I do know a lady who once passed out on a NYC subway platform (I think she was pregnant but didn’t yet know it) and came to with all of her stuff and several concerned people around her who had missed their train to catch her. If you believe the hype about New York you’d assume they have stopped trampling her only long enough to steal her purse.
Another thing to keep in mind, and this isn’t unique to NYC, but it can be freaking hard to live and/or work in a city like New York. Commuting is often a nightmare. I used to live on the Upper East Side and it would take me almost an hour to get to my office downtown. The trains often have problems; you might need to switch train lines; it’s hot as hell down in the tunnels in the summer and often stinks of all kinds of nasty things. Rent is outrageously high. Blah blah blah.
So yeah, some people might be rude. Most aren’t though, in my experience. They tend to avoid eye contact however, which is more aloof than rude. Too many people looking/asking you for things…
Which is exactly why Americans think the French are rude. Most Americans, if they have gone to France, have only been in Paris and probably during the high tourist season.
Paris, like NYC has a faster pace than ‘normal’. Of course they think the French are rude.
Sublight is a Guest, as far as I know the “Location” field isn’t open to guests.
IIRC he is in Tokyo.
In her (his?) defense, some Deep South accents make me uncomfortable too - not scared, or anything, but deeply worried that I’m going to offend you because I can’t understand a single goddamn thing coming out of your mouth. 
“Hah doo lack Miss Hippy?”
“What?”
“I say, 'HAH D’YOU LACK MISS HIPPY?”
I am totally stealing this from you! This is exactly what I loved about NYC and I wasn’t able to put it into words!
See, this is what I was talking about. I’m outnumbered 10-to-1.
Always side with the one with the biggest gun. If he’s 6’5" tall and carrying it in his sweatpant waistband however, don’t worry. He’s more a danger to himself.
Lol - should I have said Cortland? I have family there. And yes, I’ve stayed at the Holiday Inn there several times!
In all fairness, I was rude, arrogant and obnoxious before I moved to NYC.
Maybe yooze should gets yo head out yo ass and walk faster numbnuts!!
Almost forgot. We had this guy from the Atlanta office one time and he kept trying to say “hi” to everyone we passed on the street.
Me: You know that guy?
Atl: No. Just being friendly.
Me: Don’t! That’s a good way to get punched.
Atl: I don’t think he would have punched me.
Me: I’m not talking about him. I’M going to punch you if you don’t stop!
The few times I’ve been to New York, I’ve encountered the polite but detached attitude that a lot of people have mentioned. The only bad encounter was when I got a cinder or something lodged under my contact lens and not a single restaurant would let me into the restroom to rinse it, if we weren’t planning to buy something. These were just curbside deli type places, too.
That said, native New Yorkers often retain a sort of “me first” attitude when outside the city that can make them stick out out a bit in areas where people are brought up to be a bit more diffident.
I’m a Southerner from the Deep South. Not Maryland, not Virginia, but Mississippi. There are people who feel that we are truly the lowest sort of trash – some of them are on this board.
I once lived in NY for two years and still visit regularly (I have two children living there) and I find them generally friendly and helpful. Obviously there are rude ones. But I think there is a higher preentage of rude Parisians than New Yorkers. One of the rudest persons I ever encountered was a streetcar conductor in Nice. He started mouthing off about (very loose translation) “Frigging furriners take our trolleys and don’t pay the fare” (my wife and I had passes issued by the international congress that was being held there and had paid significant registation fees. I still don’t know whether we were supposed to pay fares for our 4 year old and 3 year old). My wife understood his French and tore stripes off him. When we got off another woman got off right behind us and said to my wife, “Don’t mind him; he treats us all like that.”
Still, it is amazing that when I encounter truly rude people, they often turn out to be European. “Eurotrash”, my wife calls them.
I thought it bore mentioning that tonight on the PATH there was a pack of about 10 teenage kids who stormed the platform when the doors opened even though I was the person in front. The guy right behind me, who was massive, used his body as a barrier between myself and the crazy kids to make sure I got through first. Then the rest of us sat there in irritated silence, occasionally exchanging knowing glances, while the kids carried on and proceeded to bug the crap out of every single other person just trying to ride home in peace. Most egregiously rude behavior I’ve seen so far in New York City – perpetrated by tourists.
I would say that New Yorkers are not so much rude as impatient.
Here’s an experiment: Drive around a few cities. When a stop light turns green for you, wait and see how long it takes for the guy behind you to honk his or her horn.
I predict New Yorkers give you the least amount of time of any major American city before they start honking at you.
Haaa! I love this. This is why I love NY. Me and my best friend always hate waiting at the green light for several seconds before traffic starts moving, and we always loudly complain, even though we know that it is the custom in upstate NY to sit at a green light.
My first time driving in NYC was heaven. They not only go immediately on green, but no one gets their little feelings hurt if you ‘cut them off’. The whole idea of ‘cutting someone off’ has always seemed odd to me. If there is room to get in front of you, why is it rude to do so?
Also, I would like to say that I find the people in NYC to be the nicest around. Very friendly and helpful. Seriously. From Manhattan to Brooklyn, that has been my experience. I love big cities, even though I don’t know anyone there! So that means I often have to ‘depend on the kindness of strangers’. From D.C. to Detroit, Vegas, Toronto, Philly, etc…I maintain that NY has some of the nicest most helpful people around.
I think their straight forward demeanor may sometimes be mistaken for rudeness.
I use to work for a national company that required alot of interaction with people around the country. What I remember from the New York area was an honest response that was often expressed in colorful language. I think some people may construe this as rudeness when it’s really just honesty. If I tasked someone in New York with a crappy job it was usually met with " yah bustin moy bawlls heya". But the job got done. I always new where I stood when talking to the East Coast.
You have never been to Boston. The turn signal from a car parked at a curb means it’s pulling out… on the first blink. It’s not a request.
Get out of my way you fucking tourist!
I was born in The Bronx, raised my children in Brooklyn and have lived all 44 years of my life in New York. This does not happen. The first time I ever encountered that was in Boston and I felt like getting out of the car and smacking the guy who did it. But I didn’t because I’m not rude.