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’ve not been for 10 years, so fully accept that it might have changed, that the pandemic will have altered things…but I loved it then. Went a few times.

Was in San Francisco 3 years ago and was shocked at the homelessness. TBF shocked at it in Manchester a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve been to NYC many times over the years and always liked it. I haven’t been since covid hit though, and I’ve heard it’s been hit hard, which makes me sad.

I don’t think you can really judge a city from a couple of mediocre meals, tourist traps like the Statue of Liberty and a park in January. You could have a crap experience like that anywhere. I’ve had bad meals in London, loathe Leicester Square and would find Hyde Park in January a bit uninspiring too. But I wouldn’t assume that meant the whole city was a write off. It’s a bit short sighted of you.

New York is amazing but agree with pp, January and current situation not ideal. Don’t know if anyone advised you yet but book a visit to Bobbies ! Best pancakes in New York

You probably would've loved it 20 years ago.
There's no way I'd go there now!

While you're there, take a trip upstate NY, or even Connecticut.
It's beautiful.

I went in September 2019 and didn't have this experience so wonder if it's covid related? More homelessness due to unemployment / addiction issues sparked by the same issue?

That said, I did find it felt markedly less safe then London or Sydney and I wouldn't get the subway alone after dark.

I loved NYC but I agree with all your points. It’s a very dirty city too with rubbish outside all the shops etc. London is my favourite city and NYC didn’t change that, but I did enjoy it and going for the 3rd time this year

@Ericaequites

As a New Englander since 1620, I see New York as a form of Hell, with less interesting people. The cabbies are rude and terrifying, the shops and restaurants dear, and the people are rude. People expect 20-25% tips. I shop for material in the Fashion District with many unmarked prices, and know my country mouse accent means I get worse prices. Boston has less theatre, and is less posh. It’s much more civilized and clean, with fewer beggers. The museums are great, and history far more interesting. London is better still. If only New York would leave the nation and become the free socialist dystopia it longs to be.

You must have seen quite a lot in your lifetime.

I went to New York in January 2007 and loved it . Like any city it had some grim
bits but I loved the buzz. It was like walking round a film set . Some people were a bit abrupt and though we speak the same language I struggled to understand them but on the whole people were so helpful. We had a free tour of the WTC site with two people who had been in the buildings when they were hit. It was so moving to hear their stories . I would love to return as so much more to see. My one regret is that we were looking at a map a d having a row one day about which way to go and a man came to ask if he could help us . I declined but I think I was quite rude and will have given him a bad impression of English people !

OP, in your position I would cut your losses and get a train to either Boston (5 hrs) or Philadelphia (1h30). See if you can transfer your flights home. It will still be freezing and neither city is perfect but both are much more compact than NY and have lots of history.

I think you’re going to the wrong places if you’re paying that much for an average meal. When I went it was expensive but no more so than London and we did a lot of research into restaurants and booked ahead so everywhere we ate was lovely.
I’m not sure why you don’t like the sights; I loved them and would love to go again.
I wonder if it’s the post Christmas still in pandemic atmosphere

I lived in New York 20 years ago and I did love being there but remembered being shocked at how run down it was, the neglect of the basic infrastructure. It was a real eye opener to me. I’d grown up in a developing country so was used to that kind of stuff but had no idea American cities were so run down. Basic stuff like the pavement, potholes in the road, litter everywhere.

Not sure if this has been mentioned but Ellis Island is a good trip. Have you been to times square? It was along time ago that I went though.

Sorry OpP, not with you there. I have been to New York a few times and I adore it.

Lived upstate for many years and always enjoyed visiting the city. But NYC was really awful In the 1990s before Rudi Juliani cleaned it up. Best visited in spring and autumn to avoid the stress of very cold winters and hot, humid summers.
I had planned to go back and live like a local in Brooklyn in June 2020 and then came Covid....
It will be interesting to go back.

I loved New York when we went but it was 10+ years ago and August. We were just passing through so only had a couple of days there and one of the best things we did was just walk from the bottom of Manhattan upwards, taking in the atmosphere of the city. There is so much incredible architecture.

I’d love to take the kids back but the pandemic makes everyone a bit weird, even at home. And NY was so badly hit by covid, they need time to recover.

