably the majority of those were in London). Admittedly, the Guardian is a British paper, so the list is probably biased. Still, London’s food’s a lot better than you’re giving it credit for. And besides, that’s only one area.

And even if New York was somehow definitively proven to be the “world’s greatest city,” I still wish they’d just shut up about it.

If I tell my mom I’m going downtown, it’s understood that I’m going downtown in the town where we live. But once I’m away from that town and people ask me where I’m from, I don’t say “Oh, I live about five minutes from downtown.” I say the name of the city itself. That’s what annoyed me about my example from before. Philadelphia is several hours from New York, in a different state, and is quite a legitimate city in its own right. When you’re in Philly, it, not New York, is “The City.”

Maybe so; maybe so. If Woody started it, others have sure picked up where he left off. I’ve noticed it a bit from people in Philly, but it comes across more as defensiveness about a city a lot of people look down on than actually believing what they’re saying. People from Baltimore (“Baltimorons,” in the local parlance), especially “upwardly mobile” ones, are really, really insecure about their status re. New York, and tend to overcompensate by bragging a lot too. The annoying thing is that New Yorkers really, unquestioningly seem to believe their own press.

12

I’ve spent time in New York. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there.

13

Dunno when you were last in London, but I don’t know how you got the idea the food in London is poor. You didn’t stick to Aberdeen Angus Steak Houses, did you?

Mind you, I’m still bitter about the frankly extortionate and really quite pathetic “meal” I had at the OXO tower on Saturday. Fucking gimmicky pseudo-cuisine wankbiscuit trattoria “ooh look at us we’re a trattoria, that’s why you don’t get a side plate and isn’t the view simply marvellous?” well it fucking would be if you didn’t stick fucking opaque circles all over the windows at precisely eye height, fuckers, and tell me; is it traditional to serve overpriced shit at trattorias too, or is that your own charming addition to the oeuvre? Fuck me sideways with a bland faux-north-african-style grilled bream-that-turns-out-to-be-bass, you guys suck. Thanks for letting me have cheese instead of the dessert options, though; shame it turned out to be knobcheese.

14

They’re used to being ignored. And it’s too bad, because Chicago is cool. I hope it’ll pick up a little self-esteem one of these days.

Not when you’re from New York and only in Philly temporarily. Not only are you making something out of nothing, you’re making something stupid out of nothing. On behalf of the City of New York, I apologize that you’ve decided to misunderstand what egotism is, that this behavior happens to meet your definition of egotism, and that not everybody adjusts their language according to your personal preferences. I agree, they should ask what to call various places before speaking to you. I also apologize for New Yorkers’ civic pride and for the “greatest city on Earth” title, even though it’s rather widely accepted and the city has more international status than anywhere else in the US, which might make some people wonder if there isn’t something to it.

It’s a funny thing - this is how I look at it: New York City is comfortable in its own skin. For example, the Yankees are rich and win a lot, and nobody apologizes for it. I think it’s nice for a city, and the citizens of that city, to have some security. Aside from New Jersey, I don’t see New Yorkers going out of their way to belittle anywhere else (and even in Jersey’s case, I think it’s more of a habit than anything else). If Baltimore or Philly or Boston has a complex about its status compared to New York, that’s not New York’s fault.

15

Wait, let me get this straight. You’re visiting, oh, Juneau, Alaska, and someone you’ve never met asks you where you’re from, and you feel perfectly justified in telling them “I’m from the city,” and expecting them to know that that means you’re from New York. That is egotistical. (And I’m sorry if I can’t find a more precise word than that, but until one presents itself, it’ll have to do.) Egotistical and rude, and that has nothing to do with just my personal preferences. Just as rude as if I decided to tell people I was from “the State” – and assume they knew which state I was talking about. Once you’re reasonably far enough out of New York that there might be any doubt about which city you’re talking about, you should call it by its given name.

But most people (and, I suppose, cities) that are comfortable in their own skin don’t usually have to brag incessantly about how great they are – that’s usually what insecure places (ie Philly and Baltimore) have to do. And I don’t believe that New York is really insecure, so the bragging is something else. It’s obnoxious. There’s a difference between not apologizing for the Yankees, and rubbing everyone’s nose in it.

16

I wonder if being ignored isn’t one of the best things Chicago has going for it. Too much limelight can be bad; being ignored helps to let interesting things happen – and keeps the rents down.

17

Actually, you know, obnoxious might be the wrong word for it. It is ultimately obnoxious, but it’s usually not aggressive or threatening in the way obnoxious things usually are. It’s just that it’s so…matter of fact. So damned unquestioning. It’s as though it literally hasn’t occurred to them that just maybe New York isn’t the be all and end all, that maybe it’s not actually “the greatest city in the world.”

18

If they don’t know I’m from New York State? No, I wouldn’t say that. Of course, Philly is about 90 miles from New York City, so that’s not quite Juneau.

Gee, maybe they have a different view of what “reasonably far” is, or maybe they just didn’t think about it. Thoughtless, maybe, but hardly worth ranting about.

There’s a lot to recommend New York and, as I said, it’s gotten a lot of recognition. I’m sure that’s an issue.

You can find civic pride anyplace. “New York is the greatest” - of course people in New York feel like that - doesn’t imply “everywhere else sucks.”

19

That’s exactly why I used the word “security.” It’s not a boast and it’s not confrontational. The “it’s never occurred to them” idea sounds more like projection than anything else.

20

Maybe it wasn’t clear from my original telling, but the times this happened to me, I had no idea that the people were from New York State; they simply said they were from “the city,” with no other indication of what they were talking about. Philly is only 90 miles, but it doesn’t matter if it was 900 – it was its own city.

If you’re in a completely different city (not even a “bedroom city”), it’s reasonably far. The thoughtlessness bugged me, but the example isn’t what inspired the rant; it’s a symptom of what inspired the rant.

[QUOTEThere’s a lot to recommend New York and, as I said, it’s gotten a lot of recognition. I’m sure that’s an issue.[/QUOTE]

I don’t deny there’s a lot to recommend New York. Like I said above, it can be a great place, and is undoubtedly one of the world’s great cities.

Pride I can take. Incessant boasting and nonstop reaffirmation of that pride I can’t.