uptowngirl
uptowngirl

Blend in while in NYC

Just came across this funny post that advises tourists and visitors to act like native New Yorkers whilst in NYC.

http://www.directoryofnewyorkcity.com/blog/2010/03/5-ways-to-blend-in-while-in-new-york-city/

Perhaps we could expand on the list?
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48 Comments

Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
#4, walk with purpose, would be my primary recommendation. Nothing says tourist more than a gawker and an idler. new Yorkers don't idle.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
#6 Keep a firm grip on your personal belongings - or at least secure your bag across your shoulder. Or, secure your bag across your shoulder AND keep a firm grip on it.

I had a friend visit recently and it gave me such anxiety to see the way she carried her bag. She just let it hang from her bent elbow! Hang! In midair! OMG.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
#7 Own the intersection. Own the crosswalk. You are entitled. Own it. Step out off that curb.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps you are just like me .. I never buy a bag that I can't zip up securely I am amazed at the women who walk around with open totes and the like aren't they scared that someone might just dip in and pull out their iphone/ipad/ pocketbook and what not ..
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#8 don't stop to take pictures at every step
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#9 don't constantly consult a map all the information you need is on your iPhone/Blackberry
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#10 Preferably dress stylishly in all black and always be well turned out/groomed
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
#10 Too true.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
To be clear about #10 - this means don't strut out onto the street in your running shoes, unless you actually plan on doing some running.
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JenMac
JenMac 2yrs+
Or, conversely, to #10, always look like you just got out of bed. That one works with hipsters.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK, JenMac LOL... remember back in the day when I first visited NYC and was staying with a friend in the city, I was told that I was not to step out of the apartment unless I had my face on .. i.e. full makeup eyeliner et al.. that's one rule I hardly ever adhered to when I lived in NYC.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Sigh ironically while reading a copy of a text by Derrida, Joyce, or Kerouc...
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#11 Don't fondle the statue at the Time Warner Center
seems that Manhattanites are way too cool to be intrigued by the statue which seems to fascinate tourists

http://www.dnainfo.com/20101022//time-warner-center-visitors-love-pose-with-fondle-bronze-statue
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I like #4 myself. When I do go out, I always walk with a purpose. That purpose is to go where I have to, get what I need, and get heck back home, and in one piece.

@NeverSleeps: I also like #6. I keep telling my girlfriend to close her bag. She keeps forgetting until one day, she nearly got rob. Now she always closes it. Thankfully.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist Do people ironically read? I can understand being ironic when it comes to Kerouc...
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#12 be aware of subway etiquette don't crowd around the doors with your big backpacks and other myriad luggage.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
#13 Don't ooh and aah at the bright lights of Times Square
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
Don't accept the first table you're offered at a restaurant.

