# What do foreigners think of NY?



## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

Has Been And Will Always Be MY DREAM DESTINATION!


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## NorthStar77 (Oct 8, 2003)

I was in New York for a week one month ago. As probably most visitors, I spent all my time on Manhattan, except for a small walk on Brooklyn heights and on Staten Island.

Here follows some of my impressions.

First of all I think it was an amazing city. To walk around on Manhattan among so many tall skyscrapers is an incredible experience! It was one of those things I had promised myself I had to do before I die, and it was just as I had thought it would be. The feeling of grandness, of beeing in a huge cosmopolitan diverse city was unlike anything I have experienced (and I have also been to Mexico City and London).

* People: More diverse than I've ever seen. And I've never seen so many friendly people in my life. Not to mention very good service. New Yorkers are much more relaxed and openminded than Northern Europeans. All the talk about New Yorkers beeing so unfriendly must clearly be a myth.

* Transport: Subwaystations was in a poor shape, and the smell in some of them were horrible. Other than that I think the subway-system worked exelent. The concept of express-trains running parallell with the ones stopping at each stop was quite cool. I was also quite impressed by how the subways wasn't overcrowded, given the large amount of people travelling with it. One thing that was strange to me was how glad car owners were in using their horns. Another how they had poor skills in street parking.

* Nightlife: We looked really hard, but couldn't find that much good nightlife. I think this is a huge difference from Europe. Bars are quite different, with more focus on eating than drinking. And why must *every* bar have several TV's showing sport all the time?? West Village was okay, but nothing exeptional. There are areas with just as good nightlife here in Oslo. Maybe we didn't find the right spots, but then NYC have done a good job hiding the nighlife. 

* Litter: It wasn't that much of it laying in the streets, not more than here. But garbage was just thrown out in the streets in big, black plastic bag, in order for them to be picked up by the garbage trucks. That seems awfully unhygienic to me. What about rats etc?

* Most things are bigger there than here. The buildings, obviously. The streets are wider. Cars are bigger. Hamburgers are bigger. The most frequent question I got when I came back was: "So, are there alot of fat people there?". The answer to that is; no, not much more than here. But there are more thin people.


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## edsg25 (Jul 30, 2004)

oshkeoto said:


> A Democrat is not an endangered species


except in Kansas, of course, where they have been relegated to the same role as apes, monkeys, and organatungs, being banned from our shared lines of ancestry.


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## Stratosphere 2020 (Sep 15, 2002)

I love New York. I like the city's architecture, history, towers, the sense of 24 hour life, markets on many street corners, the beautiful fit people, easy traffic layout, great city layout with each town in Manhattan having its own sense of character, inexpensive subway system, lots of taxis to get you around, being lost in central park, city culture, diversity and tolerance.

I applaud New York for being strict on prohibiting smoking in bars, restaurants, disco and so on. And For fighting crime at an effective manner. You really feel safe in Manhattan.

What I hate about New York is the rude and unfriendly attitude of some, litter on the streets in certain areas, ridiculously expensive but understandibly so, the rich trying to buy out poor Harlem which in itself is a very unique part of Manhattan and not providing sufficent affordable housing. For one I dislike the agenda of converting Manhattan into one rich island.

The Bronx is trying to get its act together, I have noticed many positive developments going on there. It is a start and has a long way to go. I am not that all impressed with Queens, yet it is clean and green but somehow a stranger in NYC, Staten Island the same. Brooklyn looks great and some how very NYC-ish with lots of potential, I could see that borough become the next Manhattan extension in the distant future. It seems as if prosperity by those making it in Manhattan are now penetrating the boroughs.


All in all I could live in NYC and I am planning on doing so too.


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