Us New Yorkers are a picky bunch. We’re particular about our pizza, our coffee, our walking speed, our subway etiquette, and the list goes on. This morning the NY Post dutifully surveyed New Yorkers on their greatest grievances, and even broke the results down by borough, which can be seen below.
Survey takers could choose from the following annoyances: people who block subway doors, slow-walking tourists, cabdrivers on cellphones, drives who block the box, panhandlers, hipsters, bike delivery guys, tip jars everywhere or street fairs. Out of these options Blocking Subway Doors was considered the greatest offense across the boroughs. A logical choice, as commuting is probably the most daunting part of anyone’s day. Though I must say that I think Improperly Holding/ Leaning on Subway Rails should tie for first annoyance. Just because you don’t feel like holding the subway rail like a normal person, doesn’t give you the right to lean your entire body against the pole that 13 other people are simultaneously trying to share. I don’t care if you have the nicest bum in the universe (save James Franco), I’d rather it not be up against my hand as I grip the rail trying to achieve that delicate subway balance! Get over your germaphobia and buy Purell like the rest of us and take brave hold of the subway rail—you can still read your newspaper, I swear.
This photo shows a) improper subway grip and b) my friends being tourists.
Though the slow-walking tourists can be rather aggravating, they are simply an easy target and somewhat hypocritical of us, New Yorkers. We love every opportunity to tell people just how great this city is and just because someone wants to take up five square feet trying to read a map we’re going to get in a huff about it?! We do the same thing when we go see the great cities across the world— Beijing, Dubai, Rome… and we even make them speak our language! But, I admit, it really is too bad that tourist walking lane never panned out.
To me the other grievances just seem a tad persnickety. Those same things that annoy us into a tizzy are also the ones that define New York. I’m fairly certain a handful of classic movies would have never existed if cabbies were sane. We need the crazies. Even the hipsters, I guess. (The L train wouldn’t be a party without them!) One of my NYC mentors imparted some wisdom on me last week. Though I’m fairly certain it’s an adaptation of a famous quote about the city, her delivery could never be replicated, “Nicole, darling, we spend more time hating things about this city than appreciating it. But at the end of the day, you know you’re a New Yorker when you hate the idea of living anywhere else more than putting up with the bullshit.” So it goes.
