I've been spending time in New York-- in the Ramapo Mountains, about 30 miles from New York City. I never quite believed you could be in a wilderness and yet be so close to Metropolis, but it's true. The Appalachian trail crosses the road about 10 miles from where I stay, and Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks are huge, in combination more than a third the acreage of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I like a lot of things about the area, but there are some huge differences-- huge for me, at least, that make me uncomfortable there.
1. You can't get grits in New York. I mean not only don't they have them at restaurants, most grocery stores don't stock them and if you ask for them people will look at you with bewilderment, shock, disgust, or pity. I don't think it's quite fair. I mean, we have all sorts of bagel places in Atlanta. I want reciprocation!
2. The people talk funny. And yeah, we talk funny in Georgia, too, but let's face it-- the New York accent is, second to Klingon, the most painful accent to listen to.
3. There are no Captain D's. Well, there's one in an army base, but I'll bet you have to submit to a full body scans to get to it. I would forgive New York if there were Long John Silver's, but there aren't. There's not a hush puppy to be had! That would be a misdemeanor in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas-- and a felony in Louisiana.
4. New York has no Fry's Electronics store. I rely on Fry's for low-cost computer cables, routers,and computer components. It's wonderful! I mean, you can walk down a 150-foot aisle and see nothing but desktop computer cases. Hundreds of styles in prices from $39.99 to $400.00! There are Best Buys in New York, but you'll pay $20 for a cable that would cost you $2.65 at Frys. Message to New York: Best Buy sucks.
5. You have to carry actual money in New York. In Georgia I subsist entirely on plastic. The only place I need cash is Donnie's and the car washes just outside the city, so $20 lasts me a couple of weeks. In New York half the food places don't take credit or debit cards. Lots of places that do take cards-- for instance, convenience stores-- require a minimum purchase of $10. Gas stations take plastic, but charge ten cents less per gallon if you pay with cash.
6. New Jersey is disconcertingly close. If the Founding Fathers had been thinking straight it would have put Jersey in the Adirondacks, but no, they had to stick it just across the Hudson from Manhattan. That tranlates to Chris Christie, lots of women with booth tans and big hair and dragon lady nails, and no end of men who look like Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos cutting you off in their BMWs and grabbing the last sweater in your size at the mall. But then you don't have to pump your own gas in New Jersey, and that makes up for a lot.
7. No one has air conditioning in New York, or if they do, it's inadequate. There are lots of summer days when the high is in the low 80s, but no end of days above 90 and some (like today [19 July]) over 100. Back in Atlanta everything is air conditioned and you have to face the heat only when you dash from your house to your car or from your car to the store. In New York you're hot all the time. And don't even THINK about going into the city in the summer.
8.Shopping is more difficult in New York. Except maybe in the city. Bergen County, NJ, which is just next door, has a blue law closing all the big box stores on Sunday. Every food franchise in the world (except Captain D's and Long John Silver's) is in New Jersey, but the lower Hudson Valley (this part, anyway) consists of small villages with few places to eat-- and most of those close early.
9. There are no meat-and-three restaurants in the area. Instead, there are delis. Note to New Yorkers: not the same.
10. There are no biscuits, and fried chicken is hard to find. There are no fried fish or wing joints, although restaurants will be happy to sell you expensive wings.
11. Property taxes are ridiculously high.
12. New York politicians are as corrupt as Georgia's, although in a different way.
13. There are a high number of arrogant drivers in BMWs, Porsches, and Mercedes-- which is, come to think of it, just like Cobb County.
14. Lots of roads, bridges, and tunnels have tolls, and the tolls are ridiculously high-- some as high as eleven bucks. Everyone has EZPass gadgets on their windshields so they don't have to carry around ridiculous amounts of cash. Oh, wait! They already carry around ridiculous amounts of cash because they need it to buy gas and food. But at least the EZPass gadget lets them deal with bills instead of coins.Georgia has only one toll road-- GA 400. I know I-85 now has a toll lane, but it costs all of 8 cents to drive from downtown to Ronald Reagan Parkway, so it's difficult to take it seriously. And no one, even at that price, drives on it.
15. Prices for groceries, goods, and services are higher here. It costs $450k+ to buy a one-bedroom house in the little town where my girlfriend is renting. A plumber? Fugeddaboudit!
16. It costs $15 to see a movie-- even before 5 pm.
17. Cars rust here.
18. You have to scrape windshields on winter mornings.
19. Cashiers don't make small talk.
20. Not that I smoke, but cigarettes are $13 a pack!
2 comments:
Thought this was interesting, no AC in NY. Guess that may all change now the are starting to have major heat spells. I was there once, but it was winter.
I do remember the tolls being so high and no ice when you drank tea.
People were not so friendly and the cabby's did not slow down much for you to get out... it was a rolling stop. Not a place I want to visit again ever.
The countryside in the Hudson Valley is beautiful, and the mountains remind me of the southern Appalachians. The people are aloof and talk funny, and yeah, there's no sweet tea. Things are very strange in NYC. I do like the museums and shows and when I'm in the state I try to get in once every month or so to visit. I can be on Times Square in an hour for $25, which is less than it would cost to park. But I"m not a huge fan of the city itself.
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