The Big Apple Thread

show off.

 

How's the ghetto? Ya front porch still in tact?
​

 

I have a stoop thank you. Just last week the streetsweeper washed the whino off the curb.

The air smells fresher now.

 

aaaaah I remember the days of having a stoop
Fort Greene Brooklyn representin

 

My wife was born in the Bronx and was living in the Chelsea district of the city when we met. My in-laws live in Queens. We live out on the West Coast, though. Haven't been to NYC in quite awhile, actually. Maybe for Christmas. NY at Christmas-time is awesome!

jag

 

New York is a great city to live in if you have money. This city beats up on the poor every chance they can and when I mean poor I don't mean homeless or ppl on welfare. I'm talking about ppl making at least 40,000 a year which is equivalent to working at MacDonalds over here.

 

NY is the most expensive city to live in the US... and it is true... 40K a year goes further elsewhere.... that's probably the biggest drawback by far but what you get back once you find a place here is immeasureable.

Check out this stat.... the average US city has about 76 people per square mile... NYC... over 27,000. Manhattan Island is only 13 miles long.

 

Granted but when minimum wage is only $5.15 there is something seriously out of wack. The overall cost of living here is 364% higher than the national average. If you just arrived in nyc and you don't have many job skills better find a nice spot in the street to live in. I mean cmon.

 

as some people here know- the first six months i spent living in NYC i was out of work.

Equint mentioned it in another thread- But post 9-11 the job market is severely damaged. really, it was tough enough BEFORE 9-11, but the really crazy part is that now --in addition to the high cost of living-- the number of decent paying jobs available to New Yorkers is miniscule. its the worst of both worlds

but hell, it's worth it

 

people still manage... even if they just arrive to the city with nothing. For all the wrong things with economics and rent pricing and the fact that the average Manhattan apartment hit 1 million dollars last year... people find ways to live here.

It's not easy because there is no space in NY but people know that already and yet still wanna get here first. Some leave.. most stay.

My friend moved to Dallas a few years ago and I told him he'd hate it.. and after a few years of living there... as great as it's been for him cause of low rent and overall living expenses.. he's moving back to NY because of how accessable things are here. I can go on and on about the pro's of living in New York. But like everything else it is what you make of if and you can always choose to leave.

 

Like I said.. it is what you make of it.... sure it's crowded and everything is expensive but no where else in the world can you have access to as many things as you do here.

You need clean clothes? Dry cleaners on every other block. Same with laundry mats. Almost all 24 hours a day.

Hungry for Pizza at 4AM? You'll find a place open.. guaranteed.

You need to get around? 2 dollars can get you a subway ride anywhere.... as opposed to owning a car, looking for parking, paying for gas and then insurance on top of it. And if not, you take a taxi... and if that doesn't work... whatever you need in the city is a walk away.

And as Max said.... it's the best of both worlds... Progress is what's put the city ahead of everyone else in the world.. progress is also taking those horrible neighborhoods from the 80's and 90's and turning them into livable apartments.

Progress also means that there's gonna be competition for that land and land value.. which means it'll go to the highest bidder.. which causes rent hikes and insane condo and co-op prices.

It's win and lose but you do what you can to find a niche.

 

Sure, it's noisy, it's crowded, it's polluted, and people'd just as soon step on yer face as look at ya, but there's gotta be some sparks o' sweet humanity left in this burnt out berg. We just need to find a way to mobilize it!

 

Humanity was shown during the black out 3 years ago.... the city had no power for almost 2 days and nothing happened... I was outside my friend's apartment terrace and I saw people helping direct traffic... others going around offering water. In lesser places it should have been chaotic and maybe 20 years it would have but thankfully the city has evolved to a point where it's breaking the big city sterotypes.

Just solifidied what I always knew about my home. There's no better place for me to live.

 

That blackout was cool, wasn't it? If only it wasn't a hot day it woulda been awesome. I was on my way to work when it happened. An hour sooner I'da been on th' train comin' back from th' Met...which woulda rocked! I dunno, I enjoyed it. Was kinda thrillin'. But I was surprised at how people adhered to traffic laws an' treated lights like stop signs. Who knew people could be that smart?

FYI: That was a movie quote. You can't call yerself a NYer unless you seen those prerequisite NY movies.

 

Yer toilet is electric???? Whaaaaa?

 

you live in the city? cause my friend couldn't use her toilet either.. since the water pumps are electric.


that must have sucked....

 

Had no problem with my toilets...an' I'm in Brooklyn.

 

see that's the worst... I spent the night at my friends till the next morning when I got a taxi and went home.. luckily my apartment was functioning normally again.. so in essense I didn't really go through the black out.

Like Wolverine said.. it was a pretty cool time those 2 days. Good stories.