This fall, I left my hometown of Scituate, Massachusetts to attend Fordham University in the Bronx. It has been my lifelong dream to live in New York City and I had finally done it, only to be sorely let down…
First, let me clarify that I don’t hate New York. It just took me living here to realize that it is not the greatest city on earth, as I had previously believed
1. It’s WAAAAaaAAAaaYYy too big.
Trying to get anywhere is a nightmare. You’re in the Bronx but you really wanna see the Freedom Tower? That’ll take about an hour…Want to catch your Amtrak out of Grand Central, but you’re renting a studio in Harlem? An hour… or if you wanted to test your physical fitness you could walk these distances. Bronx to 1WTC is 15 miles… walk just 11 more and you can be in Newark and have walked a marathon! Walking from one section of the city to another is just not an option.
2. Transportation sucks no matter what you do.
This ties hand-in-hand with #1 and makes the city feel even bigger because all forms of transportation can often be just as slow or even slower than walking. I don’t think there exists a slower subway/Metro system on Earth than New York’s. I just want it to get me where I want to go quicker. Cabs suck and always try and nickel-and-dime you. Uber is alright, but can be super expensive at peak times (which is usually when you’re using Uber). And driving yourself sucks because it's expensive and traffic is awful. Getting onto the island is a nightmare because you either have to drive in, which is awful as previously stated, take a train, which is slow, or fly… but there aren’t even any airports on the island and JFK is 15 miles from the Brooklyn Bridge itself, so you’re still gonna have an hour drive ahead of you just to get over the East River.
3. EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE AF.
It costs $12 just to drive onto Manhattan. $100 to park for a day. $30 for a crappy meal at an “authentic pizza” place. And now the rest is for you to spend on touristy things and shopping.
4. Honking is a religion.
5. There are WAAAaaaAAAAYYAYYy too many people (especially tourists).
New York is supposed to be the place people go to discover themselves (yeah, right). What is an individual compared to millions? Being in New York is like being constantly forgotten within a crowd. Tourists are also really annoying
6. People shun you for being normal.
7. Calling it the city that never sleeps is not an exaggeration…
But you wish it was when you’re a 19-year-old college student who actually needs to sleep.
8. You have to wait for everything.
Cabs, the subway, dinner. Even if you have a reservation, you’re going to end up waiting at least 15 minutes for your table to be ready.
9. The subway is gross and always smells like pee, and is also confusing AF.
You’re forced to take it because it's cheaper than everything else and the city is so damn big. Also considering how much trouble whoever designed the layout of the city went in order to make it a near-perfect grid, you think the subway could run in a similarly organized fashion, but no, it’s the most confusing thing ever. Also, why can't they just stick to one variable when naming the train lines? New York has shapes, letters, numbers, and colors…
10. Never in my life have I come in contact with so many beggars or cat callers.
They should honestly go into sales or something because they are extremely persistent and will follow you for blocks if you even make eye contact with them.
11. It’s really kind of dirty.
And most parts look nothing like the New York they show on TV shows. There are just as many sketchy parts as there are fancy, high-end parts.
12. There is a new protest every single day.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the First Amendment, but just once I would like to walk into a clothing store without being bombarded by PETA for checking out a mannequin wearing a Canada Goose Jacket.
13. New York Sports suck!
I am 19 years old…In my lifetime, the 4 major Boston sports teams have won 10 Championships, including 1 Stanley Cup, 1 NBA Final, 3 World Series’, and 5 Super Bowls… in that same time, New York Teams have won 3. Also consider that New York has 8 total teams, as opposed to Boston’s 4.
