New Yorkers - friendly or not?! (Utica, Boston: neighborhoods, live, to move)

[justaskin]

I will say that people rush you a lot. from store people to random people on the street, and I'll tell you why, the tourists!!

When you find ny'ers not in touristy areas (rare) they are SUPER nice!

but when youre in congested toursity areas where people stop in the middle of the street to talk and take pictures totally throwing you off balance or making you drop your super heavy bag and end up breaking what was inside ny'ers tend to be more 'rushed' and more eager to just get to the other side of the tourists!

[BKTony]

IMO New Yorkers are not any more rude or friendlier than any where else in the country you always have your 10% of obnoxious people . There is over 8 million people in NYC, so yes there will be about 800,000 jerks. NYers seem to be rush because it is so crowded and it can take awhile to get where we are going, so time is precious too us. Tourists don't understand this. We are not rude in general we look at tourists for what they are an obstacle in our day to day activites. When I am off work and not commuting I am pretty relaxed and I am not in rush, as I am sure most people in NYC are when they are not pressed for time. It is the same as anywhere else in country. Once again the NYers being rude is just one of many stereotypes of our city.

[Elvira Black]

Yes, NYers are generally more rushed. We talk more quickly, and often have no time to dawdle, so our subconscious credo is: get to the point lol.

When I go to the grocery store, even as a native NYer it's hard because you are rushed by the cashier and the people behind you. You have to be very attentive and very quick lest you forget your wallet, your receipt, or your groceries.

NY is a big tourist town, and also very busy with folks going to work, rush hour etc. So I think it's more to do with not being able to necessarilty take a lot of time to converse until "down time."

There are also some rude tourists. From a NY'ers' point of view, it's rude to stand in the middle of the street talking amongst yourselves oblivious to those trying to get around you. When the traffic lights change, it's hard enough making it across the street or trying to be on time for work. Those on vacation may not get this. I find that those from other countries can be especially annoying, but the same goes for native NY'ers who are oblivious to those around them whether it be on a Starbucks line (where they may dawdle trying to decide what they want while 20 people are behind them already late for work) or in the middle of a crowded street with their cell phones.

[aqct]

I think everything depend who is at front to you, sometimes people is friendly because they are expected to get something, people suppose that YOU would be a potential customer, friend, lover etc etc. That’s what I believe from most of the people.

and...every big city is the same thing

[Mojo Riley]

Originally Posted by Valentina86

I'm new to the forum and thought I'd start of my first post about an argument I had with someone about New York people being rude. lol. I grew up on Long Island, then moved into the city (Greenwich Village) a few years ago.

My brother had some friends visiting from Chicago and before they left I was asking them how they enjoyed their time here. They said that they found New York people to be extremely rude - everyone from police officers, to waiters, to hotel employees, etc. They said that people seemed annoyed when they had questions and did not seem friendly overall.

I am shocked. Am I biased because I am a New Yorker, or is this the true experience that people have when they visit the city?

I'm shocked by that as well!

My partner and I are in Chicago now but will be moving to NY the first week of August. We were just there last month to find a place, and as usual (I visited a lot when I was with my ex-bf who was a native NYer) I found the people incredibly courteous, helpful and cool.

99% of my interactions with people in NY over the years have been positive, and I find it sort of hard to believe anyone would experience any different unless they were bringing their own baggage to the situation- not trying to rude about your friends, I'm not saying they did that, but I find that very odd.

In fact, Chicago has lost all of its charm as far as I'm concerned, and I find the "average" NYer to be A LOT more courteous than the average Chicagoan. Lately it seems 9 out of every 10 people I encounter here in Chicago has a chip on their shoulder and conveys a sense of hostility and insecurity that I've never seen in NY. Case in point. I know how to walk down a crowded sidewalk (been doing it my whole adult life) and I've never, ever been shoulder-checked (not intentionally at least, and certainly not without an apology) or had anyone veer *out of their way* to knock into me in NY, but it happens on a damn near daily basis here.

The only person that seemed sort of gruff to me was the woman who ran the corner shop we went to every day on our visit (we stayed in the East Village at an apartment we rented from some guy on craigslist). She got a little nicer each time we went in, and finally, the last day, when I went in for smokes and she was out of my brand, she totally softened up and said "I'm out! No one orders this kind usually! Now I know, I will order more for you!" I never took her previous gruffness as anything other than what it was- she runs a busy store and probably sees a lot of drunken fools in that neighborhood.

My BF, who had never been to NY before, left with a very positive feeling as well, and is very happy to be leaving Chicago. I also find (weirdly perhaps) that people are more willing to chat it up while standing in line (guess I better start saying "on line," huh?) in NY than here in Chicago.

[Mojo Riley]

Originally Posted by Nebat

Rude people are everywhere. But NYC gets a bad rap for being a harbinger of rudeness. My last trip to the city I'm riding a commuter train to Penn station and my crap camera falls out of my jacket pocket. Batteries and battery cover went in all different directions. Three total strangers went out of there way to help me gather it all up! And upon arrival at Penn station again it fell out(I had just now figured that my pocket had a hole in it) Same scenario, this time a man stopped in his tracks and helped me get my camera remnants up. Literally a few minutes later I'm going to the Manhattan mall to replace my camera with a disposable and as I'm entering another man waits and holds the door for me. I said thanks but was quite surprised! On my other trips to the city I have likewise been impressed by the friendliness. People in VA where I live could learn a lot!

That sounds about right. There was an international survey a couple years ago and NY won top spot as Most Polite City. They studied behavior like holding doors and helping someone who dropped stuff on the ground. Interesting insights- see here:

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/goo...le27599-2.html

For all those complaining about NY- I guess you don't want to find yourself in any of the Asian countries!

[dand5]

Funny how this issue seems to come up so often nowadays.

New Yorkers are about as polite/rude as residents in most cities of comparable density.

Plenty of rude, polite, neutral people all over the 5 boroughs.

And different people have different views of what defines polite/rude making it all the more interesting.

[clevedark]

I used to live in and around NYC all my life and now visit as a tourist, and I have found that many NYers are much more friendly to tourists than fellow citizens. But that might be situational, ie, it's more rewarding to be helpful to a husband and wife with their two children in a touchy situation on the subway in the middle of the business day (which screams out that you're a tourist) than to a single crazed woman who is stressing out about buying a new pair of glasses. At that point you're raw meat for the vultures behind the counter.

[glenwood New York]

I don't know . . . I find that there's rude and nice people everywhere. Maybe it just depends on the kind of day they're having. I know I can be rude (though I try not to) if I'm having a really bad day but hey, sometimes ya just can't help it.

On the other hand, I'll also go out of my way to be nice to people (espcially the elderly - I figure they've lived a long time and deserve some respect). Funny how you can see the impact on someone just by saying hello. You know that you just improved their day anyway.

[riverdaleny]

I live in new york city and every person I have met in New York are extreamliy friendly. They treat you like your part of their family. I say they are some of the nicest people.