What People Talk About When They Talk About Life In New York

Teared up while reading this. Another great one from Ryan!

Ryan is obviously very talented, but god damn these NYC articles are played out. I’ve lived in New York so I suppose I “get it” to a degree, but please get over yourselves.

as a jdidion fan you’ve probably read “goodbye to all that?” not too dissimilar

OH MY GOD YES ANOTHER NEW YORK ARTICLE WHAT A CREATIVE LITTLE SPIN ON IT THIS TIME HIP HIP HOORAY

beooklyn

This is great, captivated the whole read through.

Hehe, “Beooklyn.” First misspelling I’ve ever seen on TC. Nice article though!

They talk about how boring their friends are and how it seems that everyone is some kid from the midwest looking for a barista job.

i actually enjoyed this NY article.  kudos.

FART, don’t be an ass, we clearly need to love the simple things, the living sensation, yes, we are all obsessed but is it bad? are you hurt?

nyc does eat their young

You don’t come here often, do you?

This is fantastic…and now that I know that Ryan is a Raymond Carver fan, I love him even more.

and this is why i’m moving to new york

TC has made me hate New York forever. I’m completely turned off. Its like you guys just sit there all day and talk about New York. 

I’m moving to Topeka.

Everytime I watch HBO’s How to make it in America I feel like packing my shit and moving to NYC right away but your articles make me never want to move there!

Great article. Makes me proud to be a native.    There  is something for everybody in NY.  It’s not just for the young and ambitious from in or out of state.  If you’re  happy to be at one of the cultural crossroads of the world and you have an open mind it’s all you need to thrive. :)

THIS IS RELEVANT. 

Eh, I dunno. I’ve lived here my whole life and the only time Manhattan was magical was when I was a kid/teenager but really, anywhere would have been magical at those pivotal times. Brooklyn was also a place that nice girls from the border of Queens/Nassau didn’t go.
NY isn’t a “thing” when you’re from here. Its just, whatever. Its where your parents/friends/everything is, just like everyone else feels about their hometown. I fantasize about getting out to another city or the country like small town people fantasize about coming here.

Sometimes I think the myth of New York is perpetuated by 20-somethings who move there right out of college and mistake “normal adult life in your 20s” with OMG NEW YORK LIFE – SO AMAZING .  Every city offers this stuff. 

Yea, its annoying to kids who grew up here and are like “Eh, its not that special”

I’m moving to New York in 6 weeks and I’m strangely looking forward to all of this…although I have a great job and have spent enough of my life visiting there that I’ve already done all the tourist stuff. Excited for the new adventure. 

what ryan o’connell writes about on a daily basis: a summary

so now these articles are done, right?

People keep writing about what it is like to live in NYC because there is nothing like it. But frankly I’m tiered of people trying to verbalize something that is so unique with so many cliches. 

NO. STUFF ONLY HAPPENS IN NEW YORK. NOWHERE ELSE.

NO. STUFF ONLY HAPPENS IN NEW YORK. NOWHERE ELSE.

NO. STUFF ONLY HAPPENS IN NEW YORK. NOWHERE ELSE.

NO. STUFF ONLY HAPPENS IN NEW YORK. NOWHERE ELSE.

NO. STUFF ONLY HAPPENS IN NEW YORK. NOWHERE ELSE.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Good piece, but pretty much everything you wrote can be applied to “Anycity, USA”.

Move to another city, and then you’ll see how much you appreciate coming from NYC… the cliches suddenly become a reality.

“FART, don’t be an ass,”

trololo

As someone who just moved to New York 2 months ago, this article already resonates with me (as do all of Ryan’s articles about the city).  Everyone moves here thinking, “New York is amazing.  It’s impossible for anything to go wrong because I’m living in the best city in the world.  New York is perfect!”  Well let me tell you, even after 2 months of living here, I have a love-hate relationship with the city.  I tend to hate anyone and everyone that so apparently has no idea where they are.  I literally step out of my apartment and immediately get in a bad mood over the mass amounts of people swarming my neighborhood. 

With that said, this city really does test who you are as a person.  You may think you know who you are, but as soon as you move here, everything changes.  It’s one of the largest reality checks you can ever have in life.  Trust me – as someone who was born and raised in San Francisco, every city is not like New York and you can’t do everything you can do in NY in other cities.  It just isn’t possible. 

Beautiful fall days like today make me appreciate this place though.  Walking outside with the wind quickly chilling my skin makes me feel alive.  It makes me feel grateful to live in this crazy place.  It makes me all the bullshit that comes with living in this city.  It makes me forget about the douchebag that dumped me, or the person that only continued to talk to me once they found out what my job is (or isn’t).  It make me put up with the shitty dates, the failed nights out, the 10 dollar cabs, the 12 dollar vodka sodas and all the fucking tourists.  It reminds me why I moved here in the first place.