Has anyone else noticed how being finicky about absolutely everything is a trademark of New Yorkers?
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: I broke law #13 several times when going to Times Square. Haven't been arrested yet.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish: I never go for the first table in a restaurant. I look around and decide what table I like to sit at. It is different if my girlfriend is with me. Then she does the choosing of a table.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish I didn't know that aargh!!!!!
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted you tourist! :) :)
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
I still love Times Square after all these years as a New Yorker! What can I say?
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish Sometimes you have to take the first table you're offered. Like when you've been waiting for an hour at the bar and you desperately need to eat something more substantial than tapas.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps True. Being too sylish can leave you starving.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps that's so darn true in a restaurant like Locanda Verde when you happen to arrive without a reservation on a Saturday night!
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps: Yes, especially in a high class restaurant that is constantly packed. Then you will need to sit down at a table that is offered to you, even if you don't like it.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted true especially on a Saturday night when you know the chances of getting a table elsewhere are quite remote.
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NeverSleeps
NeverSleeps 2yrs+
What does everyone think about the communal style of seating at places like Al Di La and Roberta's? I am always a little weirded out having conversations with my dinner party when there are strangers sitting so close by, but sometimes it's fun to talk to strangers about what they're eating.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@NeverSleeps its never really bothered me especially at places like Le Pain Quotidien and Socarrat the paella bar and your right its fun to talk to strangers about their food. In fact the husband often asks his neighborhood diners about their dishes if seems to think what they are eating is interesting.Most people are quite friendly and respond easily.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
Communal seating can be kind of nice and creates unexpected conversations. We're all so isolated from each other anyway, it's a good practice at friendliness.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@Uraniumfish so true, I think people in NYC can be quite isolated and as a result quite lonely. I never in fact used interact much with neighbors until a gym was installed in my building. Now some of closest friends in the building are my gym buddies!
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@uptowngirl I think you're right - the average New York dweller is all too happy to converse with strangers seated at the same table, or even at separate tables in my experience.
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Uraniumfish
Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I sometimes really wish I was outgoing enough to strike up conversations with people at the gym - it makes working out so much more fun to be surrounded by friendly faces - but alas this is one territory I have yet to conquer.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
Yeah, I do find NYCers much readier to socialize than people give them credit for! People are willing to strike up a conversation over relatively small things.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist that's so true and more often than not it does brighten my day. I remember chatting away with a sweet old lady on the M31 bus , she continued to jabber away even after we got off at the same stop until I excused myself to head home though I couldn't help wondering that she must have been really lonely to have yakked my ears off.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Everybody; I had the experience of sitting at a table with my girlfriend, and there were these well-dressed business men with these well-dressed women, sitting at a table next to us. When we ate, we could hear them talking about their businesses, etc. At one time, I looked at my girlfriend and was tempted to ask what they did for a living, but when I saw the look in my girlfriend's eyes, I backed off.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
Aha @hhusted you should have gone ahead didn't know the missus had so much power !
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: I didn't want to embarrass her. That is the look she gave me.
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
Now that I think about it, I tend to talk to strangers quite a lot. It's lonely being a freelancer all day.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@BroadwayBK while its quite normal and acceptable to talk to strangers and you do get a response in Asia they look at you as if have grown two horns on your head. The only people who do respond and get it are folks who have lived in the West. My husband is a great one for cracking jokes and making small talk with strangers have to restrain him as they dont really get it. sigh!
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
The English have this weird habit of starting up conversations if something goes wrong (delayed trains, tube strike, etc.), but will never - EVER extend the conversation beyond the immediate subject, and will get away as quickly as possible when the situation has resolved itself.
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist I guess the British stiff upper lip is responsible for this attitude? honestly though I have met some of the rudest people in my life on the London transport system and they accuse New Yorkers of being rude! Have yet to have a bad experience in NYC.
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Ajadedidealist: I tend to agree with Uptowngirl regarding the stiff upper lip. They rather talk about bad things than normal things. I guess they consider normal things boring.

@Uptowngirl: I have had many experiences with rude people in NYC. Maybe you think of NYC as such a great place that you blind your eyes to the bad parts.
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ajadedidealist
ajadedidealist 2yrs+
I think the English prefer to make jokes ("oh, look at that, the Tube broke down again, typical!") instead of getting angry ("Those £$2ing $%8ers had better change the system!"). Which is charming until you realize that it's only by getting angry that the system changes! My English boyfriend and I had a very typical cross-cultural disagreement the other day. Our bus left us about 15 minutes away from his house. It was 1:30 am and another bus was scheduled to arrive in a couple of minutes. When it didn't come, my boyfriend suggested we cut our losse and walk.

Me, being a New Yorker, absolutely refused, because - darn it - the bus was SCHEDULED to come, and it SAID it would come, and I wasn't about to walk in the cold because the bus was being screwy, and I would just stubbornly sit and WAIT for it to come.

The bus came 40 minutes later. It would have been a 15 minute walk. I still insist I was right!
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uptowngirl
uptowngirl 2yrs+
@ajaddedidedalist I probably would have done the same and then insisted that I was right too...
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BroadwayBK
BroadwayBK 2yrs+
@ajadedidealist Did you bf think your behavior was cute? Holy stubborness :)
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hhusted
hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl and Adjadedidealist, I would never wait 40 minutes for a dang gone bus. If I lived 15 minutes from my home, I would just start walking, knowing I would be home, while people were still waiting for the bus. My motto is don't put your faith in this city or anything belonging to it. You'll be disappointed quite often.
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The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.

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