New York - NYC

I fucking hate that shithole of a city.
Give me Boston any day.

New York rates lower than Florida on my list, if one of my bestest friends didn't live there, the cunt, I'd swear I'd never travel to it again.
West Coast, FTW!

You just shat on me and Jayloo in one fell swoop, Nice. Well YOU SMELL Henry! Take that!

I think I'll look into East Village area as well... I just presumed as it was on Manhattan that it would be too expensive! But when I visited NY last year i liked the vibe of that area a lot...

No way, dude, you can go up to West Harlem and get a 3 bed for $1200 per month. There are lots of places in NYC that you can still get OK rent. My friend is in Astoria with a 1 br for $1100/mo, etc. That sounds like a lot of money but people can make the money to cover it easy.

I had troubles with the city when I left but to me it still beats the pants off London.

awesome, just let me know.

yep, the west coast is awesome. there's no two ways about it.

[aram baiting]
except LA
forget LA
[/aram baiting]

Aram and I both dislike LA. No worries. It's disgusting.

Have to agree Boston is superb, the quality of people there is much better than NYC, but NYC is not rubbish in the very least.

Didn't like LA much either, full of people trying to be someone they're not, the fact it's car centered isn't helping either.

New York is overwhelmingly a microcosm of everything wrong with the states.
fiercely nationalistic, proud, racist, etc.
Thats the impression i've had, as the son of an arab, who's NY friend is turkish.

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FREAKING MIND HENRY?! Are you sure you went to "THE" New York City? We are definitely guilty of being proud for sure, but racist? Nationalistic? What are you talking about? That is a massive judgment and insult coming from an experience that lasted a month and three weeks. I am really surprised that you could be so quick to label one of the most diverse culturally welcoming cities in the whole world as racist?! Seriously man, take a step back and think about it, your way way smarter than that. Your one short experience and quick judgment of a city of 8 million people, is exactly the sort of thinking that leads to racist, xenophobic sentiment in the first place. Your not an ignorant man, quite the opposite.

Have to agree Boston is superb, the quality of people there is much better than NYC.

Jesus Christ! It's just what you prefer, that doesn't make one group of people better quality than another. FS!

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FREAKING MIND HENRY?! Are you sure you went to "THE" New York City? We are definitely guilty of being proud for sure, but racist? Nationalistic? What are you talking about? That is a massive judgment and insult coming from an experience that lasted a month and three weeks. I am really surprised that you could be so quick to label one of the most diverse culturally welcoming cities in the whole world as racist?! Seriously man, take a step back and think about it, your way way smarter than that. Your one short experience and quick judgment of a city of 8 million people, is exactly the sort of thinking that leads to racist, xenophobic sentiment in the first place. Your not an ignorant man, quite the opposite.

hi aram!
yes i did find it racist-
as did my mum, and much of my (extended) family, and my turkish friend, who has lived there his entire life- but notes a sig. change towards the positive recently.

I have yet to have a decent time in NY.
I don't agree its welcoming at all. Culturally diverse, yes, but not welcoming. It separates and distinguishes, and does not integrate.

but, again, I've never had a good time there.

you're final comment is entirely correct also (the one above this post).

yeah- it may be judgemental, but its not a slight- and admittedly I made too big a generalisation- against the people, some of whom I know to be stellar- it is the feel of the place.
so apologies for that.

To explain further, I have never felt comfortable or at home there, a feeling I have never had a problem finding. I tend to feel at home anywhere, but could not in NY. It was lonely and isolating in a way I could not manage.

and I do smell...
but only because I went for a run.

I went to NYC because I needed to leave London (my ex had just died) and because I had just met a load of nice couriers from there (this is back when I was still a courier).

One of them, a lady courier we will refer to as Fakenger, had said to just let her know when I would be coming into town, I could stay with her. My plan had been to stay in NYC for three months, before coming back to London (at that time it was the amount of time I could leave the UK for without loosing my visa).
When I told Fakenger of my plans, she offered to let me stay for the whole three months! I thanked her, but thought it might be better to sublet something so that I wouldn't be depending on anyone else.
I also decided to spend the first night or two with an old friend/lover as it would be nice to see a known face when I got into a town I'd never been to before.

F/L didn't want me to stay; his flat mate was evidently a psyco, but he didn't really say that until I showed up at his. I left a bag of stuff at his house, and went out to find a bike shop and see some of the other couriers I'd met.

F/L works until 3 in the morning. So I crashed on a random person's sofa and woke up in the morning to find frantic and upset emails from him.
Where was I?
Was I ok?

