New York City

This isn't a topic bragging about the city, but a semi-serious one asking for advice.

I'm not exactly sure what kind I'll recieve here, but since GFF has a rather diverse body of members, I'll entertain this notion of a thread.

The thing is, I'm starting college in a week in New York City. I don't want to seem like a total immigrant, well, I'm not one at all... considering I was born/raised/ and live in New York. Rather close to NYC- on Long Island. I visit the city somewhat often, like 5-6 times a year. When I go I usually go to Times Square, Chinatown, and Soho.

I pretty much love the city, from my experiences being there and everything, and I'm excited about living there. It has so much to offer, and I want to know of all of the things I should see there. Various clubs, events, etc.

I'd also be delighted to see if anyone here has visited or lives in the city [not that I want to meet you guys in a rapish way] and can give me some ideas and 'advice' on living here. By the end of these four years, I want to be a complete pro and know the city's innards like the back of my hand. Anyway, expound, people..

Jam it back in, in the dark.

New York City was supposedly proclaimed the nicest city in the world I think. I visited the city once during the summer and it was fun. It was quicker for us to walk to places rather than drive since it took about 3-4 hours for the tour bus to find parking. Some of the indoor quick eateries had some really rude/rushed people preparing the food. My Yankee roommate told me of stories where New Yorkers believed it was more polite to knock your stuff in the floor than it was to let a stranger sit at their table, regardless of how full the place was.

I only visited the place once, but you probably know way more about the smaller places than I do. I only know of Battery Park, Central Park (free Shakespeare show with Natalie Portman and John Goodman when I was there), Madison Square Garden, Rockafeller Plaza (if you hold a baby, Al Roker might talk to you on-air), Liberty Island, and maybe one or two other places.

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I went back in September 2004 for about a week and did the general tourist shit. Unfortunately, my parents were wusses and we went no further north on Manhattan than MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and only stepped out of Manhattan to see the Yankees (Bronx borough), the Statue of Liberty and Coney Island. Sass and I will be going for a weekend sometime in the near future, but a weekend really isn't a good length of time to do all the cool stuff in NYC. Hell, an unfettered week isn't enough time. There's more to NYC than Manhattan.

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If you don't want to look like a tourist, and you plan to be using public transportation, I suggest you learn the basics about the subway and bus lines. Nothing is more annoying than watching some guy walk the platforms with his subway map in the air trying to find the train he needs. Just a suggestion though

And eating at the smaller restuarants on the corners is going to save you a shitload of money since eating at almost any well known chain (Applebees, etc) is going to be more expensive than almost anything you've seen at your local one.

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I don't understand people and their confusion with the MTA. I found NYC's subway system far more understandable than Boston's/MBTA's subway system (leaving South Station, the hub of Boston's subway system, is INBOUND, and going in is OUTBOUND?!). Uptown and downtown is completely understandable.

I was speaking idiomatically.

When I go to the city, I usually use the subway system anyway. But I only know how to take the F train to like Times Square and shit. I still need to master it, heh.

Has anyone heard of 'chicken & rice' ... on 53rd and 6th? That kind of food I love more than anything in the city, and I just hope to find one around Greenwhich Village. Oh yeah, that's where I'm going to live [if I forgot to mention it] so any especially cool things around there?

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Hey, I live in NYC. It's great and really convenient because there are so many stores around. If you want to save money on food, I think Chinatown has the cheapest restaurants, but try not to get anything else there, especially souvenirs. They overcharge a lot of items that you can find somewhere else for half the price. Learning to haggle can also be useful and you'd be surprised to see how easily vendors will give in to your requests (since they overcharge you in the first place anyway).

For shopping, try Herald Square (34th st). Stuff there are usually not that expensive and you can probably get most of your clothes from Macys, world's biggest store. =D

The subways can be a little confusing at first, especially when it comes to transferring for different trains, but you'll get used to it. You just have to know whether you're going uptown or downtown and which train to take. If you do get lost, there's always a map inside every car and you can check that. People are also generally nice if you ask for directions so don't hesitate to do so. I recommend taking the trains instead of driving. Driving will take you MUCH longer with the traffic.

