New York, New York

It's a nice change from cheese.

 

i said "back in the day" once. i felt so overwhelmingly pedestrian i had to read several pages of Fowler* just to feel "clean" again.

*not Robbie...

 

Y'know, I never quite understood why people long for the Manhattan of old. I think I may be a bit too young (26) to know what it was like, but from what I've read and heard, the city sounded sleazy and dangerous back in the day. Now I can walk through Times Square (not by choice) and just sneer at tourists who block the sidewalk with a feeling of safety. What's wrong with that? Isn't what people want a safe city?

As for the argument over who are real New Yorkers and etc., I'm Queens born and raised. My parents are Korean immigrants. I have a hard time saying that me living in Flushing surrounded by diversity (meaning Chinese and Korean, unless you wanna talk about Chinese-Koreans and vice versa) makes me more of a New Yorker than some socialite who grew up on Park Ave. (my brother's roommate) and has no clue how to use the subway (sadly true).

Every part of New York has some of the same and something unique. Times Sqaure is Disneyfied. Well go to Queens Center on Queens Blvd. and you'll find all the major chains as well. Hell, I believe they opened up a brand new IKEA right next to the huge Target by the Atlantic Yards, not too far from the hipsterish, mom and pop, Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking (yes, I had brunch at a place that served it) Smith St.

New York and all the boroughs are just too damn big to generalize. Well, maybe except Staten Island. I have no clue what goes on there. Manhattan will always be the pulse and heart of the city. It's only fitting.

The only thing that bothers me is when people, usually college grads and young 20 somethings from out-of-state try to fulfill their dreams of making it in the Big Apple unrealistically. I had a friend from Michigan who wanted to get this internship for a magazine while living in Chelsea... alone. Sorry, but that ain't happening. When I suggested Astoria or Flushing as some examples of alternative housing, she ignored it. I don't mean to shit on your dreams, sweetie, but you have to get a grip on reality as well. I HATE when these people think nothing outside of Manhattan exists.

Oh, and I totally don't fault Nice if he prefers to stay in the city as opposed to going out to the outer boroughs. If I lived in the city, I'd find everything I needed in a 5 block radius and never leave because I'm lazy as shit. I now understand why my buddy who went to Columbia would whine about having to come to midtown to hang out with me after trekking in from Queens.

Anyway, to the thread starter, please still come visit with your family. We fight because we care. Or some shit like that.

 

Yeah, when I lived on the Lower East Side, I rarely ever went north of 8th St or west of Bowery except for work. It's not that I didn't like the other neighborhoods - I just had everything I needed in walking distance. And I guess that's the irony of living in such a big city - you kinda get a small town mentality about your neighborhood.

That said, I *like* Williamsburg, Park Slope and Fort Greene. Bars tend to be less fussy and there's good food to be found (though the bastards closed Chip Shop/Curry Shop). And back in Manhattan, some neighborhoods have gotten left out and managed to maintain some character (I'm thinking far West Village, Hell's Kitchen).

Where gentrification matters though, beyond the PBR-swilling crowd and Meatpacking District (ugh), is that New York is still a working class city, and a lot of what makes the city great is because of all the micro-industries. For example, New York is a center of fashion, in no small parts because of the small storefront workshops and fabric stores and button shops that support designers. When those small businesses get squeezed out, New York really does become "less New York".

 

For the record, the one who talked about "real new yorkers" was nicephoras, not me. Nor did I opine on the advantages or disadvantages of gentrification and homogenization, which are clearly debatable. I only pointed out that due to skyrocketing commercial and residential rents, and the huge influx of tourism, manhattan has become more a reflection of global economic forces than something home grown new yorkish. These changes have reached other boroughs, but not as significantly. Nicephoras's over the top objection to that statement is nothing more than and adolescent lashing out of a kid who desperately wants to be accepted by the cool kids, but is not.

And p.s., while NY was clearly more dangerous in the 80s than it is now, it was also an unbelievably unique and vital place. There's plenty of reading available on the arts in music scene in the village and LES from the sixties through the eighties. You should check it out. However you feel about gentrification, it's silly not to acknowledge that something is lost with it.

 

This is a good post and these are good examples. Nolita just 10 years ago was filled with unique textile workshops. I did all my holiday shopping there. It took just a few years for it to disappear. Now those shops are in brooklyn.

 

I'm not restarting any arguments, but you have got to be ********ing kidding me. To wit:

 

Look kiddo, I know it's important to justify your overreaction to say that I said manhattanites are not real new yorkers, but I said no such thing. Indeed, many manhattanites are in the trenches fighting the opening of every new duane reade and starbucks, or to keep affordable housing. I would never say or imply that they are not real new yorkers. And I wouldn't say that about anyone who chooses to make any part of NYC their home. Although I can't stand people who think that the City was a horrible place in the 80's.

Look, the year and a half I lived on the UWS, the landlord quadrupled the rent on this barbershop on 82nd and Amsterdam, "La Gran Esquina", one of the last of the old latino businesses in the neighborhood. Plenty of the neighbors fought back, both Latino and Anglo, and a compromise was worked out. A small victory for the forces against homagenization. REal new yorkers all, for sure.

 

I met quite a few people like that and most of them lived in one of the outer burroughs since most of them were recent college grads or people looking to get away from their small town and they couldn't afford to live in Manhattan.

 

Now, about taking kids to New York? Hey locals, could you recommend a good place to eat that works for families? Not for me, by the way. My youngest is 15 and we can handle grown up places.

 

Lombardis for pizza on spring street. A NY institution and the kids will enjoy it, so something for everyone. If you want to gross out the kids, but truly enjoy a NY institution, order the clam pie.

 

My girlfriend and I walked past it last Saturday and the line was absolutely nuts. And it was only like 4:30pm. Is it always like that?

 

Seconded.

Chinatown as a whole tends to be family friendly. And the kids might enjoy the cart-style dim sum (I'm thinking Jing Fong or Ping's Seafood).

Also, Katz's Deli is pretty kid-friendly, right? I mean, unless you reenact the "I'll have what she's having" scene.

 

Agree with both of these, though it's the first time I've ever seen the words "Katz's" and "friendly" in the same sentence.

 

I think Katz's is overpriced and absolutely overrated. Their reuben makes me sad.

 

I think we're talking about a place that might be interesting for a tourist to go to to get a little slice of authentic new york.

 

but it's not in Brooklyn!!!

 

Oh, ok. In that case, try Bubba Gump in New York. They've got more money than Davey Crockett.

 

Imagine that.

 

Perhaps the one thing I know about NY that nobody else does: the world's best lasagne can be found in Maspeth, Queens in a small Italian restaurant across the road from an Irish pub (the name escapes me, as I am quite buckled) which also happens to be boxer John Duddy's local. I ate three of them, and I'm not exactly a big person.

One more than that I know about NY that nobody else here does: duddy's impression of wilson from Home Improvement (the neighbour over the fence) is absolutely perfect.

Oh yeah... and I once fell asleep, drunk, on Queens Blvd. Not by the sidewalk. On the Blvd. Does tis deserve a or a ?

Also going to take the time to say The Wall is an interesting place .An Irish biker bar... beggars belief, really.

 

I haven't been to many kid-friendly places around NY. There's a sweet "Traveling With Kids" forum in the Marriott Rewards Insiders site I belong to. Only place where I've seen a resource like that!