I decided I had better go and get my stuff and make it up to him, besides, I had finally managed to get ahold of Fakenger who was teaching an evening class and was happy to meet me after and show me to my new home.

As I had time to kill, I went to Bluestockings, an anarchist book shop on the Lower East Side. It was nice, and I chatted to a really nice and friendly guy who works there, Gavin (who is one of the few people in this story I would still refer to as a friend).
He invited me to a punk show in Brooklyn, and I go because I have to waste some time.

I have everything on my back. Everything that isn't at someone else's house in London.
Fakenger doesn't answer her phone for 3 more days.
F/L isn't an option really, house mate doesn't like people (evidently).

Gavin let's me stay the night on his sofa when he realizes that I have no where to go, and introduces me to two girl friends of his that have a flat in Queens, Strange and Bitch.
They offer to let me their spare room for a super cheap price so that they have time to find the right person to live with them permanently, evidently they have had some problems with housemates before.
I find out why.
Strange makes animals stuffed with meat. Don't worry, she's vegan. She just makes little sewn together animals stuffed with meat, then she dehydrates them.
Bitch is hardly ever there, she is very pretty, seems nice, but aloof. I later spot her fiance in a hipster magazine as one of the top up and coming hipsters of the year. He has dreads, is Swedish, but looks kind of oriental.
For a month, everything is ok. I still haven't seen Fakenger, I got a job, and I've had coffee with F/L, and we've ironed out our friendship, but for the most part he is still too busy to show me around or hang out.
I get a job at a courier firm with a cool boss, I meet some nice people. I start seeing a boy who works in a track bike shop. He's nice, although wants me to know that I won't really ever be a part of his life, but that's ok, I'm leaving in a few months.
Then the notes start. "Who used my margerine?" "I wonder if whoever used this dish would dry it and put it away?".
I'm a fairly considerate house mate. There was two pots of marg, one of which was mine, so I just used some. I didn't know that the drying rack for the dishes wasn't meant to be used.
Then Bitch changed the password on the computer so that I could no longer contact my real friends in London. I never used the computer when she was there, and she had said it was ok if I use it, but evidently she had changed her mind and instead of saying something, she changed the password and left town for a few days.
Strange and I decided I should leave.
Immediatly.
So I moved in with the person who I call my only Friend in NYC. The last month was better, but I found out years later that my boss didn't really like me that much, he was just putting it on and taking the piss out of me when I wasn't in the office.
A week before I left NYC, I took the boy out for a nice meal to say thanks for putting up with me being broke for the week before. For dessert he told me that he had slept with someone else and it was over between us.
By the time I got back to London, I was shaking. I was so happy to be home.

In essence, NYC is the place where people pretend to be your friend while doing everything they can in their power to fuck up your life.
They say "let's hang out sometime" and mean "you are not cool enough to lick the slabs of pretension from my boots".

I have met a few nice people there, but the amount of time it takes to sort the chaff from the wheat makes it a hell hole in the truest sense of the word.

sounds like a mike leigh/woody allen movie type nightmare.

You fail at life. Portland Or is every thing that is wrong with the world. We should bomb it. Seriously.

Boston is fun for a weekend but that city is too slow for me. Cute girls, but NYC has the hottest women in the world.

No, you, subway rider extraordinaire, fail at life. PDX is one of the most awesome places i've been in the states, it's so refreshing to be in an American city that isn't part of the gas-guzzling culture, the city promotes and encourages small businesses and its rad to not be bombarded with Starbucks etc. Everyone bikes! You are a fool.

NYC is still ok in my books though.

No, you, subway rider extraordinaire, fail at life. PDX is one of the most awesome places i've been in the states, it's so refreshing to be in an American city that isn't part of the gas-guzzling culture, the city promotes and encourages small businesses and its rad to not be bombarded with Starbucks etc. Everyone bikes! You are a fool.

NYC is still ok in my books though.

Took cars to and from work today ;)

Portland is where people go when they are too pretentious to exist in the real world. Its fine to visit and riding bikes is kinda fun but its not the 90's any more. No one cares about saving the world.

Also NYC is more eco freindly per person then any city in North America. You just don't see as many dread locks.

No, you, subway rider extraordinaire, fail at life. PDX is one of the most awesome places i've been in the states, it's so refreshing to be in an American city that isn't part of the gas-guzzling culture, the city promotes and encourages small businesses and its rad to not be bombarded with Starbucks etc. Everyone bikes! You are a fool.

NYC is still ok in my books though.

Took cars to and from work today ;)

Portland is where people go when they are too pretentious to exist in the real world. Its fine to visit and riding bikes is kinda fun but its not the 90's any more. No one cares about saving the world.

