To absolutely HATE New York

[GreetingsFromVenus]

Dreamed of going there for many years. Thought it would be amazing. Everyone seems to think it is.

Here now and I hate it. Extortionate prices, rude ignorant locals, so many aggressive beggars. mentally ill people shouting in the street. loads of homeless people. The subway stations are disgusting and feel very menacing compared to London.

I find it really depressing actually and feel that the way Hollywood has portrayed New York is all smoke and mirrors. It is nothing special at all IMO. In fact it has a LOT of social issues and it made me feel quite sick to be spending $100 just for a mid range meal for 2 (no dessert) while there were people asking for food outside.

Central Park - pffttt!

Cannot wait to get home next week and will never complain about London prices again!

Anyone else felt the same?

I have been to New York twice. Once with my husband 20 years ago and once a couple of years ago with two girlfriends.
I really disliked it both times.

My Daughter and Son in Law were so excited to go but hated every minute of it. Just like you OP, they could not wait to leave it for all the same reasons as yourself.

DC is better?

twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1480310875328110592?s=21

I don't get why people 'hate every minute' of their holidays.

Surely you just make the most of it.

@MissConductUS that makes sense - we are currently in London and there's been a similar 'everyones leaving' narrative post Covid.

That's really good to hear re new the Mayor, and spring feels like a good, positive time to be going.

Any advice you have would be wonderful, thank you so much! We have no children and are in our early 30s and want to be in Manhattan!

My DB lives in the states. He says Chicago is much nicer than NY. Friendlier and generally nicer vibes.

@babybunny123

My Daughter and Son in Law were so excited to go but hated every minute of it. Just like you OP, they could not wait to leave it for all the same reasons as yourself.

What were they expecting before they went, and in what ways was it different to their expectations?

I lived in the East Village of NYC 2005/2006 and it was INCREDIBLE. The energy from the streets was unlike anything I ever experienced. I was 23, hanging out in bars with rockstars and my life felt very much like a movie.

Now from what I hear from friends is the village is full of rich white kids, Starbucks on every corner. The character has gone. It could be any other city. Im in no rush to return.

@20nyc, I would look online at rentals on the upper east side and west village. The UES is more stately and the west village is more laid back. If you can afford a suitable flat in either neighborhood I suspect you'll like it. If they are out of your price range I can make other suggestions.

@Victoriaspongecske1, I forgot to mention that in my PPs but the place does stink like weed! Every bloody where we go we’re getting nose fulls of it, really potent stuff as well, probably skunk.

I don’t know where people are getting that we haven’t been anywhere! We’ve done Brooklyn and the Bridge (spent hours walking round there to find the Notorious memorial). done the NHM, the Financial District, Soho. China Town and the Met. Doing a Bw show tonight. The High Line tomorrow. The Staten Island Ferry was pretty meh too.

Also have to say the coffee is consistently shit. No wonder they have so many syrups to flavour it with. Cannot wait for a cup of Nescafé Gold when I get home. In fact I’ve told DH to meet us from the airport with a flask of it 😆.

@MissConductUS those two areas are top our list!

We visited in November as soon as we could and really liked both! Thank you!

@WhatIsThisPlease

My DB lives in the states. He says Chicago is much nicer than NY. Friendlier and generally nicer vibes.

I've been to Chicago several times, and there are many nice people there. There's also an endemic problem with violent crime that's the worst in the US, a history of political corruption, and the state of Illinois is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. The schools are also closed as the teachers union doesn't want to go back until covid is over.

Chicago crime rate 2021: Year ends as city's deadliest in a quarter century - Chicago recorded more homicides in 2021 than any other city in US, including New York and Los Angeles

Note that Chicago managed that record with a far smaller population than NYC.

@20nyc, feel free to message me anytime if you have questions.

@Victoriaspongecake1 I find that really surprising as I was there at the end of Nov 21 before the Rockefeller tree was decorated and there was already a tonne of Christmas stuff everywhere! The salvation army bell ringers were out on the streets dressed like Santa, shop windows had had their displays changed and everything!

[quote 20nyc]@MissConductUS those two areas are top our list!

We visited in November as soon as we could and really liked both! Thank you![/quote]
Upper East Side was for rich old ladies when I was in NYC 😂

I would definitely choose the west village, hands down. Would be my first choice by miles if I moved back.

I was there a couple of times. Once was enough. I much prefer Boston, people are lovely.

@GreetingsFromVenus where have you eaten? Is your daughter old enough to drink?

A ferry in NYC in January would feature nowhere on my list!

@20nyc, the pandemic has made the city unrecognizable to me. I lived there from 2002-2014 and had the time of my life. The gentrification of the East Village and Bowery over that period was a bit soul-sucking, but it was still a phenomenal place to live (I was in Soho, the UES and UWS over that period).

Now, Midtown is riddled with homeless, only 30 percent of office buildings are occupied, and so many good restaurants and bars have closed or are struggling. You don’t see any of the street performers or random people being outlandish and having fun. As far as I can see, people are really going through the motions.

Are you moving to NYC with children?

@GarlandsinGreece no children.

I hope we can still have a good experience and things pick up in the spring!

@GarlandsinGreece we've been to NYC many times and love it!

We went a few years ago to visit friends who had moved there and have to agree I was quite disappointed. But we live in London and are well travelled so I'm actually not sure what exactly I was expecting, I just remembered feeling a bit let down!

I would highly recommend going to a basketball game at Madison Square if you can, that was the highlight of our trip and was a really good vibe.

I was there 25 years ago after doing Camp America and was very disappointed (But I also feel the same about Paris)

I lived in SF 25 years ago too and the amount of mentally ill people on the streets was horrifying. I believe it's worse now. I don't know how any country can call itself civilised without providing health care to all.

I went with my DH and kids in 2016. Stayed in midtown during the memorial weekend. We really enjoyed it. Walked everywhere, went to Central Park, on a massive US Navy aircraft carrier, Rockefeller, pizza, 911 museum. All the tourist stuff. Felt really safe actually, loads of Police everywhere. friendly when chatting to people. OH is not a great traveler but he loved it.
We made the effort to have an itinerary which helped our planning. This was also when OBama was president which I don't know if it made a difference at the time.

It’s a bit more complicated than that. All the healthcare in the world can’t prevent people taking drugs and solve post-industrialisation unemployment or the problem of so many men having no family structure.

Apparently it's gone massively down hill in the recent years?
People rent recently and said the whole place stunk of weed etc.