Noo Yawk

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Lemme tell you about the time I visited The Big Apple.

It was back in 2004 and I’d gone to Rhode Island to stay with some pals that I’d originally met in 2002 while on holiday in Michigan…that’s another story.

Anyways: The 4 of us took a train to New York, I wanted to take a look at Ground Zero and to pay my respects there. We arrived in NY and then got a subway (not a sandwich) got off the subway and rode up to street level. No sooner had we entered the street than a guy asked me “Got any spare change mister?”

This reminded me immediately of The Simpsons episode where grandpa is asked the same and he replies “Yes and I’m keeping it!”

I burst out laughing, couldn’t help myself. Lorraine said to give him nothing but I’m a soft touch and gave him $5…the bugger then asked if I could make it $10.

I aint that soft so told him to naff off.

We walked a while then stopped for coffee, I gotta tell you that coffee was absolutely fucking wonderful…strong, black and bitter, just the way I like it.
We also had a sammich which was more like a 4 course meal.
What was on that sammich would have fed a family of 4 back in England.
Chicken, bacon,egg, lettuce,tomato,cheese, dead elephants and (I think) it was called Chorizo, there was also mayo, ketchup and some other relish with pickles in it…fuck me, I aint supposed to eat ALL this am I?

I didn’t, I couldn’t, not unless I bought a new pair of pants with an extra 3" in the waistband.

We eventually got close to GZ but for some reason the place was sealed off so could not get close, I bought a bunch of flowers and l handed them to a cop asking him to put them near enough to the site. He was a decent guy, about 7 foot tall and built like a brick shithouse, said thanks to me and took the flowers away.

We spent just one day in NY. I’m sorry to New Yorkers out there but I didn’t like it at all. My overall impression was that everybody is in a rush and the only cars on the streets are yellow cabs. The number of beggars is alarming and the rubbish littering the streets is worse than in the UK which I didn’t think possible. Also the noise is incredible.

On the plus side, the people we met in bars were very friendly(sometimes) and 'cos I am English some insisted on buying me a drink.

I guess I’ll go back someday, maybe I was taken around the “wrong” areas and anyway I owe a few guys a few beers.

Rhode Island on the other hand is sedate, I like it

2

And then the C.H.U.D.s came…

3

As you might already know, New York isn’t really one city. It’s a whole bunch of cities, all stuck together.

There might be areas of NY you liked better than the one small area you visited.

4

Former New Yorker, present Rhode Islander. I hear ya. Too much of everything there. Plus the friggin’ subway. You could have the world’s shittiest day at work and still have to struggle to get home. It’s like butterflies and sunshine everyday since I left.

5

“Ground Zero” is (to me) an inexplicable tourist attraction. I myself have never visited the site though I have passed near it on several occasions while going to SoHo, Chinatown, J&R, Wall St./South Ferry, etc.

And as for the noise, crowding, people all in a rush… How does it compare to London? Isn’t this true of ANY “world-class” city (i.e., big, crowded and full of people from other places)?

As for “all the beggars”, well, if you’re seen giving a fiver to the first one who approaches you, you’re going to attract them like, well, beggars to guys handing out a lot of money for no obvious reason. I think they give out hand signals: “This tourist has a favorable exchange rate and is a soft touch, line up for the buffet before the kitchen closes!” :wink:

6

I’m pretty much w/ you, and I live in upstate NY…been in the City about 3 times, and in my mid-40’s…what’s that tell ya??? :dubious:

I did have fun while there, but in all honesty, the place jangles my nerves.

7

I disagree. This is what I wrote in my travelogue the last time I was there, in 2005:

8

Youse needs a native guide. Which is an outstanding offer for all foreign dopers.

All I’m going to say is that you only saw some of the City. There’s a lot of it. And it’s all different. The taxis are right, but… well. Seen Spider-Man? That’s all the City. The quiet old house Peter lives in, the joint MJ waitresses in, all the way to the steel canyons. Just different parts.

9

I don’t think that’s true to the same extent for many other places though. Maybe Hong Kong, since that’s on an island too. But most cities had room to spread out as they grew. Look at some maps; in terms of general layout, London and Paris look a lot like L.A., except that they grew to huge sizes before there were cars, and so they have rapid transit going all over.

Only in places like New York or Hong Kong do you get so many people living and working in so little space, so I would think the sense of noise and crowding would be greater there.

10

Curious minds must know: what does dead elephant taste like?

11

As I said I’ll more than likely go back, there must be loadsa places to see that I missed and people to meet and I’m a great one for just chewing the fat with almost anyone who cares to chew along.

I was there for just one day so I guess my impressions are perhaps a tad jaundiced.

I agree with what jjimm says about the streets. Man, you could fit a few English streets inside one of NYs.

robardin, $5 is hardly gonna buy the guy anything other than maybe a sandwich and a beer or perhaps a packet of cigarettes. Like I said I’m soft but no pushover, that was the only money I handed out despite being asked quite a few times for “spare change”
There is no comparison between NY traffic and London or for that matter any UK city.
Admittedly ours are crowded but in NY it was crazy.

As an aside, I gave a beggar in Boston $5 one time and a cop told me I shouldn’t do that as I was doing him no favours

12

A bit like dead Rhino but more gamey :smiley:

13

When beggars hit me up in Providence I tell them that’s why I left New York. Then I have them trespassed the next time they use the bathroom on my floor.

14

Thank you for sharing that. I appreciate the hell out of it.

I love NYC. I love living close enough to visit it often. I love the huge variety that is the city. I love the classic old Architecture. I love the wide Canyons. I love the museums. I love finding good food almost anywhere you look. I love the NYC specialty treat of Egg Creams. I love the Parks, Zoos and the Aquarium. I love the Bridges. I love the Subways and I love the Staten Island Ferry. I love the special excitement of a Broadway show and I do not go to them anywhere near enough. I love the neighborhoods that still feel out of time, like Bayridge in Brooklyn. I love NY at Christmas time. I especially love a crisp Autumn Night and October Baseball at Yankee Stadium.

I have been to nearly every major US city now and nothing in the US compares to NYC. It has the best of every other city mixed together.

Jim

15

Hell yeah. I’ve only been to Hong Kong once for a few days, and it was a madhouse. Every street full of buildings crammed full of people, their stuff, and more stuff. And the live chickens. I loved it. If only I spoke Cantonese (fortunately for me enough people spoke Mandarin or English that I had no real problems).

16

It’s a great city to visit. Wonderful museums. Great architecture. Tons to see and you can do a lot of seeing while walking. Food’s great. Lots of culture. And I don’t know where the unfriendly people are but everybody that I found was great.

I couldn’t live there; my throat burned the whole time - but I sure will go back again to see more. Sure, it’s busy and bustling but that’s part of its charm.