Whatever you do, DO NOT live in Park Slope in Brooklyn. Live in Alphabet City or Highbridge in Manhattan instead. For one thing they’re in Manhattan and you don’t wanna have to, well, not live in Manhattan. And for another thing, do you know how crowded the schools are in Park Slope what with all these people moving in?
Stay away from Astoria too. Do you know what you’re doing to housing prices over there?
Me? Sarcastic? Why would you say that?
Hang out with me and Biggirl (and her charming husband and son) and come to Junior’s in downtown Brooklyn for an introduction to great Jewish deli. Sixth Street in the East Village (definitely, it’s between 1st and 2nd) has a long line of Indian bistros whose owners will be standing on the sidewalk to cajole you in. I like Rose of India but they’re all good.
You can even come up to my boro, the Bronx. Now, I can’t claim all of it is still safe, but the Botanical Garden, Zoo, Riverdale, and Fordham Road areas are just fine.
WALK QUICKLY. We don’t have cars here. We’re commutin’ here! There are places to stroll and you’ll see the difference; but most sidewalks are not for strolling but for heads down, arm-pumping, straightforward, point a-to point b walking.
It never occured to me about minorities in service positions, esp. since my lily-white self was in them all through high school and college, but I guess just treat everyone with respect and say please and thank you. Quickly, but say them. Don’t chat on cellphones while you’re at the counter and don’t assume anything about anybody–that Mexican busboy might be supporting five family members back home and having a house built that could fit your entire apartment in the basement; that Chinese street merchant might be living in a room with five other guys today, but in ten years he’ll have a wife and kids and a nice little house in Westchester; that black kid might be the class valedictorian and in the same position I was of saving for college, and so on.
Enjoy and check the board for Dopefests!
Now we know that Biggirl lives in Park Slope, but summers in her house in Astoria under the Hell’s Gate Bridge in Hell’s Gate Park.
( Her hubby really is a quite fine gentleman. Never met their son. Gooooood, good people. )
Cartooniverse
I find Hell’s Gate Bridge at Hell’s Gate Park one of the scariest places in NYC. But then again, I have this pathological fear of the natural world and those swirling eddies look like they could suck down The Circle Line or maybe spit out Beelzebub.
Do you know where in the city you’ll be living? If so, I’m sure you could get lots of good neighborhood-specific advice.
Don’t worry about ordinary contact with strangers (like asking directions), but, in general, yes, don’t make chit-chat with them. Or, more accurately, be less inclined to do so than you would in some other place. It’s just not done, and people will assume you’re running a scam (or that you’re from out of town).
Don’t completely ignore the beggers. You don’t have to give them money (I don’t), but acknowledge their existence and politely decline – and smile. Even if you’re just looking out for yourself, this is much less likely to lead to an incident than rudely pretending they don’t exist.
If you like Chinese food, get to know Chinatown.
If you’re in Manhattan, take the subway everywhere – having a car is like having a hump.
And I thought it was just that you liked guys with a full set of teeth .
Seriously though, it seems like there are a ton of available, attractive single women in their 20s and 30s in NY who “can’t seem to find the right man” and would normally have been married to some slob by now if it were any other city.
Hello Again - In all fairness, the area from University to about Sixth Ave does feel more like a kind of no-mans land between the East and West Village than actually a part of it.
So out of interest what area am I in (since there are far more knowledgeable people than me here) - I’m on the corner of 7th and 15th?
And, in a similar vein, anyone know what/where i should be checking out round here?
true beauty is timeless ma cherie.
didn’t i offer to jump out of your birthday cake once?
—Preens self proudly— Why, when they were wee bairn, I used to take The Man-Cub and The Fem-Bot down to that park for their daily constitutional. I felt it toughened them up.
I always found the swirling eddies to be mesmerizing, but that’s just me. The kids thought the smell was horrifying- and these were kids who still lacked control over their own bowels, so for them to express olfactory disgust was a neat trick. 
On the UP side, all the local swells bring their best gal and coolest car down every Saturday night to slowly drive down the roadway just next to the water. It’s NYC’s own version of American Graffitti. The girls congregate in clusters so tight that no oxygen exists within their fleshly borders and they gaze contemptuously at the boys in their toys. It is The Urban Mating Dance at it’s finest.
This, mixed with the fact that an awful lot of parents brought their small kids and babies down to what I have to say was one heck of a cool smaller kids playground, made for a pretty fun experience most of the time. Despite the loud cars and melange of loud fun music being blared from said cars, the park was pretty darned safe. Too many people, too many cops to be dangerous- and that goes at least till midnight on weekends.
Does this mean you’re not up for a Doper Picnic at the Verazzano Narrows? We could hold our annual Doper Beelzebub Spitting Contest.
Hijack aside, I am not a native New Yorker but I have lived/worked there for 24 years. The gruff mean reputation is not entirely earned and believe it or not, a lot of New Yorkers go out of their way to be helpful to total strangers. They’re happy to strike up conversations on the bus or in the park.
You never know who you will meet who will be thoughtful, intelligent or radically angry in ways you didn’t expect. ( or all three ! ) Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve almost never avoided a conversation with someone in the city when a conversation starts up.
rabbitha, consider taking a summertime rental in an apt.- a sub-let. That way, you will get a sense of the neighborhood you think you want to live in without committing to a one year lease. It sounds like you travel lightly, moving out in a few months won’t be killer for you. If you are willing to live with roommates, then think about the hobbies or interests that you are actively participating in and find groups or organizations in NYC matching said interests. That’ll give you a built-in group of folks to connect with and if you find someone looking for a roommate, at least you will know what some of their interests are.
It can be a somewhat lonely feeling city to a newcomer. Lucky for you, you have Dopers to connect with.
You are in Chelsea:
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/realestate/articles/neighborhoods/chelsea.htm
There’s a lot of restaurants and bars in that neighborhood as well as the West Village (below 14th).
I would check out Cafeteria for late night dining and the Corner Bistro for burgers. Spice Market is a pretty good Asian restaurant. You also aren’t far from Union Square (14th & Broadway).
Did we have a welcome Garius to NYC party and I just missed it?
Haven’t lunched at the Algonquin in a while.
Excweeze me, but I would just like to point out that young hot women are welcome at all times in Astoria. Thank you.
Right. The rule of civilized conduct I most wish everyone (be they newcomers, tourists, or native New Yorkers) would follow is **Don’t Get In The Way! **
To me, one of the best things about this area is being able to live without a car.
I sure hope not. Lunch at the Algonquin was deeeelightful last time out.
If you did then i missed it too.
Bloody New Yorkers - such an unwelcoming lot 
The Strand is on 12th and Broadway. There is no way 12th and Broadway can be considered The East Village.
My qualifications to make such a statement? My family lived in New York when it was still called New Amsterdam. And a member of every generation of my family has lived there since.
I have spoken.
Bite me!
(Does anybody outside of New York say this as a retort? It has always struck me as a little strange if you stop to think about it.)
Thanks, Ugluk!
As msmith537 has already stated, technically Broadway is the divider, and Strand is on the East side of the street, if only by a few yards.
And as I have already stated, neighborhoods in New York are not that simply divided and are open to interpretation based on spillover of ethnicity, sexual preference, etc… It’s not really worth arguing about because nothing here is black and white, and things are constantly changing. But all I’m saying is that every map I’ve ever seen shows Broadway to be the divider, thus making Strand fall in the East Village.
My qualifications? I live here. Now bite me. 