Overheard in New York is pretty good to get a feel for interactions on the streets and public transit systems of New York. It’s updated regularly, and has an archive going back to 2003. And it’s really funny.
Good luck with the play!
Staten Islander checking in. If you are going to play someone from The Rock, e-mail me. You probably aren’t, though. Staten Island is the red-headed stepchild of NYC-- all the annoying problems of being in the city with none of the benefits. Everyone has passed through SI, but no one has ever really been there… with good reason. We also had the laregst landfill in the world which you can smell in the Mall parking lot on bad days. That and the Ferry are our claim to fame. We sure know how to party!
All city people talk fast, move fast, are impatient, and expect everything to happen 5 fuckin’ minutes ago. We also tend to mind our own business. Someone on the subway could burst into flame spontaneously and, as long as they don’t touch anyone, no one would say anything. Don’t LOOK at anyone either. Making eye contact is asking for trouble, the way holding the gaze of a strange dog is considered aggressive. No eye contact!
You’ll also have to master the accent. Nothing worse than a fake-ass NYC accent. Don’t overdo it either.
City people don’t know anything but The City. My dad, a born and bred Brooklynite, cannot handle upstate NY. I have 3 acres up here and he just cannot believe how cheaply I got it. He kept saying, “You know how much this property would cost back home? What do you need all this lawn for? Are there snakes out here?” Also, everything was too far away from him. He could not find a place to get a cup of coffee within 5 blocks, so it’s just such a schlep! Everything in the city is very compact, esp. in Manhattan. I have to drive 8 miles to get to the nearest store, which to my dad is just weird and inconceivable.
Frankly, I still get excited about seeing any animal that’s not a domestic pet, squirrel, or small songbird. Deer, cows, hawks, all fascinating to me still, even though I’ve been out of the city as long as I was in it, now. That’s a city thing. When I saw a wild fox close up for the first time, I couldn’t believe it.
I started reading the John Adams book by David McCullough. On page 25 of the soft cover there is a quote from John Adams about New Yorkers:
“They talk very loud, very fast, and altogether.” he observed.
“If they ask you a question, before you can utter three words of your answer, they will break out upon you again — and talk away”
This was observed by him on his first journey to Philly. The Massachusetts contingent of the first continental congress passed through NYC and stopped to see the sights. **This was 1774. **
Jim
le plus ce change…
I don’t understand the phrase, is it along the lines of “The more things change, the more they stay the same?”
I only took Spanish & Latin, never French.
yes, exactly
in French the full phrase is
Le plus ce change, le plus c’est le meme chose
“leh plew seh shawnge, leh plew say lew mem shows”
I can’t guess at that one, I am just picturing Pepe Le Pew at this point. Sorry.
Jim
it was the pronunciation version (with a typo - the “lew” should have been another “leh”) of the phrase above it - since you didn’t take French in school and may not have been familiar with the proper vocalization of it
D’oh :smack:
Now it makes sense.
I got to agree here. Also, lifelong New Yorkers, may not even have a drivers license!
Another, only in NY thing happened to me a couple of months ago. I was walking up Broadway. This was about 2 o’clock on a weekday and there were some other people out going about their business. When I was passing Lincoln Center, four people were crossing Broadway. There were wearing full theme park style costumes of a bear, a dog, a cat and a bunny.
I didn’t give them a second look.
Heh. I saw these same guys sometime in early December last year in a local “Korean-run salad bar cum deli” place on 51st and Third Ave. (either them, or different guys in the same suits). This would have been around 1:15pm. I looked for a guy running a camera but didn’t see one. They wandered around pretending to look at the food, and even went upstairs to do a circuit among the eat-in table area. I didn’t hear a single comment from anybody, though there were a few stares.
I admit, I cracked up the moment I saw them… Mainly because the guy in the rabbit suit had just put his “paws” up and was making little hopping in front of the tossed salad bar.
They didn’t say anything, and except for the bunny guy, none of them even did anything overtly “mascotty”. Just wandered around.
I asked the cashier if they were part of some kind of promotional gimmick, and she laughed and said, “No, they just wandered in.” And shortly afterwards, they wandered out (apparently to go westward).
You lose your New Yorker license. Report immediately to the Empire State observation deck to surrender your Metrocard and be assigned an appearance time in your choice of Traffic, Taxi, or Housing Court.
Is it OK to admit that I only know this phrase from RUSH?
I’m a native Bronxite; my family (Irish and German) has been in The City since the 1830s.
One of my favorite cartoons is on the difference between Los Angeles and New York:
On one side of the panel two people from LA are greeting each other, saying “Have a nice day!” but thinking “Fuck you!”
On the other side of the panel two New Yorkers are greeting each other, saying “Fuck you!” but thinking “Have a nice day!”
Another New York joke:
Q. How many New Yorkers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A (in a Bronx accent): Fuck YOU!
First of all it is New Yok, not New York and for most people there is no such thing as a Sicilian. My guess is that it probably took people too much time to figure out the name of that funny looking square shaped pizza that they just decided to call them squares.
I once ordered two regula slices at a cruse. The woman next to me in line immediately pin pointed me as a New Yoker. I think that most New Yokers believe that you can get through life just fine without ever pronouncing the letter R.
The most unique thing about New Yok (ok I’ll stop now) is the speed. I once came to the city on very little sleep and felt like I was letting everybody down because my reaction time was so slow.
Navigation is respected skill over here. What makes some people better New Yorkers than others is their zen like ability to keep up their normal pace with a coffee cup in their hands.
New Yorkers percieve the world as do others with their five senses. But New Yorkers sense things differently. In particular:
SIGHT-New Yorkers and find a parking space in no time–ties in with sense of hearing–when you hear car keys jingling, you know a parking space is imminent.
SMELL-Both good and bad but extremes on both sides
TOUCH–New Yorkers value their small quantity of personal space. Where else are you trained to fold a newspaper to read it in such a way as to not encroach on the space of the guy next to you on the subway?
HEAR-Other posters mentioned this–New Yorkers tune out street noise and make it into a calming sound. Total silence is, however, deafening.
TASTE–Now this is where I was surprised nobody brought this up. New Yorkers KNOW the best tastes. I don’t care what anyone says–New York has the very best PIZZA, best HOT DOGS and best PRETZELS. As for fine cuisne, fagettaboutit–the BEST also…
That’s in my humble, New York born and raised opinion.
I can go along with this
Check my location