What residents most love about New York City, tourists actually hate

One of the most recognized landmarks of the modern world, New York City. has lots to offer. With over eight million residents and more than sixty million tourists that make the trip every year, there's much to do and see. From the architecture to the people, there's a reason so many come visit or stay and live.

If you haven't been to New York City, know that it carries an energy unlike many places in the world. It's hustling and bustling 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So many cultures and personalities live and breathe in this city giving it a unique flavor and character. With all these different flairs, the people who live here love their home. But for many of the same reasons it's loved, its hated by tourists.

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These are some of the basic landmarks in the city that never sleeps:

Broadway is arguably the center of the world's live theater. Central Park is considered one of the most famous parks in the world encompassing over 78 acres of land filled with 36 bridges, 50 fountains, 21 playgrounds, monuments, sculptures, and a over a hundred trails to roam. Manhattan, of course, is home to the Empire State Building, Times Square, 911 memorial, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, and many other spots for tourists and locals alike to gather. But what do residents love that tourists actually hate? There are three main categories:

Broadway in New York CityImage via Canva - Photo by aluxum

World-class food & entertainment

From a New Yorker's view: New York City is famous for its food and entertainment. With 72 Michelin-starred restaurants, hundreds of theaters for live shows, live music and comedy shows, world class hotels, professional sports, the nightlife and clubs, and the year round festivals and art exhibits, all of these attractions and more make this a city like no other.

"From the perspective of nightlife (something I think NYC excels at), you can go to a bar, venue, or club any night of the week, at almost any hour, in a huge variety of different neighborhoods, and you can always find people hanging out and having fun." said one redditor.

From a Tourist's perspective: Everything that's available is impressive, but it comes at a ridiculous price. Hotels costing over $500 a night, dining up to $330+ per person to visit one of those Michelin-starred restaurants, and the Broadway shows can cost over $250 per ticket.

Said by another redditor, "NYC can be expensive. $300 is pretty average for a hotel room there in Manhattan."

The NYC subwayImage via Canva - Photo by Renan Carvalhais

Transportation

From a New Yorker's view: First thing to know is you can walk almost everywhere in New York City. There's a crosswalk on every corner. If you grab a bicycle there are over 1500 miles of bike lanes most of which are protected by barriers and safety features. When there's a larger distance to travel, just hop on the massive subway system. A single subway trip is about $3 and after you've put $34 on the card, it's unlimited rides for the rest of the week"New York was the first city in the world to have a subway running around the clock. There is so much here concentrated within such a small area, and it’s all accessible to everyone," said a local on reddit.

From a Tourist's perspective: To say there's traffic is an understatement. People driving through NYC lost 101 hours of time over the year. The traffic congestion is so bad it's estimated to cost the city over $9 billion in lost time. That makes the subway system a basic necessity and it's extremely confusing and crowded.

In one reddit post, a visitor was seeking advice on how to use the subway system because they found it difficult, saying, "I find myself very frustrated that I have to use Google or spend a lot of time gawking at a map to try to figure out which line I need to take, and which stop is the right direction to travel."

Crowd of people on a New York City streetImage via Canva - Photo by LuckyImages

The People

From a New Yorker's view: There are over 800 languages spoken in this city and it's considered the most linguistically diverse city in the world. There's unique neighborhoods like Chinatown and Little Italy which express the culture and people who live there. With a strong sense of community and massive population occupying a small space, the energy and collective fire people feel for living here is noteworthy.

"Life is lived outside and in public. People are on the sidewalk, in public buildings, in the subway. They’re not driving from home to the Starbucks drive through and then a suburban office parking lot. An energy exists when a lot of people are together like that," said a redditor.

From a Tourist's perspective: The crowds are a definite concern. Shoulder to shoulder in a sea of people walking around everywhere gets a bit overwhelming. There are strong smells of urine and garbage that attracts lots of rats which is not too surprising with such a large population. A main complaint is the curtness of locals who are often unwilling to offer up help for the lost, and they often seem quite impatient for any sort of hinderance to what they are doing.

A redditor who posted in a thread titled "First time in new york, it sucked," said, "Man whats wrong with New York people? i’ve never experienced so much rudeness anywhere like i did in the past 5 days in Manhattan. Literally everyone was so rude, from hotel host, to security guards, to restaurant servers, NOBODY was nice."

New York City skylineImage via Canva - Photo by frankpeters

Whatever any individuals perspective of New York City might be, there's no denying it's a city with a lot going on. If you like it or hate it, the statistics show there's always one more person ready to see what it's like and make a decision of their own.