Before you dive in, I just wanted to let you know that I published this on a blog I had on Blogger for about 5 seconds (kidding but yeah I hardly used it) in the summer of 2017 when I was angry about having to be in the city. Regardless however, this is more or less how I feel about NYC anyway. I know there are plenty of people who will disagree with me hence this is My opinion on My blog. At the same time I know there are people out there who feel the same way but feel like they “shouldn’t complain” because they’re living in supposed glamour. All I want out of this post is to get you to think. 

And with that, let’s move on.

New York City. The world’s most glamorous, colorful, bright and hopeful place.
According to the media.
What are some of the first things people usually think of when they talk about NYC. Those who don’t live there say this is where you go to hit it big. This is where all the fun is. This is where the sky is covered with TVs and giant metal structures reaching to the heavens. Immigrants especially view it as a place to escape their beaten down country and see it as their and their kids’ hope for the future…Until they get there.

New York City is probably the world’s most overrated location. TVs covering the sky is mainly only in Times Square which lasts about 5 blocks. Every one of the 5 boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island) has pockets of good neighborhoods and pockets of bad ones. So all that glamour they tell you about is localized to a few spots and are usually only available to those with lots of munz.

Those giant metal structures? Yeh, they’re beautiful. They make for a great view of mankind’s achievements…but these skyscrapers are doing this: They block our view of the open sky.
They cause microclimates due to the amount of people in such a small area and all the energy that goes into sustaining them.
They usually house little to no greenery that is so important to our planet.
And if you think about the actual living arrangement, it’s a bunch of people stacked on top of someone else on top of someone else on top of someone else…etc. And while there are no consequences that we know of today, we never think of how this might affect our health and stress levels. Imagine taking away all the walls and ceilings…you’d just have loads of people standing on top of one another, which I don’t think many of us would enjoy.
Lastly, they skew our perception of the world. We look out and think of how beautiful the view is of all these buildings and look at all the windows of the neighboring skyscrapers and all the people that live there in their own little bubble and become isolated from the reality of the world.

And the reality is this. We live in a floating sphere called Earth that houses a huge variety of creatures and outside of that are other planets and moons and galaxies and dimensions. While we may not see life on other planets, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In fact, there is an infinite number of planets and moons and galaxies and dimensions with their own lives and rules that we cannot possibly imagine. And living in the city, we forget all that. We live in a bubble. Perfectly designed to suit our needs.

You want food? Walk down a few blocks to the nearest market. You want clothes? There are probably multiple clothing stores within a mile of you. You want entertainment? Endless places and events to go to. You’re living next to frkn Broadway. Or if you can’t afford that, there’s plenty of low-key joints to go to that won’t completely rip your wallet in half. Clubs. Bars. Theatres. Comedy Shows. Pop-up events. Museums.
Art galleries. Zoos. The list goes on and on. Even parks are never too far out of reach. Prospect Park. Central Park. Bryant Park. Fort Tryon Park. And even a new one on an old train track – The Highline. And once again, the list continues.
But none of these parks are real. And as beautiful as they are and as much as I enjoy them, they do not come close to nature’s wonders as a Nature Preserve or National Park would. You have to travel at least an hour or two to get to anything remotely resembling untouched nature. AND if that doesn’t convince you. Many of these parks used to be cemeteries. So when you’re taking a nice stroll in a local park maybe wonder about all the dead bodies that used to and still may be under you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are many great things about the city. And one of them is no doubt the convenience of having a store right around the corner. And it could be fun to hang with your girls at midnight in a city populated by many edgy and strange people and going out and getting drinks and talking to quirky strangers.
Or go see some wacky show that’ll make you laugh so hard you cry. It’s all very pleasing to us because we like to be occupied and to be entertained. But that’s what it is. It’s a business and an entertainment bubble. Of course, if you’re into that and like the power and status of saying that you live in New York City over anything else, then this is the place for you. But if you care more about living a peaceful life regardless of how much money you spend on it, this is not the place for you.

And on another note. The city is known for its “crazies” and homeless people. There are so many stories you hear and/or experience about walking into the subway and smelling piss or seeing a homeless person on the street begging for money or that crazy person yelling into thin air at no one in particular. People go crazy here. It’s too stressful and we were not designed to live under this amount of pressure. It’s mentally and physically exhausting. Things are much too rushed and people hardly take the time to just be. Just live in the moment of life. To just sit still and not do or think. Our minds become as cloudy as the sky from pollution. You hardly ever see stars in the city.

The one thing that I will credit the city for is its diversity in people and its open mindedness to art, politics, and performance. But if you’re a person attracted to nature, peace, love, meditation and other hippie crap, the city is not for you. While it’s safe and comforting to some people, others prefer real adventure over being stuck in a box.

And before you start trying to prove me wrong (and you can try), just know that I grew up in NYC and the surrounding area (Brooklyn) and lived there for about 20 years… whether or not you want to count living in my college as a place of residence.

(I also have other personal reasons for it that I haven’t decided on whether or not I want to share them on here yet)