My advice – seek out people that you can trust and who are positive.  That’s the only way to survive in this city.

As someone who just moved to New York 2 months ago, this article already resonates with me (as do all of Ryan’s articles about the city).  Everyone moves here thinking, “New York is amazing.  It’s impossible for anything to go wrong because I’m living in the best city in the world.  New York is perfect!”  Well let me tell you, even after 2 months of living here, I have a love-hate relationship with the city.  I tend to hate anyone and everyone that so apparently has no idea where they are.  I literally step out of my apartment and immediately get in a bad mood over the mass amounts of people swarming my neighborhood. 

With that said, this city really does test who you are as a person.  You may think you know who you are, but as soon as you move here, everything changes.  It’s one of the largest reality checks you can ever have in life.  Trust me – as someone who was born and raised in San Francisco, every city is not like New York and you can’t do everything you can do in NY in other cities.  It just isn’t possible. 

Beautiful fall days like today make me appreciate this place though.  Walking outside with the wind quickly chilling my skin makes me feel alive.  It makes me feel grateful to live in this crazy place.  It makes me all the bullshit that comes with living in this city.  It makes me forget about the douchebag that dumped me, or the person that only continued to talk to me once they found out what my job is (or isn’t).  It make me put up with the shitty dates, the failed nights out, the 10 dollar cabs, the 12 dollar vodka sodas and all the fucking tourists.  It reminds me why I moved here in the first place.

My advice – seek out people that you can trust and who are positive.  That’s the only way to survive in this city.

Stop writing about the same fucking thing over, and over.  Seriously? Do you not have any original ideas in your head?
All you do is rip-off (unsuccessfully and soullessly I might add) Joan Didion and Lorrie Moore — and now Carver too?!
Is nobody safe?!
Have people seen all the online groups and message board dedicated to firing that one yahoo news reporter? Can we start a “fire ryan o’connell” facebook group?

Ya!!!!!!!!!!

Ya!!!!!!!!!!

Omg, I need you in my life…

HAHAHA, so accurate!

people who just moved to new york after college have nothing on those who were born and raised in new york city, being a teenager in new york is an experience unable to be put in words (and clearly it doesn’t count if you grew up in Long Island and pretend that’s practically New York, or if you pretend you are a new yorker because you were born in a new york hospital then promptly drove back to suburbia)

Stuff happens, but the stuff that goes on here is… a little parallel from the rest of the States. 

Stuff happens, but the stuff that goes on here is… a little parallel from the rest of the States. 

Stuff happens, but the stuff that goes on here is… a little parallel from the rest of the States. 

Stuff happens, but the stuff that goes on here is… a little parallel from the rest of the States. 

oh geez. get over it and move on.

i dunno, i think after you move to another city you finally realize how much it’s not the “best-place-ever-god-why-go-anywhere-else?” and i just feel like everyone who moves there is so brainwashed about it. i dunno. i left. glad i grew up there but glad i left. now i don’t have to spend my 20′s paying too much for rent, drinks, and everything else ever….

Okay, seriously…New York is just one city. There are thousands of other cities in the world. And dream are fulfilled and shattered in those cities too. What is the bfd? 

I agree completely. This complete obsession with NYC is very provincial. There is so much to see and experience around the world… heck, even in the US.  I know its great and has tons to offer, but it feels so limiting to be transfixed by just a few hundred square miles. 

Visit a third world country. Climb the Himalayas. Meditate with the Dalai Lama. Help build an orphanage in Africa. Witness all sorts of emotions and feeling by truly removing yourself from what you’ve always known. Really know what pity, wonder, and awe feel like.

Those are real tests of humanity. Those are real reality checks. 

And also,  experiencing large groups of tourists on your street is nothing compared to the sheer amount people and human life you find in places like Dharavi, Lagos, Guangzhou, and Jakarta. You really haven’t experienced much man.

Puts complaining about 10 dollar cabs and fucking tourists into real perspective. 

Agreed. Well, in reality, its made me realize why pretentious friends who moved there to “pursue their career” have made such a deliberate effort to make their new “New York lives” seem so amazing… When I know they’re unemployed and spending their time on Twitter because they have nothing to do. Sky-high rent, no job, general feeling of alienation? Mmm, no thanks, I’ll pass… 

so glad I moved

Thank you thank you thank you, etc 

dove* right in

Uhh, what?  Regardless of what Keith said, “Visit a third world country” is one of the most patronizing comments I’ve seen in a while.  You can’t have authentic experiences in the US?  I’ve hiked, camped, and traveled, but a sunset on a Brooklyn rooftop can actually be as beautiful as the woods in Alaska or a volcano-shadowed lake in Guatemala – that comes from experience.

