from cityroom, my comments in brackets:
Q: A transplant from Boston said that she was told you need 10 years to be considered a New Yorker. She said that she won’t make it. I have heard this before. How did this come about? Shouldn’t you also have to be able to navigate the subway [check], be a Mets or Yankees fan [mets, please. fake new yorkers always pick the yankees] and eat a slice of Junior’s cheesecake [not after i saw the pictures of a mouse cozying up to the cheesecakes i don't]?
— Posted by Native New Yorker2
A:It’s a little like trying to define “middle class.” New York is a state of mind [cliche alert. cliche alert]. And it’s timeless. Some people have lived here all their lives and still don’t get it. Others see the skyline for the first time and are forever bewitched.
You’re right, it’s how you navigate crowded sidewalks and cross the street [i push the tourists aside, walk in the street, and give dirty looks to cabs who try to cut me off]. It’s knowing where to stand on the subway platform so you can exit at the staircase closest to your destination (all right, maybe that one is a bit too obsessive) [um, totally have this nailed and i get super annoyed when someone takes my spot on the platform] It’s never passing up the opportunity to feast on a new ethnic food [arepas!], defining your neighborhood by several square blocks [check], longing to leave town and loving even more to return[double-check]. It’s about your pace in moving, thinking and embracing what New York has to offer and about the provincial chauvinism that defines New York exceptionalism [i have no idea what this means]. That can take 10 years or 10 minutes to acquire.
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