Hey, I resemble that statement!
myltlpny said:
Hence one of the main reasons I moved out of New York.
Don't say "New York" like it's all the same. I live in a nice section of Long Island that is not the Hamptons but it's NOT like Brooklyn.
But this brings up an interesting point - not all folks are created equal.
I went to my Bro's house in Brooklyn and will not drive there again unless there's another death in the family. The roads are a maze of one-way avenues, all under construction - yet still all the potholes somehow remain. The air smells like sewage and car exhaust. Horns, voices, pets, trains, and a general sort of noise dominates the sound that most people call peace and quiet. There's way-too-much traffic and people - neither of which knows what part of the road-walk to use at any given time. There's graffiti everywhere, the crime rate is high(er), the unemployment rate is high(er), and the average income is lower...
BUT, my brother, who once owned a house in Hawaii, now resides there - in a common, cramped, cat-piss smelling apartment building. He lives in a wonderful 9' wide x 40' long apartment. It's an interesting setup. Quite the city pad. It's not a luxurious hideaway, not a "sleeper" apartment (pun intended).
And he loves it. You couldn't drag him to the Hamptons to live if you paid him. He loves to fish, has a successful career, but he likes it where he is.
There's just something about city life that attracts some people... even if they have to chain their car to a tree.
I can relate. Here I am stuck (for the time being) on Long Island, and I love it - though there ARE a few things to complain about. The roads are not too nice considering the very high taxes we pay. My property taxes are going to run me about $5.5K next year and we have less then 2K sq. ft. on a property that's about 50x125 (smallest yard in the neighborhood). The main streets are often somewhat littered, there are more and more lower income people moving into the surrounding towns, there are no sidewalks anywhere, there are few cops patrolling, the price of gas and heating oil is a fortune ($2.80 is a great deal around here), and new houses start at about $300K for a two bedroom in a low-end area.
But we LIKE it here. I've lived here for 20 years in various surrounding towns. There are some great things to say... there are few cops around cause you really don't need 'em. The only crime we have in the neighborhoods I've lived in was kids tackling mailboxes - Karma come to haunt me. The streets are in poor condition cause we don't want the DOT creating lots of traffic working on them all the time - it's a big long island (pun intended, again) and there are not too many ways to get around.
There are lots of people compared to your typical small town in, let's say North Carolina, so there's a general feeling of hustle and bustle. You can't drive for more then 5 minutes in any direction from anywhere without running into a deli, a pizza place, a Greek diner, and a bagel shop. Towns occur one after another in quick succession, running into each other so you really can't tell what town you are in until you've been here for a long time. EVERYone drives on the island, so there are a lot of cars to look at if you like cars - and there's lots of time to look at them while you are stuck in traffic for 4 hours EVERY DAY if you commute to the city. 90 minutes one direction, you are in Manhattan - in case you like clubbing or want to see my buddy plat at CBGB's. 90 minutes the other way, you are in the Hamptons or Quogue. I spent my honeymoon out east at Montauk Point. They have a beautiful beach and a lighthouse if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not, but it was my honeymoon, and everything was beautiful that week. Everything still is.
I just felt like rambling tonight about New York to give some folks an idea of what it's like from my narrow little perspective. I could go on to balance some of my statements, but I'm afraid nobody will even make it this far, so...
Good night from Beautiful New York and the People who Love It.