I don't really go to Greenwich Village so I'm only familiar with Washington Square Park. By the way, which college are you attending? I'm guessing NYU since you’ll be living at Greenwich.

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Originally Posted by xSummonerYUnax

Hey, I live in NYC. It's great and really convenient By the way, which college are you attending? I'm guessing NYU since you’ll be living at Greenwich.

Yep.

I love haggling. I learned it from my mother, who's an expert in it. Obviously you can't go far with haggling in actual franchised stores, but with street vendors and businesses that are all cash anyway, it's the best thing to haggle. I usually have the amount of money I'm willing to pay out there in my hand, so the vendor can only think of getting that money into his hands as fast as possible, so they usually cave into my request.

me: hey, how much is a gyro?
vendor: $6
me: :looking skeptical: how about $5?
vendor: alright, $5
me: :getting out money: ohhh, i only have $4 [flashing it in his face... somewhat subtly]
vendor: alright, alright, $4 [grabs money]
me: thanks

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New York is a great college city. The police are a lot more lenient towards drugs and alcohol than Boston, thats for sure, but the city never sleeps. The Boston subway closes at midnight and most clubs and dance floors are open til 2:00 am at the latest. Not to rag on Boston, I live around there and love it. I mean, personally, I don't think I would fit into New York as well but I never know. For the longest time, NYU and other big city colleges and universities were my top choice for colleges. Somehow I ended up in rural Ohio in the Midwest. Funny how life works out. =P

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Hah, no offense to Boston but I've always hated the city. I've been there a couple of times, mainly to Harvard on Model United Nations trips. But I just grew to have such a distaste for the city. For one the road system is just FUCKED up, and the people there seem to have some deep seated insecurity for not being in Harvard or MIT. It's pretty much a college city, and that's why I didn't want to go to college there and turned down BU and BC. I didn't want to leave class and see other classmen all over the city.

That's why I chose NYU and NYC. Because it's just THE city. Such a diverse body of people, and I wanted to leave my classes and feel what life really has to offer. Rather than living sheltered in a campus or something, I just wanted school to be school and the rest of my life integrated with everything else.

Heh, I must also say I disagree with the city's leniency towards drugs. After the draconian Rockefeller drug laws, the city's really been cracking down. A friend of mine got 7 years for getting busted with a kilo of pot... 7 years. O_O

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New York does bend Boston backwards in terms of culture and night life. I actually like BU and BC. I dont know why people get so hung up about Harvard and MIT becuase they arent for everyone. Its nice to go there because everyone knows about it, but seriously...

Yeah, the Boston roads are fucked up. Not going to lie there. Because I assumed I would spend my graduate school years in a large city, I decided to try the country/rural thing out.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Uhh, specialized help if you like Turkish

Between 5th and 6th aves. at around 56th street is a great Indian restaurant called Bayleaf. And between 27th and 28th on 3rd ave. is Turkish Kitchen which is pretty good. The former is average entrée below $15 and the latter a little above it. If you happen to like that type of food then it may be worth it. I prefer the Indian one.

Right when you get there make a point of walking around. Everytime I go (such as this weekend) I walk everywhere. One of my best experiences was walking from about 60th on the East River down under 1st street and almost to the West side of the island and then up again through a different route. You find all kinds of things and only you can decide what you like. But, if you do it when you first get to the city you make find things you like. Unless you're lazy... then you can waste more money and find less.

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I live like 40 minutes from the city. Trains? You pretty much only need the N and R trains. They take you "everywhere" (CT, all along Broadway, pretty close to east village [there's weird some stories about this place but really isn't so bad.])

Check out Central Park, there's free row boating!! =) But you should go with someone who knows the park a little because you WILL get LOST! "I can see the street buildings but I can't seem to get close to them. The path just keeps bringing me further away from them -_-;"
But if you find a jogger or bicycler resting you can ask them, "how the hell do I get out of this park?" Kinda embarassing to ask but they'll definately help you out, they know the park very well.