Things are ugly all over the world, and things are beautiful all over the world.  Punching the I-banker who just justified his role in the financial turmoil in “third world” nations can feel almost as good as building the orphanage, provided you also get shit done.

Exoticizing other cultures is fucking grating, and pretending that it makes you more “cultured” or “enlightened” is even more pathetic.

Growing up on Long Island and later moving to NYC, I can agree they are nothing similar.

BUT, I don’t think I “have nothing” on someone who grew up in the city (as a lot of my best friends did).  I think I have something different, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.  I love my hometown, and it informs my experience of the opportunities and shortcomings of NYC in a way that someone who grew up there could never see – and I’m sure they’d feel that same spending some time in hometown.

Growing up on Long Island and later moving to NYC, I can agree they are nothing similar.

BUT, I don’t think I “have nothing” on someone who grew up in the city (as a lot of my best friends did).  I think I have something different, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.  I love my hometown, and it informs my experience of the opportunities and shortcomings of NYC in a way that someone who grew up there could never see – and I’m sure they’d feel that same spending some time in hometown.

Oh how I miss NYC dearly.  Sighhh.  

http://goo.gl/CrmZf

Thank you.  It’s funny because as soon as you start talking online, people think that they know your whole entire life store.

I appreciate your concern Damien, but I have visited a Third World country.  Actually, I’ve visited 3 Third World countries – but hey, you know me and my story so I guess you’re right.  Your words are misinformed and for being as cultured as you think you are or claim to be, tremendously naive. 

Get to know me, then tell me that I “haven’t experienced much.” 

I always tell people who try to have the “omg New York is bringing me down” conversation with me to try living in New Delhi for awhile.  Just get some weed delivered and shut up.

How you feel about NY is how I feel about Toronto, except everybody knows that NY is 100000000 times cooler.

“The city can be such a scapegoat for your problems. It gets blamed for
your drug use, failed relationships, missed deadlines, flakiness, and
poor eating habits. “DON’T BLAME ME. Blame my surroundings!”

This is Toronto, and quite frankly, I’m ready to try NY. Over Toronto. Also, please write more articles like this about other cities. I had no idea “moving to NY” was a “thing” for recent college grads. Don’t you have $100,000 worth of debt to clear before you move to America’s most expensive city? Just sayin. Luv U.

http://goo.gl/CrmZf

http://goo.gl/CrmZf

The grass is always greener…

Never Leaving. 

 I actually moved to New York from Toronto. Best decision I ever made.

 I actually moved to New York from Toronto. Best decision I ever made.

Hamilton Nolan consistently (and successfully) makes your writing look stupid. 

http://gawker.com/5852060/lets-talk-about-how-wack-gq-magazine-is-today

Hamilton Nolan consistently (and successfully) makes your writing look stupid. 

http://gawker.com/5852060/lets-talk-about-how-wack-gq-magazine-is-today

Like.

This piece was trying a little too hard, and reeks of “I just got to this city and have lived here for a very short while but I can speak authoritatively on it already.”

Like.

This piece was trying a little too hard, and reeks of “I just got to this city and have lived here for a very short while but I can speak authoritatively on it already.”

you said it. perfect. i would have said mumbai though. much dirtier

Whenever I see an article with “New York” in the title I bypass it entirely and head straight for the comments, which is where the awesome indubitably is.

2 months?

oh cmon, chennai is the best, we all know that

no, he’s one of the founders of thought catalog you douche. And for that matter, people don’t read ryan’s articles for the novelty, they read it because they can relate and they like hearing the same old freaking thing, no matter how trite it is. So just stop reading ryan’s articles and move on though it must be quite annoying for you since he has about two articles everyday

I have lived in another city and do appreciate NYC, its the people who move here and get annoyed when I’m not starry eyed over NYC things (I admit a good sunset over the city or a fantastic night out can do that, but that’s happened elsewhere too). I’m not sure how to convey this via internet but a lot of people my age act like NYC is the be-all, end-all, its a “thing.” To me it just isn’t like that, it just IS. 

man fuck nyc. I swear I will never ever live there nor succumb to the bullshit of a culture that ranks it number on in a hierarchy of american cities.

Philly much?

Everything about this is gross, from your use of the phrase “third world country” to your glaringly obvious privileged upper class lens.

sad for you.

there are two types of people: people who “get” nyc and people who don’t. the ones who don’t, leave. the ones who do are the ones who realize that in all great loves – for people, a profession or a geographical location – do not come without hardships and bullshit and an occasional hateful thought. there is a reason why this is called the greatest city on earth.

great post. 

troll