I don't love New York City

How to get the very best from Planet Earth.

I LOVE NEW YORK

Yes
19
73%
No
3
12%
Meh
4
15%
 
Total votes: 26

User avatar
The Modernist
2018 BCB Cup Champ!
Posts: 13843
Joined: 13 Apr 2014, 20:42

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby The Modernist » 25 Apr 2014, 11:04

Thesiger wrote:I've been there a couple of times and have no love for it. It's dirty. The subway is a disgrace. And the people are often rude.


I think if I went to NYC and everyone was really pleasant and nice to me I'd be a bit disappointed. I'd quite like to have someone shout at me "whadda ya want meathead" in a thick Brooklyn accent. It should be part of the tourist experience! :D

User avatar
Guy E
Posts: 13301
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 23:11
Location: Antalya, Turkey

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Guy E » 25 Apr 2014, 14:55

Thesiger wrote:I've been there a couple of times and have no love for it. It's dirty. The subway is a disgrace. And the people are often rude.

Aesthetically, the MTA is butt ugly and rat sightings are not uncommon. But all the cars are air-conditioned and the system takes care of business; I haven't had a serious delay in ages and they used to be fairly common annoyances in the 70's and 80's. It is the most-used system in the western world (if quite a ways behind the ridership in Beijing, Seoul and Shanghai). It also operates 24/7... does London's pay-per-mile system still close along with the pubs at 11:00PM?

Sal Paradise wrote:I think if I went to NYC and everyone was really pleasant and nice to me I'd be a bit disappointed. I'd quite like to have someone shout at me "whadda ya want meathead" in a thick Brooklyn accent. It should be part of the tourist experience! :D


It's unlikely these days... not too much local color left. You'd probably be disappointed by a visit to NYC.

I'll tell you though, if BCB can start a global NEW YORK CITY SUCKS! campaign, that would be absolutely brilliant. The last thing we need is more tourists and transplants crowding-up and degrading the place.
["Minnie the Stalker"]The first time that we met I knew I was going to make him mine.

User avatar
watts
Posts: 1160
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 14:30
Location: self-imposed exile

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby watts » 25 Apr 2014, 15:01

New York Trust Fund Babies destroyed my favorite city in the world and made it so that I can't fucking live there anymore.

The state of New York is a beautiful one, and I have fondness for upstate new york and for towns like Ithaca and little villages like Skaneateles, but aside from the cultural attractions it boasts I hate damn near everything about New York City -- from the "New York is the center of the known universe" thinking denizens to the mother fucking Yankees to the pretentious sheltered writers of the New Yorker magazine to the "trendy" hipster fuckwads from Brooklyn. I think at heart for me is the fact that everyone who ever wanted to be "important" moved there. The self-importance is off the charts, and it's largely BULLSHIT.

I loved San Francisco. New Yorkers destroyed it. Fuck you New York.
--m

User avatar
harvey k-tel
Long Player
Posts: 40893
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 23:20
Location: 1220 on your AM dial

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby harvey k-tel » 25 Apr 2014, 15:09

watts wrote:...little villages like Skaneateles...


Count Machuki should move there.
Tempora mutatur et nos mutamur in illis

User avatar
Guy E
Posts: 13301
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 23:11
Location: Antalya, Turkey

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Guy E » 25 Apr 2014, 15:57

watts wrote:New York Trust Fund Babies destroyed my favorite city in the world and made it so that I can't fucking live there anymore.

I loved San Francisco. New Yorkers destroyed it. Fuck you New York.

Really? I mean, the Trustafarians are a pox on NYC too, but I don’t blame the city for that. These entitled hillbillies come from everywhere across the United States and there’s no shortage of Euro trash amongst their ranks. Why not drop the other shoe and blame gays? Childlessness is a MAJOR economic advantage and it defines San Francisco.

One of my many theories is that NYC is now seen as a finishing school for the nouveau riche… they send their twenty-something brats here to get cul-churd.

Blame the Republicunts for three decades of trickle-down economics and non-existent taxes for the rich. The fact is, one needs a very good income to survive in NYC or San Francisco. The same goes for cities like London, Paris, Tokyo and Rome… middleclass schmiddleclass.
["Minnie the Stalker"]The first time that we met I knew I was going to make him mine.

User avatar
Samoan
Posts: 11944
Joined: 28 May 2008, 10:22
Location: The Glad Tidings Mission Hall

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Samoan » 25 Apr 2014, 21:38

Goat Boy wrote:I've never been to New York but big cities in general make my skin crawl a bit. I love visiting London but it really doesn't take very long at all for the crowds to annoy me. I can taste the pollution. I'm always happy to head up north again to be honest and I just feel more comfortable in a place like Edinburgh. I can see the hills and the sea in the distance. There's space, you know?