Well, since you'll have years in the city. Instead of reading things from the internet it's better to explore for yourself or find a classmate who can take you around in person, it's way better that way.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hah, it's funny because my roommates are all from like Ohio and shit. I'm the only one from NY, I don't want to seem like a n00b in my own state.

But yeah, the only way to really find out is by experiencing everything myself.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well, I live in Manhattan so I guess i'll share a few tips.

- If you like Italian food, Little Italy is along the middle of mulberry street. Pretty close to Chinatown too. A lot of the stuff is DAMN expensive though!

- If you're interested in a arcade, the only real one in Manhattan is Chinatown Fair. It's at the City Hall side of Mott street, right in the begining. (plus I frequent there a lot)

- We have J and R, which is one of the biggest electronic stores around. I forget exactly what street, but it's right next to City Hall.

- If you wanna shop for video games, I HIGHLY recommend Chinatown. Right in the beggining of Elizabeth street there's two places. One is called J&L, but they overprice a little bit. Just use it if you can't find a game in other spots. Plus they carry imports. Across the street from it, there's a mall called Elizabeth center. Go downstairs, and there's a small game store called Initial D. You can usually save $5 or so on most games there. (new ones included) Oh, and both places do NOT charge tax if you pay with cash!

- Try not to rely TOO much on the subways. On the weekends, the most random shit happens with the trains. I mean as in certain trains won't run. It can, and will get VERY confusing when that kind of crap happens...

- Careful with those random stands that sells hotdogs, and pretzels. Also the bagel stands. They overcharge up the ass for everything. Like someone said earlier, your best bet is to go to your average small resturaunts for food.

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Driving in Boston is stupid. Don't do it.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yay, more GFF members in NYC. I've lived in New York my whole life, in Valley Stream and now in Brooklyn. I'm surprised that 5 to 6 times a year is a lot to you, when I lived in Long Island I went to the city almost every day. I still do living in Brooklyn.

Anyway, us NYC GFFers need to have a meet or two and chill a bit sometime, there's a lot for us to do but we never have meets.

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Originally Posted by Ultima

Yay, more GFF members in NYC. I've lived in New York my whole life, in Valley Stream and now in Brooklyn. I'm surprised that 5 to 6 times a year is a lot to you, when I lived in Long Island I went to the city almost every day. I still do living in Brooklyn.

Anyway, us NYC GFFers need to have a meet or two and chill a bit sometime, there's a lot for us to do but we never have meets.

Id be down with that. Id love to meet the GFFers from NYC. Great food, lots of places to shop, fun city. Start a thread in CC.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Having lived in NYC My whole life, I've found that getting lost is the best way to find your way around. The experience of getting lost just makes you remember the buildings or signs around that particular spot, so for future reference you won't precisely get lost.

In my opinion I think the 1 train can get you just about anywhere as well as the buses, but that's just me.

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The F train is pretty much the most popular one. It can get you to most of the major stops, but remember that since it is the most popular one, it is mostly the slowest one.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Ultima

Yay, more GFF members in NYC. I've lived in New York my whole life, in Valley Stream and now in Brooklyn. I'm surprised that 5 to 6 times a year is a lot to you, when I lived in Long Island I went to the city almost every day. I still do living in Brooklyn.

Anyway, us NYC GFFers need to have a meet or two and chill a bit sometime, there's a lot for us to do but we never have meets.

Cool, Brooklyn. Today was my last day working in Brooklyn, at my dad's shop. Flatbush Pharmacy, you may have heard of it? Man, I'm gonna miss the place. Brooklyn, everything is ridiculously cheap. I'm really gonna miss the delis and shit nearby.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Never heard of it actually. Dumb question edited out. Anyway yeah, we should organize a meet.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

We should all meet at Chicken & Rice, at 53rd and 6th.

That's the one place I know I'll see all my HS friends atleast 99% of the time I go.

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