There’s truly no other place like New York City; everybody from Nebraska to Siberia has heard of it, and it gets untold millions of visitors every year. Yet what about those who live in New York day in and day out? You might watch “Friends” or “Seinfeld”, you might have a subscription to the New Yorker, but there are certain things that only real New Yorkers truly understand. Here are a few of them:
- Even though over 3 million people visit the Statue of Liberty every year, most New Yorkers have never gone there, and have no intention to. And unless they’re costumed characters, no New Yorker ever goes to Times Square.
- You might not think hot dogs and papaya juice going together, but New Yorkers know better. Whether they get it from Papaya King, Gray’s Papaya, Papaya Dog or Chelsea Papaya, it’s a late-night snack combination all New Yorkers know and love.
- New Yorkers will gladly pay over $100 a month for a gym membership that they only take advantage of twice a week, yet nonetheless complain about living in a fifth-floor walkup and climbing the stairs every day.
- You’ll cross the road wherever you want, even if there isn’t a crosswalk nearby.
- It’s considered completely normal to discuss how much you pay a month in rent. In a city where $1,500 a month won’t get you anything better than a shoebox apartment, we love to talk about how expensive (or freakishly cheap) our living arrangements are. Even if we end up paying $20,000 every year for a living space that can’t even hold our couch, we can’t imagine living anywhere else.
- Even though it’s the largest city in the country, New York is small enough in size that celebrity sightings are fairly common. While running into Ben Stiller or the girl from “Arrested Development” is always pretty cool, for the most part you just wonder what they’re doing at a place, then nonchalantly go on your way.
- Even though New York is one of the few cities with a 24/7 mass transit schedule, we love to complain about how bad it is. The G train in particular.
- Even if subways come every few minutes, we’re always rushing to catch the train. Nothing feels worse than walking down onto the subway platform right as the train is pulling away.
- You can find good pizza outside of the city, but nothing will ever beat the New York bagel. Whether you get it from H&H or your local bodega, New York’s bagels are the best in the world.
- Watching movies or TV shows set in New York will never be the same again. You’ll either spend the whole time seeing if you can recognize any of the streets or landmarks, or you’ll be complaining that it isn’t New York enough.
Maria Haymandou 