New York is just Okay. There I said it.
Recognize NYC for what it is
My first job in New York City was a Pyramid Scheme.
The listing was advertised as a journalism job covering local NY news. In reality, I was going to be selling electricity door-to-door in the middle of winter.
During our first meeting my boss showed us an upside-down pyramid explaining how we could have his job in two to three years. I quit the very next day.
Everyone in New York City is trying to scam you: The homeless, the colleges, the media, the corner stores, the strippers, and, of course, Wall Street.
Not to mention that the 8 million people silently struggling here is hardly inspirational.
Everyone is in a rat race in New York. They’re in a rat race to go to work, to buy a hotdog, to get their frappuccino, to do hot yoga, to spit on the homeless; people are in a rat race just to spend time with their friends and families! Sometimes I wonder if we'd be better off if the five boroughs sunk into the Atlantic Ocean all at once.
“I don’t think people are supposed to live like this for prolonged periods of time. It’ll probably destroy you,” my friend from Poland once told me.
He's probably right.
And it made me think: Is any of this worth it? Should you accept the truth that New York is just okay?
How to Survive NYC in 2 Easy Steps
If you don't practice some form of active mind cleansing like meditation, going to church or habitual exercise, then NY will eat you from the inside with the stress and social pressures/expectations it pushes on you.
Stress is the silent killer here.
It erodes health in NY like a termite infestation.
There was even a study a while back that simulated rats living in mini-NY. A few weeks in and most of the rats went bat-shit insane. The researchers called this phenomenon “behavioral sink,” or a collapse in behavior that can result from overcrowding.
The only rats who survived were the “alpha” types.
Not to mention everyone in New York City has a story of how they were almost stabbed, shot or raped at gunpoint. Everyone.
Last week I was on the subway and a guy spiked a pair of brass knuckles on the floor and shouted: “I’ll fuck anyone up on this train, word on my dead sister.”
Naturally, as an ex-Army guy, I shit my pants.
Another time a homeless man came up to me and my friends on the subway and said: “I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is I’m not going to rob you. The bad news is that someone on this train is going to get robbed tonight.”
Being attacked, or at the very least harassed, is a very common experience in New York. Killing in the NYC subway system just skyrocketed to the highest level in 25 years. Crazy times.
To me, all of this just means that even if you don't believe in shit, get involved, join a club, go to church, or shackle yourself to a good reliable friend or family member.
If you lose social interaction, you'll become Travis Bickle in no time.
Are Big Cities Like NYC Worth it Anymore?
Is living in an overcrowded city worth it?
Is the record-high rent prices, constant smell of urine, crazy druggies, cupidity, stupidity, trash everywhere on the sidewalks, overly competitive job environment, the rats, the lack of any nature, the out-of-control beg bug and cockroach infestation, or the rude, arrogant idiot occupants with no redeeming qualities whatsoever worth it?
Absolutely yes.
Somewhat.
Let me explain.
New York City is like learning how to live again. It's a miserable experience for the most part that makes you feel like a second-class citizen, but it's necessary.
New York is at once an education, an initiation, and a stimulant.
As Hunter S. Thompson once said, "It gives one perspective, I think, that would be impossible to get anywhere else in the world. But god have mercy on those who can live with this perspective."
I think everyone should try a big city at least once — if just for the sheer amount of culture shock that will be experienced.
Also, NY food is unbeatable. So there's that.
But ultimately, it's up to you. Smaller cities like Denver, Austin, Seattle and San Fran have much less stress. But maybe we're stress-bearing creatures, at least in our formative years. Who knows?
Just remember that if you do move to New York, you will regret and love it all at the same time. Good luck.
Cheerio,
Isaiah
Thank YOU for saying NY is just OK. Thank you. You can have that town. Newyorkers dick-ride their dusty ass city so hard. Nice work
Nice piece Isaiah :)
As one born and brought up in the concrete jungle of London, I've travelled to NYC a few times and ended up living there for a few months in December 2004, taking shots for an exhibition I wanted to do.
Yes, all you described above definitely exists, however!..... I never got harassed on the subway, or in the streets, walking in what some may describe as not so desirable areas. I think it has a lot to do with the way you walk, the way you engage with others with your eyes. Many New Yorkers just look down or into their phones, similar to a lot of busy cities these days, there is no connection.
Seeing so much chewing gum pressed into the pavements shocked me! I'd never seen so much!
But it wasn't just the food that was amazing, the many different types of restaurants, bars and cafes, along with the wonderful people you could meet in there.
The music! The fact you could walk down one street and into many small bars and be listening to awesome jazz in one, soul, salsa or classical music in another. The Blue Note was one of my favourites too. I am on their email list even now and sometimes wish I could beam myself back over there just to listen and absorb the atmosphere of the creative human and inanimate collaboration :)
But now? I live on a high hill in Tasmania in the freshest air in the World, surrounded by garden, fields and forest, with no concrete in sight!
Strange how our lives take us in a myriad of directions, sometimes from the sublime to the ridiculous, or perhaps vice versa in my case ;)
Again, love your piece :) Kudos my friend.