New York City!!! Exclamation!

New York is an amazing city!
We have visited many times and never get bored with it! Some of our friends were so inspired by our high reviews of this metropolis that they wanted to see it for themselves. Although most of them liked it, a few returned to Sweden with disappointment. Mainly because they found the city to be somewhat dirty, and the people way too aggressive. To this we say two things:
  1. We completely agree. The city can be harsh and filthy. In fact, we even write about these issues in our texts, and
  2. We still completely LOVE NYC! What’s there not to love?



The city has such character and such charm. There are some issues, no doubt, but if you maintain a somewhat humorous (or maybe even sarcastic) outlook towards it, the city actually becomes quite spectacular 😊.
It should be no surprise to you, that NYC is featured in our Top100Wonders

Our First Time

Our “Around the world in 50 days” adventure was the very first visit to NYC, and below are some of our first impressions - documented as we experienced them at the time. As you will see from our text, dear friend, we did notice some of the “challenges” of NYC, but were still absolutely hooked on the city. So, let us take you back to the first impressions of two young tourists:

Filthy yet overflowing with Culture



A Scary house in Queens

The first thing you notice about Manhattan Island is that it is terribly dirty. People throw out their trash onto the sidewalks, there is garbage everywhere, and the subway is infested with rats. Despite this, NYC is a really exciting city! There are lots of different people from all corners of the world, the place is overflowing with culture, and the tempo of the city is amazing.

Safety

NYC consists of the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. 20 years ago, some of these areas were not safe to visit, but currently there is no danger at all. We felt completely safe walking around the entire city, and we did not even try to hide the fact that we were tourists.

Housing Issue



The Flatiron Building

Most tourist sights are located in Manhattan, so that is where we stayed most days. We managed to secure accommodation in Manhattan, which is not the easiest thing in the world:
Firstly, because hotels are very expensive in Manhattan (in 2012 we paid about 2000 SEK per night for a teeny tiny room at the New Yorker, which by the way is not a luxury hotel). Obviously, we did not want to pay that much during our first visit (2005), when we were still students.
Secondly, most of the cheaper accommodations, like hostels, are booked up a year in advance. Due to our diligence, however, we managed to find a relatively cheap (and clean) hostel, but only for the first three nights. The remaining nights we had to change location to a somewhat more expensive living, but still within our budget.

Easy Transport

We got around by subway, which really is the fastest and cheapest way, even though the city is full of taxis. Buses are also available, but they are a bit more cumbersome. As mentioned, NYC is not at all as dangerous as people say (or said back then). You can stay out late at night without concerns, and there is no problem at all taking the subway. We felt just as safe as we do in Stockholm.

Tell us about your NYC experience

Post in the comments below.
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