I guess you were up town seeing stuff, D. The crowds can be a bit much, I agree and the air quality.

I'm a native, and still live about 3 miles from where I grew up in an inner London borough but one of the greenest there is. I have a beautiful rambling common, albeit traversed by roads in a few places, with fully mature trees, just 150 yards from my flat. My neighbourhood is like living in a giant lettuce at this time of year with so much frothy,fresh electric lime-green exploding everywhere. Ok, let's call it a giant bag of mixed salad leaves. I don't mean just the common but right there if I step outside now or glance out my windows as well as the amply tree-lined streets, front gardens and the dearth of traffic. It's nice +++.
Nonsense to the aggressiveness, I've seen more aggression on the my little pony message board......I mean I was told.

User avatar
take5_d_shorterer
Posts: 5753
Joined: 22 Sep 2003, 23:09
Location: photo. by Andor Kertesz, Hung.

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby take5_d_shorterer » 25 Apr 2014, 22:04

Stephen James Solomon wrote:What a shit hole. Dirty, expensive, broken down trains, busses roads and buildings and more creepy looking low-lifes than in a Mad Max film. But some folks rave about it being the greatest place anywhere. Someone please tell me why they like New York. Or agree with me.

And what is up with the need for every restaurant to be trendy? Even the typical New York delis and diners are touted as something to be experienced rather than place to just get some goddamn food.


If you want to get anywhere, you'll need to take this type of complaining, especially about restaurants, and raise it to the nth degree. For example,



See the rant beginning at 1:30.

Of course, if you want to do that, you'll have to spend more time in NYC to learn your craft.

User avatar
Snarfyguy
Dominated by the Obscure
Posts: 53502
Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:04
Location: New York

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Snarfyguy » 09 Jul 2014, 15:51

I was once personally insulted by Jackie Mason! :D

New York sure isn't what it used to be. All the local color's being drained out by hypergentrification. Independent shops are disappearing at a staggering rate while chain stores and luxury condos proliferate.

It's really getting out of hand.

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/
GoogaMooga wrote: The further away from home you go, the greater the risk of getting stuck there.

User avatar
Goat Boy
Bogarting the joint
Posts: 32974
Joined: 20 Mar 2007, 12:11
Location: In the perfumed garden

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Goat Boy » 11 Jul 2014, 12:40

London is going the same way I feel.

I've been saddened by how bland it is whenever I visit these days.
Griff wrote:The notion that Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong vocal proponent of antisemitism, would stand in front of an antisemitic mural and commend it is utterly preposterous.


Copehead wrote:a right wing cretin like Berger....bleating about racism

Limpin' Jez McKenzie
Poptastic
Posts: 15389
Joined: 05 Jul 2004, 22:01

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 15 Jul 2014, 14:21

Goat Boy wrote:London is going the same way I feel.

I've been saddened by how bland it is whenever I visit these days.


I was in Peckham Rye a few weeks back and was amazed at how vibrant it was. And though it may not be everybody's scene in Hackney Wick the canal to the west of the Olympic Park is actually becoming a fascinating place to go - the Cygnet being the most recent addition

http://www.trumansbeer.co.uk/the-cygnet-a-tap-for-trumans/
I kept thinking "swim as far as you can, swim as far as you can".

User avatar
Hightea
Posts: 4361
Joined: 16 Apr 2015, 02:18
Location: NY state

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Hightea » 19 Apr 2015, 04:59

Jimbo wrote:What a shit hole. Dirty, expensive, broken down trains, busses roads and buildings and more creepy looking low-lifes than in a Mad Max film. But some folks rave about it being the greatest place anywhere. Someone please tell me why they like New York. Or agree with me.


:lol: Yes parts of NYC can be dirty and you will see Mad Max Characters :D However, I love just about every part of it from the south part of Staten Island to City Island in the Bronx (where I lived for over 10 years). I've lived in every boro for at least a couple of months. My favorite part is that NYC is always changing.

Manhattan is much safer today then the 70-80's. Back then there were places you kept away from walking around times square and 8th avenue area was sleazy. Lower east side was a wreck and empty lots. I spent a summer in Tribeca in the early 80's it was empty at night and my car was the only one on the block. Today you can't find a spot.

Yes the NY roads can be a mess and potholes but its better than the past where there were blocks of un-repaired roads. Today you can even call to get one fixed.

