Any advice on getting used to living in New York City?|124302

My friend is planning on moving there,next year for college.
She has visited many times and loves it there.
I can_t relate to her because I have never lived there.

So does anyone have advice on getting used to living in New York City?

Thanks!

Coming from someone who lived in Florida for the first 20 years of their life, moving to NY was an experience I could never have expected. I have been here now going on 5 years.

Don_t get me wrong, I do love NY, but what a culture-shock!
The fast-paced impatience of life, the different ethnicities of it_s people, the deep pride from the natives of their own city.

It was hard to adjust.

People are too busy to care about the little insignificancies, and everyone is in a rush to get to where they got to go! You walk down the street and you find people looking down to avoid contact, they don_t say hello.... I would imagine this to be common in many big cities... :\ People can be cold and rude!

My advice? Take things in stride because New Yorkers have a tendency to take you too seriously and will get offended!

Grow a backbone, or else NYC will eat you alive!

-Strong in NYC.....but relocating to Southern Cali in a month :D

ive never lived there but both my parents are from brooklyn

all they ever say is its noisy and its an different world down there
good luck!

No worries. Getting adapted to life in NYC will take less time than you think. You_ll spend more time worrying about it actually! When you get there and somewhat settled, take a walk, ride or tour around town. Have something to eat. Ask questions from local merchants. You_ll be surprised how many will want to help you out. The part about life being fast paced, cutthroat and maniacal is true. Again you_ll adapt. Keep your wits about you and learn the lifestyle. Once you figure out that_s there not much you can do about it, like NY traffic, the rest falls into place. Navigating your way around town is easy once your accustomed to it. There_s no shortage of transportation. If you do own a car, get ready to pay extraordinary high prices to park it. Prices for everything are high in NYC, but you should expect that. In all, life in NYC really is OK and you_ll end up loving it and the city too.

OK, I_m gonna do this in list form, I live in NYC, have for the past few years, and here are some thoughts:
First off:
NYC is not as bad as you think. Not as noisy, dangerous or expensive.

Rich people complain about how expensive it is, poor people rejoice in how cheap it is.

NYC is full of real people and it is full of phonies. Which are you?

Get rid of your car. it is a liability, and you will get nowhere fast with it. You will get tickets and it will get stolen, and you will still have to pay tickets on your stolen car.

You will be amazed at how fast you get used to not driving.

Don_t be mean to panhandlers and homeless people. They were here first and their situation is exponentially worse than yours. And most of them are not lying.

It is far better to offer help to someone who might not be worthy of it than to withhold it form someone who might be worthy.

Don_t be afraid to smile.

There is lots of cheap fun here

Central park is the best. So is Prospect Park and Inwood Hill Park.

The cheapest boat ride in the harbor is the Staten Island Ferry. it_s free.

You wont be able to bank the money you save by not having a car. You will spend it on housing.

Nobody moves to NYC because it_s clean

We measure rats here in terms of beverage containers:
Small baby rat: V8 can
Small adult rat: beer can
Average sized rat: 16 oz bottle
Large rat: 1 liter bottle
Very large rat: 2 liter bottle
huge rat; 3 liter bottle (yes we have them here!)

rat watching off the subway platform is fun.

it is considered polite to leave your newspaper on the subway for the next person to read, if you are done with it.

Your favorite restaurant has probably been cited a few times by the board of health. Don_t worry about it.

There is no north or south. it is uptown and downtown.

You will get very tired of seeing film crews on your block (but it is kind of cool to see your building in Law _ Order) Mine has been in it a few times!

If you are friendly and be yourself, you will make a lot of friends here. If you try to be someone you are not, you will make a lot of fake friends here.

Get good shoes. You will be walking a lot.

The food here is really cheap, and really good. Except in Midtown Manhattan. There it is overpriced.

Forget Seinfeld. Forget Sex _ The City. it_s not really like that.

People everywhere else are proud of how much stuff they have. New Yorkers are proud of how little stuff they have.

New York winters are cold _ sloppy, New York summers are brutally hot. New York springs and falls are beautiful.

The New York Public Library is your friend.

Real Estate brokers will lie, cheat, and are generally out to screw you. They should be drowned like rats in a bucket of water!

It_s ok to drink the water here....it_s actually really good.

Keep your MetroCard in the same place (I like to use my left back pocket)

Welcome to New York.....We_re not as bad as all that!