Hey, some might argue that you can get better deli in Syosset than you can on 2nd Avenue.
I think of living in Manhattan in the terms of pre or post 9/11 I guess, since that’s when my neighborhood changed drastically. I grew up in Harlem or technically Morningside Heights really. I was just the right age(15-22) to observe when Harlem started to go from being a “ghetto” and quite homogenous to becoming a condominium, trendy bar filled area. I don’t know if the gentrification would have happened around that time anyway, but that surely sped it up.
There were blocks that you wouldn’t have dared walk down when I was a kid/teenager, but there aren’t streets like that anymore in Harlem. Not really complaining about that aspect, but who does this benefit? Surely not the residents as they are being priced out of their apartments. My parents and I had to move to the Bronx because Columbia Univ bought up all the property and rent went from $900 to $1800 for a three bedroom in two months. Groceries were never a problem we always went to Fairway or took the train one stop to the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. Everything was so accessible and walkable.
Now, I’m married and live in Pelham Bay in a 1 bedroom 800 sq ft apartment that cost my husband $120k to buy. A better neighborhood I suppose, but I’d give anything to be back in Harlem. ETA: I think anyone can live in Manhattan or NYC in general, at any stage in life, just depends on what someone considers an area worth being in.
What does you living there have to do with anything? I’m agreeing with you that the buses are probably there for ghetto gawking. I don’t understand how wedging in the fact that you live there factors in, anyway. One doesn’t have to live there to see the gawkers atop those buses. One can merely walk the streets and see it, which I have tons of times. I am confused as to why your post sounds as if I defended those buses as not being there for the main purpose of exploiting the people in that area. I added, “to be fair” just because I did want to be fair…Fairly speaking, there is lots of history to point out in that area.
And I see you have already been educated, but for the record, there is plenty about the area that I consider historical, that you would not. So let’s leave your education to pbbth’s post.
Wow. I meant no offense and was not implying…
Leaning stuff is why we are here. Maybe I should spend more time there.
I moved to Manhattan in April-I started out living in what I think is called Alphabet City (E 3rd and Ave C), met a guy and moved to Astoria to be with him. I much prefer Astoria to Manhattan. My business partners fled back to Boston at the earliest opportunity.
Overall I am not thrilled living in New York but my fiance’s brother lives here and he seems to really like it. We’re planning to re-assess after our wedding in a few months but I’ve put my foot down at moving into Manhattan again. We are probably going to end up as Hoboken-ites.
Astoria does rock. I love the endless cafes over on 30th ave, love the park.
I took a NY sightseeing tour bus last year, and as it went through Harlem it was talking about how the area had changed character so much, and gave a bit of its history. It was definitely not done to provide glimpses of ‘poor black folk’.
Persons who don’t live in Manhattan (which is truly defined as the area between Harlem and the Battery) but have opinions about living in Manhattan are what we Manhattanites call tourists.
Living in Manhattan can be compared to living in group therapy 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with constant loud noise such as jackhammers and subway trains. Your group’s therapist is asleep during your session and wakes only once every 50 minutes to collect his doctor fee.
But, it’s the only place I can exist, and the only place that constantly reminds me of the reasons why I want to.
That, and good bagels.
No love for Innwood???
Dang…
Be honest: do you love Innwood?
Now, how can you expect anyone else to?
Well, I do. My Nani and Opa lived at 218th and Park Terrace West. I used to come up from Philly as a child to visit them. To me Innwood is the part and the steeply hilled streets and their apartment and… and them.
So his first post is to perpetuate the notion that 3/4 of the boroughs don’t count?
Um. Me? I didn’t mean to imply such a thing. I love Staten Island. It’s rugged, beautiful, has more open spaces and more large single homes. ( Pre- Sandy, anyway 
). I live in Queens and have almost nonstop when living in NYC. The Bronx has its lovely points and its unnerving points, but is to me a great place to live. I just… don’t know WHAT to do with Brooklyn.
[hangs head in shame] I admit to being one of “those” people when I lived in Manhattan. I never once went to another borough the entire time I lived in Manhattan - well, on two occasions, sort of; I took the Staten Island ferry and had to get off in Staten Island to get on the return ferry. The other time, I had had a bit too much to drink, the subway was so nice and warm, and I fell asleep and woke up godknowswhere in Brooklyn at about 3:00AM. Scary people and I just waited on the platform and then got on the next subway going back into the City. Other than that, the idea of leaving Manhattan just never occurred to me. Why? After all, if you are a true resident of Manhattan, you know that if it is NOT in Manhattan, it probably isn’t worth seeing or doing.{/hangs head in shame]
Not you, the person with a Dec 2012 join date slagging off the outer boroughs.
(You were just proximate.)