my aunts first impression of NYC, when she honeymooned there around 1958 or so, was walking out of grand central station with my uncle, turning a corner, and seeing aman get stabbed to death in a mugging! ha ha ha! TERRIBLE first impression!

trivia about the ceiling in there.
The painting of the constellations was painted backwards. It's believed that the guys painting it looked at the reference in their hands and just painted the mirror image above them, but no one knows for sure.

When the ceiling was restored recently because of years of damage due to cigarette smoke and car and train exhaust they were debating "correcting" the ceiling and decided against it and to keep it as it was originally painted.

http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/...alkingtour.cfm

oops - correction:

I never actually went inside it. I ended up walking towards East 17th straight away before jumping in a taxi the rest of the way. But I hear it's beautiful.

I am moving there after I'm done with college.

I'm going there for the first time in two monthes. Like Demonrail, though I've never been there, so much of what I appreciate is from that city, so it already feels like a home from home. I'm going with my mum and dad, and they want to do the statue of liberty and all that, and thats all very well, but for the short time I'm there I really want to explore the 'soul', the nerve centre of the city. How or where that can be done I don't quite know.

It all depends on what you consider to be the soul or nerve center.

Maybe you should get a part time job as a Chinese food delivery guy or a bicycle messenger - then you'll see what makes this city run. ha ha!!

Cruise on a bicycle through Central Park, especially on a Saturday or Sunday. Stop and talk to people, visitors and locals alike. Investigate thoroughly.....go to Strawberry Fields and seek out the upper West Siders and the 'homeless', that don't seem so homeless and enjoy the eccentric's. They're very friendly especially the one's with dogs.

I loved every minute I was there.

one of the worst, most wasteful days of my life was when i went to the statue of liberty with the family. ugh!

I have trouble appreciating NYC because I've lived 20 minutes outside of it my whole life. It's actually a little depressing, I'm just used to it.

move away for a year. say... lincoln, nebraska.

you'll see.

the one thing I constantly hate about NYC is how Bloomie timed all the walk signals against each other so vehicles can flow without restraint. I'm a fast walker and it is very irritating to have to come to a halt at EVERY intersection because in Bloomie's NY, private cars take priority over pedestrians.

I went on my own and deliberately had no plans other than to just wander around. I passed the Empire Stae Building but never went inside it and never actually saw the Statue of Liberty up close at all the whole time I was there. I stayed in the East Village and my days were spent just buying a newspaper to read over breakfast, then having some very rough idea about what I'd do before lunch (usually wandering around a specific area). Then buying a marvel comic to read over lunch (I never feel lunch is quite right, even in England, without a comic to read) then a couple of beers, then more wandering and shopping ... maybe pick up a burrito or something (I was on my own so formal restaurants were pointless). Then maybe see a band then end up in a bar till about 4am before heading back to the hotel to sleep. This went on for a fortnight and, while I'd never claim to have found the 'soul' of the city, I would say I saw an enormous amount, and met a helluva lot of people - being a smoker and having to go outside for a cigarette meant that I always ended up chatting to someone or another.

I hope to be going back around Sept/Oct and intend to venture beyond the five boroughs this time - maybe take a couple of days out to visit Long Island. But really, I'm not one for the sights (the Wonder Wheel aside, lol) preferring to just stumble across things more by luck than design.

The sounds like a really great trip you had there demonrail, and exactly what I'd like to do, but unfortunately we're only there for like 4 days so I won't be able to fit that much in. I'll do a bit of research beforehand, but mainly just follow my nose...

Whatever you end up doing there, you'll have a great time, I'm sure. Don't get too hung up on shopping or sightseeing (if you escape your parents for a little while that'd be best) and just wander around like you own the place. It's almost impossible to get lost in Manhattan and being so small you can pretty much walk everywhere within it. On the whole the city seemed far safer than London, or any other major UK city so you'll be fine on the whole (certain parts of Harlem, although generally nowhere near as bad as you might imagine seemed a bit dodgy, but only late at night - same for certain parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn). You should definitely wander around the East Village, Chinatown and Chelsea. Christ, Im actually getting all excited for you here.


