In my opinion, I don’t think there is a specific New Yorker, (please no slander from the “authentic” New Yorker here). The city is full of diverse cultures and always has been this way; each of them represents the apple city with their customs, regardless of if you lived or now reside in New York City you have developed over time some attributes that we all act upon. I mean the New Yorker way.
In New York City, there are certain cases you will experience or witness once or maybe every day if you are on the “lucky” side, not they are bad ones, “loin de la” they are the charms of what makes New York, New York or in another word the right of passage to be called a New Yorker.
Some habits will become second nature of your daily activities, and others you will grow to love, and soon you will be part of the tribe of New York or Nowhere.
If you live in New York or have heard of us, you know we mind our business; nothing shakes us, NOTHING, I mean, not even the man with the portable toilet taking a dump on the train, not a celebrity on the sidewalk, we are too busy, and honestly, the New Yorker focuses on its hustle. Hence, hey, who are we to judge.
Out the bacon and cheese, in the chop cheese sandwich, I remember the first time I came across the infamous delicacy; I was getting braids and needed a little snack, so I went to the corner store for a refreshment when a group of high schoolers rushed in; they all ordered chop cheese, and my curiosity picked in and asked the deli chef to prepare me the same sandwich as theirs on a roll. Since that first bite, my life hasn’t been the same.
I blame the subway system, ALL THE TIME, I mean on my behalf my line is one of the less accurate and slowest lines of the MTA transit, between the delays, the people holding doors, and unexpected tracks problems the percentage of myself being on time depends on one single minute. All New Yorkers know how important is that one minute in your daily activity; it can either make your day or ruin it.
If you have never set foot or lived in Brooklyn, are you a New Yorker? Very debatable question. Okay, fine, I live in Brooklyn; in my perspective, New York City is the BK and the city, pardon my French, and no scorn against the other boroughs, Brooklyn is New York.
If every time we said the F** word the city would have collected taxes we would have been the most prosperous place in the world (wait, we are already, maybe our use of F*** word is one of the reasons our taxes is so high) just kidding. The F*** word has so many meanings here, we express it for happiness, confusion, to make a statement, when we are angry the F*** yes.
This part took me a long time to convert, I would stop in the middle of the staircase to look for my wallet and then, get my metro, I was randomly stranded in the middle of the sidewalk to take a picture or cross over without realizing I was messing up with a line of the pedestrian, now I am a professional walker and subway commuter.
I was never in the club of staring at people, but I know a couple of friends and family back in Haiti, if they ever want to move to NYC, they will need to work on not getting lost at gazing at people. Here we look at our phones, books, and nails.
The commute is a big part of being a New Yorker. You must stay ready, walk fast (run if you must), know your train schedule, can slide your MetroCard quicker than blinking your eyes, and understand your stop, transfers, and not steeping on nobody’s toes when standing during the train ride.
One thing about New Yorkers is that we take our Fashion sense very seriously; we are one of the top Fashion destinations, and we like to believe our style comes as randomly and effortlessly as it can be therefore when asked, where did you get this gorgeous dress, a new yorker first instinct is not to remember or vaguely suggest it’s an old thing.
You might agree or disagree with my list of expected behaviors as a new yorker; nonetheless, they are part of the city lifestyle. Therefore, if you have a few more you would like to share, comment down below, I would love to hear about your experience.
Thank you for reading and sharing
Smooches
A. J
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