What I love about NY is too much. I grew up in Central NJ but my older brother lived in NY so I visited all the time. He took us to different restaurants every time. Loved the foods of the world. I've also been coming to NY for concerts and no band skips NY. Lots of free stuff in the city also. Gallery openings, free concerts in the summer, some museums have free days. Free parks, Bronx Zoo lots of outdoor stuff to do.

here you go 10 years (04-14) of concerts most of them in NY

Image
Image

User avatar
Quaco
F R double E
Posts: 47380
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 19:41

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Quaco » 28 Sep 2015, 19:18

take5_d_shorterer wrote:
Stephen James Solomon wrote:What a shit hole. Dirty, expensive, broken down trains, busses roads and buildings and more creepy looking low-lifes than in a Mad Max film. But some folks rave about it being the greatest place anywhere. Someone please tell me why they like New York. Or agree with me.

And what is up with the need for every restaurant to be trendy? Even the typical New York delis and diners are touted as something to be experienced rather than place to just get some goddamn food.


If you want to get anywhere, you'll need to take this type of complaining, especially about restaurants, and raise it to the nth degree. For example,



See the rant beginning at 1:30.

Of course, if you want to do that, you'll have to spend more time in NYC to learn your craft.

Genius -- thank you for that!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

User avatar
Nolamike
Posts: 13988
Joined: 05 Dec 2005, 21:31
Location: Heaven, Hell, or Houston
Contact:

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby Nolamike » 29 Sep 2015, 15:32

I love it, but think I'd go nuts living there. Give me, oh, two weeks with an unlimited budget every year or two, and I'd be happy.

Snarfyguy wrote:New York sure isn't what it used to be. All the local color's being drained out by hypergentrification. Independent shops are disappearing at a staggering rate while chain stores and luxury condos proliferate.

It's really getting out of hand.

http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/


No doubt. Case in point - a few weeks ago, when we were spending the day at my dad's house, I was looking through some photo albums, and the pictures of Times Square were shocking, compared to what it is nowadays (and it's somehow been over a decade since I was last in NYC, so it's probably even worse now). What once was seedy and exciting is now just a bunch of bland chain restaurants and mid-to-upper-end chain retailers with extra lighting. Even more surprising is Red Hook, in Brooklyn. When I was 16, in the early '90s, I spent a summer working with my dad in a shipyard in Red Hook. The place was pretty, well, scary - it had a bombed-out look, and was a hotbed for every type of illegal activity you could imagine. Nowadays? The site of that shipyard has been converted into an Ikea, a riverfront park, and artist spaces/lofts/coffee shops. Not that I'm opposed to broken stuff being fixed, but it's as if everything that made the city what it was is being thrown out with the bad.

That seems to be happening in many of America's cities; New Orleans is another prime example. It hasn't gotten as inundated with chain stores (yet) as NYC, but a massive migration of young white people from middle class or wealthy backgrounds has greatly changed the city since I first started living there in '94. (And yes, I know the irony of a lower-middle-class white kid who moved to the city when I was young complaining about similar kids doing the same thing 20 years later). The migration has brought a LOT of new industries and jobs to the city, it proved to be a big help in rebuilding after Katrina and the federal floods, and it's led to a good bit of blight being fixed up. But it's also led to a massive increase in housing costs, which has pushed many native New Orleanians, especially African-Americans, out of what had traditionally been working-class neighborhoods, and out to the suburbs. And when they leave, they also take the culture (e.g., brass bands, second lines, Mardi Gras Indians, family-run po-boy shops and neighborhood bars) that they established in those neighborhoods, which is what brought the newcomers there in the first place. And within a few years, what had been a street with a bunch of small mom-and-pop joints - say, a divey beer-and-a-shot bar with regulars from the surrounding streets that serves as a meeting place for a Social Aid & Pleasure Club (the groups that put on second lines), a corner grocery store and po-boy shop, a tire repair shop, a storefront church, and a little hardware store - has become a street with a craft cocktail bar, a restaurant serving some bullshit (delicious, yes, but bullshit) that could be found in every other "hipster" enclave in the country, a yoga studio, and a shop selling t-shirts with cutesy and/or ironic prints on them about how unique and authentic the city is because it has all of the people and local stuff that have just been pushed out by said t-shirt shop and the people who shop there.
Sir John Coan wrote:Nolamike is speaking nothing but sense here.


Loki wrote:Mike is Hookfinger's shill.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20248
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: I don't love New York City

Postby naughty boy » 30 Sep 2015, 22:58

I've never been to NYC, but I think Berlin, with its ubiquitous hipster crowd and its dense, multi-cultural population, has to be similar in many ways. And I can hardly breathe here. And it's fucking expensive.

For most of my life I've dreamed about moving to NYC. After a month in Berlin, I'm no longer so keen on the idea. I like big cities, but this is brutal.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.


Return to “All Around The World”