When can you be considered a real New Yorker?

When you really believe that there is something special about being a NEw Yorker

When you sell your car for pubic tranportation

In that i was born in St. Clare's hospital in Manhattan (my parents then lived in the south Bronx), yes, i am a real New Yorker. I believe that St. Clare's no longer provides obstetric services. Screw that goofy video.

Never, since I'm a Los Angelena, born at St. Vincent's; somewhat now removed. Fond of NYC though.

This.

I'm a real Noo Yawker cuz I say so!!!!

If you need more reasons than that, then you ain't worth the time to talk to. And I'm in a hurry. (New Yorkers are always in a hurry--get the hell out of the way!!)

I was a dumb Texan walking down Fifth Avenue, at quitting time for countless clerks and such, back in ought '68. Talk about being in a hurry. Hundreds of power walking guys and gals focused solely on getting down the block. I quickly became confused as to how to navigate the traffic and was getting seriously bumped and cursed. Fortoonately I was near enough to a subway hole to make like the white rabbit and vanish down it.

When I lived in Tx maybe 2-3 years, I was temping, and taking my lunch break in the break room.

Another temp, who was on her first day, joined me. Within 5 minutes she had told me she she moved from NY 2 weeks ago, and how we did everything wrong here, we didn't know how to do anything, and how she didn't like anthing about the place, or people.

So I asked her how soon she was moving back.

I'm sure my view is slanted, having been raised in the NE, but I've never been clear why people are proud of the fact they are always rushing, unhappy about almost everything that happens during the day, yet feel they have it all over everyone else.

I'm serious. Why is watching people vomit on the subway something to be proud of? Or pushing people out of the way, or having things take at least twice as long to get them done because it's so difficult just to function.

I'm open to learning, really.

Theater? Music Scene? Art? People both unusual and ordinary? Guess what, NY doesn't have a monopoly.

Also, this business of looking sideways at those that supply all your food, raw materials and fuel. smh.

When you get there !

I have equally fond memories of NYC, to counterbalance that story. If I had not had all my family and history elsewhere, I could have settled in Brooklyn. I loved just walking the streets. When I made a pass through there, to visit an old friend, I will never forget the kindness total strangers showed my family (I had a son and wife with me).

I love NYC - even with some brashness I've experienced, because it was more than friendly most of the time. Took the family to NYC when the kids were young, and I've also been there several times more since then. Bought the VIP pass, and took the double decker tour bus a couple of times to get an overview of the city. Love walking around Wall Street and Times Square. Walked to the museum from 58th Street on my last visit there. I've yet to visit Harlem, so the next time.....

I can imagine it now, so many walking along glued to smart phones..*
I'm faintly envious, not having one, but if I, with my clumsy maneuvering walking these days, walked on a crowded sidewalk staring at my phone, perhaps one or more of the passersby and myself would get hurt.

*not sure NYers are as glued to smart phones as some are elsewhere.

Anyway, my last time in NYC was pretty much me trying to memorize the place that I'd lived in a short time when I was eight. Bronx, of course.

chai, The person you're talking about sounds like an insensitive, not-too-bright bitch regardless of where she's from.

It may seem that New Yorkers are always rushing. And we often are. People are commuting from much farther than the five boroughs. Long Island, Westchester, Yonkers, New Jersey, etc. Natives and commuters are all at the mercy of the subway, buses, railroads, etc.

At lunch time, many of us have to get an elevator to get us down 20 or 30 or 40 floors. I hate to think how many elevators I couldn't get on because they were full.

Then we have to get to a place to eat, often wait in line, get served, eat, and get back in an hour. One of my fondest lunch memories is when my waitress was fired mid-lunch. I had to start all over again.

I'm not denying that people rush. I can't and don't rush anymore. I manage just fine.

I love this city for its being a city--a vertical city. I love the eccentricities of the city and its people. I love, love the diversity of the people here. I love that a Bronx cheer is not a cheer. That an egg cream has neither egg nor cream--and should never be served with a straw!!! You're more likely to be stared at rudely for ordering pastrami on whole wheat or white bread than for walking too slow on the street.

In short, it ain't easy here, but it's my home. I'm sorry you met someone who appears to be giving all of us a bad rep.

(I'm rarely rude, but I'm no woos.)

Roberta, I wasn't talking about this particular person or incident.

I was born and raised in the NE, in NJ. I lived there until I was about 20. While a child, I can remember so many times where someone was more or less dismissed, or thought of as countrified or they couldn't really know what life was all about, because they didn't live in or around the area.

The old new yorker magazine cover tells it all. This one, from 1976, the year before I graduated high school from high school. Yep, this was how people saw, and apparantly still see NY. Like there's nothing else out there worth knowing about.



Yes, you rush around, you see people doing gross things all the time, you get upset about so many things....and you are so proud of it. It seems especially when you've lived no where else, and have nothing to compare it to.

Edgar, I've visisted NY numerous times since then, and always had a good time. I have childhood friends there, and have meet new people through them.
But, I've also visited other cities, states, wide open spaces, and had just as good, or better times.

Roberta, I'm glad you love your home. I love my home. I wish everyone loved their home.

But, it's just one place. NY seems peculiar in this country in that people seem so proud to say they live someplace with rats, roaches, vomit, high taxes, higher cost of living, tiny apartments and it all seems worth it because there are jazz clubs and museums, multi-story buildings and a big park.

As if other places don't have restaurants, and lots of other stuff to do, and the people don't rush or tell about the person who peed next to them on the way over.

NY just suffers from an inflated ego. There's nothing wrong with living there, if that's where you want to be, but honestly? Really and truly? No one, or hardly anyone, is envious or jealous.

Like has been said. A person considers themselves a native New Yorker when they think anyone, or everyone cares about that fact.

I know I sound negative. I think it just hits me harder because I've been there, and I've been other places, and I can imagine other places that are really great to live in.

I have had people literally think I wear a cowboy hat, or asked me questions like if we painted our doors different colors like they d0, all from the NE, never from other areas.

It kind of boils down to being shown or told something as if it's only available in NY, like an egg cream, a street musician, someone in costume or doing something unusual on the street, as if it's not in existence anywhere else.

NYC to me is a place I love to visit, and not necessarily to live in. I love Silicon Valley for many reasons including our climate. The majority of people who live in our neighborhood are engineers and scientists. The level of higher education is very high, and the pay structure speaks for itself. We also have Stanford and Cal Berkeley within easy driving distance; two premier universities. Many doctors at our hospital graduated from Stanford and UCSF. I'm sure many people who have visited NYC thinks like I do; their hometown is the best.

Other than a few of those I can check a lot of those off from a one-week visit.

that New Yorker cover is how I felt about New York and the world when I was a little kid - before I'd ever been to New York

I still feel pretty much the same way

I love where I live, but I love New York more than anything else

Well, sure, I have lived on both coasts and a number of places in between. There is something good in every place I have lived. I have a very soft spot for Fresno, CA. But when I was last there, in 1965, I could not find a job. New York is just a place I feel comfortable in and would like to visit a few times before I cash in my chips.

If you go to NYC, you can accumulate some more chips. Those chips have greater value too! It's a big city with many different personalities, and I've seen only a few.
I like to visit when it's low tourist season.

I have meetings up there all times of the year. Usually Im there at least 1 overnight. Im always amazed at why they dont have plague in NYC.