The visibility of mental health issues is not specific to NY, I found San Francisco and LA a lot worse. It’s symptomatic of course that America has a non-existent health and social care system for people not in decent jobs. Underneath all the glitz it’s a country of two halves; the ‘have nots’ basically live in a 3rd world country.

I think you have to give it time. First time I went I was underwhelmed - after all the movies and SATC I just didn’t get it. I was goi g to a lot of the touristy places. Then I went back and met some friends who live there and went to more local places and got a different perspective and it does grow on your and I loved the energy. But yes, the subway is in awful condition and confusing to navigate. There are huge labour shortages currently so service is very slow and there’s more quieting. Prices have really gone up too, but NYC should have some good cheap local places to eat - I liked the pizza by the slice places.
The US also really seems to have horrific problems with homelessness which are especially bad currently. I was just in the west coast and it was horrible seeing tent cities and people who look so so mentally and physically unwell just wandering around or having a crisis and shouting in distress/wandering into traffic/not wearing proper clothes or shoes - people who looked like they needed taking into hospital or sectioning. It feels like another level to the UK

London, in my opinion, is the most wonderful, fascinating, incredible city in the world.
New York is piss poor in comparison

The former is an hour on the train from me
The latter is an utter pain in the arse to get to
No brainer

There isnt much that I didlike enough to use the word hate, but big sities are not my thing at all.
I have been to many big cities in my life and find them all overwhelming, and he same mix of hedonistic wealth and extreme poverty, glitz and people sleeping under cardboard. Usually amaing things t0 find- museums, the arts, food, shopping, but all cities are logjammed wth trafffic, noisy, poor air quality.
I like rural living, my nearest city is quite close, but small and very beautiful, good for a few hours, but good to come home to my home in the woods.

I emigrated from Dublin to London and in the 90s and took to London like a duck to water, loved it, it was exciting, I found everything, the tube was easy to navigate. Then I and 3 friends went to NY and we could NOT figure out what side of the platform we needed to stand in NY. We couldn't seem to figure any thing out at all and London was so logical. LOGICAL but exciting. NY seemed to me to be vast and sprawling but underwhelming. I also knew I just wasn't finding the good bits. One night my friends and I ended up in a TGFs and we were disappointed in ourselves but couldn't seem to find any restaurants that looked welcoming. We had wandered in to a restaurant and the waitress screamed ''whaddya want?'' at us and we didn't feel it was a welcoming kind of whaddya want. Saw all the tourist sites though.

I can’t speak for it now but I’ve been three times and loved it. I last went in 2019
Just before the pandemic and it was great. Love exploring the districts and different places it has to offer. Never really felt unsafe as it’s always busy and people around. Never found people rude, just city people. Never demanded for tips although probably because we always tipped when eating and drinking. Central Park is great in summer too. I’ve been at this time of year and the experience is totally different to summer.

Sad to hear it’s lost its mojo but a pandemic will do that I guess.

I went 6 years ago. Like you I had high expectations based on how much they praise NYC. I heard their customer service was amazing - it wasn't, especially in shops.

The blocks all look the same, pizza place, starbucks, American flag and then a diner, which repeats itself on every block. No character or individuality and just predominantly their own American brands.

The subway system like you said I just thought was really old-fashioned. Tickets instead of contactless and massive turnstiles instead of the little barriers. No staff in the subway to help you so we couldn't get out, they told us on the phone they would have to send someone over and it would take 10+ mins.

I saw racial tension just whilst waiting in line for a theatre show. People shouting at each other over their skin colour. Was really bizarre.

Saw a cab driver start an argument with an Italian family he had just dropped off at their hotel demanding they gave him a tip. So disgusting.

However, saying all this, I did miss NYC a few years later. It wasn't all bad- the tourist stuff was fun I just thought it didn't have a thing on London!

There’s places that I’d’ve like to go in USA, but just the very thought of flying United or American again fills me with horror. Then there’s the screams that you get going through immigration telling you to get in line, & don’t they just love to give you a good patting down! As for the entitlement to a tip when they did nothing but squawk far too loudly in a nasal tone at you. Awesome it ain’t!

I’d rather go to Tokyo than New York. It just doesn’t interest me one bit.