Also NYC is more eco freindly per person then any city in North America. You just don't see as many dread locks.

I went to NYC because I needed to leave London (my ex had just died) and because I had just met a load of nice couriers from there (this is back when I was still a courier).

One of them, a lady courier we will refer to as Fakenger, had said to just let her know when I would be coming into town, I could stay with her. My plan had been to stay in NYC for three months, before coming back to London (at that time it was the amount of time I could leave the UK for without loosing my visa).
When I told Fakenger of my plans, she offered to let me stay for the whole three months! I thanked her, but thought it might be better to sublet something so that I wouldn't be depending on anyone else.
I also decided to spend the first night or two with an old friend/lover as it would be nice to see a known face when I got into a town I'd never been to before.

F/L didn't want me to stay; his flat mate was evidently a psyco, but he didn't really say that until I showed up at his. I left a bag of stuff at his house, and went out to find a bike shop and see some of the other couriers I'd met.

F/L works until 3 in the morning. So I crashed on a random person's sofa and woke up in the morning to find frantic and upset emails from him.
Where was I?
Was I ok?

I decided I had better go and get my stuff and make it up to him, besides, I had finally managed to get ahold of Fakenger who was teaching an evening class and was happy to meet me after and show me to my new home.

As I had time to kill, I went to Bluestockings, an anarchist book shop on the Lower East Side. It was nice, and I chatted to a really nice and friendly guy who works there, Gavin (who is one of the few people in this story I would still refer to as a friend).
He invited me to a punk show in Brooklyn, and I go because I have to waste some time.

I have everything on my back. Everything that isn't at someone else's house in London.
Fakenger doesn't answer her phone for 3 more days.
F/L isn't an option really, house mate doesn't like people (evidently).

Gavin let's me stay the night on his sofa when he realizes that I have no where to go, and introduces me to two girl friends of his that have a flat in Queens, Strange and Bitch.
They offer to let me their spare room for a super cheap price so that they have time to find the right person to live with them permanently, evidently they have had some problems with housemates before.
I find out why.
Strange makes animals stuffed with meat. Don't worry, she's vegan. She just makes little sewn together animals stuffed with meat, then she dehydrates them.
Bitch is hardly ever there, she is very pretty, seems nice, but aloof. I later spot her fiance in a hipster magazine as one of the top up and coming hipsters of the year. He has dreads, is Swedish, but looks kind of oriental.
For a month, everything is ok. I still haven't seen Fakenger, I got a job, and I've had coffee with F/L, and we've ironed out our friendship, but for the most part he is still too busy to show me around or hang out.
I get a job at a courier firm with a cool boss, I meet some nice people. I start seeing a boy who works in a track bike shop. He's nice, although wants me to know that I won't really ever be a part of his life, but that's ok, I'm leaving in a few months.
Then the notes start. "Who used my margerine?" "I wonder if whoever used this dish would dry it and put it away?".
I'm a fairly considerate house mate. There was two pots of marg, one of which was mine, so I just used some. I didn't know that the drying rack for the dishes wasn't meant to be used.
Then Bitch changed the password on the computer so that I could no longer contact my real friends in London. I never used the computer when she was there, and she had said it was ok if I use it, but evidently she had changed her mind and instead of saying something, she changed the password and left town for a few days.
Strange and I decided I should leave.
Immediatly.
So I moved in with the person who I call my only Friend in NYC. The last month was better, but I found out years later that my boss didn't really like me that much, he was just putting it on and taking the piss out of me when I wasn't in the office.
A week before I left NYC, I took the boy out for a nice meal to say thanks for putting up with me being broke for the week before. For dessert he told me that he had slept with someone else and it was over between us.
By the time I got back to London, I was shaking. I was so happy to be home.

In essence, NYC is the place where people pretend to be your friend while doing everything they can in their power to fuck up your life.
They say "let's hang out sometime" and mean "you are not cool enough to lick the slabs of pretension from my boots".

I have met a few nice people there, but the amount of time it takes to sort the chaff from the wheat makes it a hell hole in the truest sense of the word.

Nhatt, the whole situation seems pretty nightmarish, but it's the specific situation and the group of people that you were hanging out with that sucked not NYC. Surly you can see that? I had a very very similar situation here in London, when I traveled all the way here from NYC to be with a girl I thought I was madly in love with, The day I got there, that night I got into bed with her only to find her sleeping in a f#@king sleeping bag next to me!? She apparently had met some one else and thought it would be better to have me fly across the ocean and tell me in person, THanks! She said I could stay with her for the next three weeks anyway, No thanks. Problem is I had nowhere to go and the only friend I had here at the time already had people staying with him, So I had nowhere to go. Anyway, it went on and on, dealing with many similar characters to your story. Not once did I ever blame London or judge the whole city for the shortcomings of a few shitty people.

Why are people, judging an entire place and it's population because of a bad experience with a few shitty people. If I was to do that I would have to hate almost everywhere I have ever been.

The problem is, that it was pretty much everyone I met in NYC who didn't have time or energy to be anything buy fake nice.

Even F/L, who was just F until the summer before when we hung out in Seattle (we had been neighbors and friends in Seattle when both of us lived there) , didn't really have time for me in NYC.

What I'm trying to say is that their is something about it that eats people.

The problem is, that it was pretty much everyone I met in NYC who didn't have time or energy to be anything buy fake nice.

Even F/L, who was just F until the summer before when we hung out in Seattle (we had been neighbors and friends in Seattle when both of us lived there) , didn't really have time for me in NYC.

What I'm trying to say is that their is something about it that eats people.

NYC Does indeed eat people, because it's a big intense city and it's not necessarily for everyone. I don't expect everyone to love NYC, but coming from someone who has spent half their life there, One bad experience should not color the whole place, NYC can be magical and brutal at the same time. Success in NYC is up to you and who you deal with or don't deal with.

Success in NYC is up to you and who you deal with or don't deal with.

Truth is true.

I'm infinitely grateful for the group of people I'm surrounded by here and I would find this place a lot more frustrating trying to do what I do with out the friends I have.

Truth is true.

I'm infinitely grateful for the group of people I'm surrounded by here and I would find this place a lot more frustrating trying to do what I do with out the friends I have.

The same for London!

One huge difference between London and NYC relates to the sidewalks/pavements.

In NYC, the ratio between area of pavement to floor areas of buildings in places such as Wall Street and Midtown (but elsewhere as well) means that, due to the height of buildings, there are more people to each square inch of sidewalk than one would find in a similar area of London. As a consequence, everyone is in each others faces all the time, competing for space. This creates an attitude that New Yorkers bring into their everyday lives.

Just a theory.

Having moved to both cities without really knowing much about them and not knowing a soul in either, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I prefer NYC.

I am probably biased because I got lucky with my apartment, neighborhood, roommates, job, coworkers etc., the circumstances were completely different when I moved to each city, and I have admittedly not lived in NYC for very long, but I have yet to experience the stereotypes that I had prepared myself for. It just seems like NYC comes with all this baggage because people expect it to be the most incredible place on earth, and obviously it can't always be amazing. When you weigh it all up though, even though it can be shitty in some respects, NYC has soooooo much to offer that most other cities just can't.
It's a shame that there are so many snap judgements made about it and its inhabitants - obviously in a city of 8 million there are going to be a lot of jerks, but I have met some of the most open, accommodating and friendly people here.

I feel like London can occasionally be awesome, but is mostly pretty average with some slightly better and slightly crapper things about it. Overall I find it unwelcoming, claustrophobic and judgmental - but again, this is just in my experience of it.

Having said all this, I have only really lived in 3 places so I can only compare them.

I need an NY tip - trying to sort out a trip there in August - any reccomend anywhere to stay in the boroughs that's easy to get into manhattan from - I know along a PATH route but all the fucking hotel maps dont show where t get the train from.

Just trying to find a cheaper option and this may be it...

I need an NY tip - trying to sort out a trip there in August - any reccomend anywhere to stay in the boroughs that's easy to get into manhattan from - I know along a PATH route but all the fucking hotel maps dont show where t get the train from.

Just trying to find a cheaper option and this may be it...

Stay in manhattan you'll save money in cab/ train fare.

Think about it this way: if you know whats up you will never leave a verry small part of manhattan, which is mostly walkable so its worth it to spend the extra on where you sleep to avoid spending it on how you get there.

I agree

Spent a week there in a apartment in June

We thought about Brooklyn , but instead stayed on 42ns and 8th ; much more central.

I'd recommed ear plugs though. 42nd and 8th is where the city never sleeps

im in new york next week an was hoping someone might know someone who could lend me a bike an be up for a ride one afternoon. itd make my trip if i could.

cheers guys.

Where about are you going? if you go to williamsburg there are a couple of bike club places where they give you parts to build your own bike.. i only read the sign so not sure what you have to do it costs like $30 to join. Theres a Arty build in southeast manhattan with a bike club too. i think you can burrow one from there. Not sure if this is help. Haven't really given you much information! Have a good time.