The Time Out guide to New York is excellent for working out which shops, areas, etc, you might want to check out. Although I'm sure people on this site that either live there or visit it regularly can point you to some great off-the-map stuff.

my first time in new york city this black woman told me to get off at this stop because i would fit in more. it turns out it was harlem and i was the only white person in the area (that i saw). i got these weird looks, especially when i went in a mcdonalds and found out that i was REALLY the only white person there. worst of all was that i was carrying all my luggage. i got so many death stares and i almost had a panic attack.

Wow, I never got anything as bad as that when I was there - but then I tend to look like someone not worth robbing in the first place, generally appearing poorer than the people that might want to mug me.

The only place I found a little dodgy was an area just outside of Coney Island that I stumbled into, which saw me surrounded by guys that looked Mobb Deep looking over at me in a less than friendly manor. But honestly, I just kept on going as though I knew exactly where I was and nothing happened at all. Just some odd looks from them was all.

well i think it was because i just got off of my plane and i had all of my luggage and i brought it inside the mcdonalds with me.

Been there once, got escorted out of the Plaza trying to get on one of the elevators.

don't go to new york if you're under 21 though, you can't go anywhere at night, or at least that was my experience.

hoho. not mine. then again i do live there and one two one two one two titty, i know every nook and cranny in new york city.

everyone knows it's easier for girls to get into places without ID

it also helps if you know the owner.

some things really suck here

http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/04/lengthy_east_village_mansion_battle_ends_almost.ph p

what a bunch of fuckery. those people deserve to be shot.

so i read the both sides of the story and while the dude comes across as a real asshole, it makes me wonder, why can't a person do whatever they want with their property? i mean-- imagine if say you couldn't wear your underpants because the law forced you to rent them to other people for a penny a week. wouldn't you want your fucking underpants back? well, maybe not those, but you'd wanna buy fresh ones ha ha ha.

i am a renter, so i know the inconvenience something like this creates, but i also think that this is what happens when you rent a place-- you obviously don't own it, and while the law protects you to an extent, it doesn't give you unlimited rights over the place, does it? so regardless of what manner of asshole this guy might be-- isn't this a question of property rights, when all is said and done?

i love the flexibility that renting affords me. if i wanted a permanent place to live, i'd buy one. i know that renting doesn't allow me full control of the property where i live so i have to accept those limitations in my economic choice.

now, i understand shit is different in new york-- but is it different enough to justify overthrowing a basic principle of our economic system?

How hard is it for British people to move to the States? I've heard there is a lot of paperwork involved.

I'd really like to move to NYC after college, Scotland is very very very uneventful.

it's not easy, getting a green card can be tricky, it helps if you have an employer willing to back your application for one and have a couple of grand to pay for the legal fees.

the legal fees went up from $1K to $3K last year, plus lawyer costs, it can be expensive.

so if you work say for the bank of england it can be easier than if you wanna be a roadie.

but there are other avenues, such as student visas, etc.

No one OWNS their property anyway, they just rent it from the State. I guess the basic economic principle you refer to is that housing is a privilege, not a right.

The baseline is that 16 affordable units - rent controlled in some part - were taken out of the market so one rich family can live in the entire building in 60 rooms. I wonder if the City will reward them by reducing the tax rate on the building.

I predict the owner will be so impatient to flip it he will try and circumvent the residency requirements and get sued successfully then (in San Francisco, a landlord kicked out an apt full of people I knew so he could allegedly live there but in 6 months he was renting again at double the price - they all sued and got a lot of money - the landlord was only required to maintain the property as primary residence for a year).

they rent from the state? is that cuba?

yeah the entire family etc as i said it's pure assholity-- i'm not in favor of their greedy, asshole ways-- but isn't it ultimately their shit to do what they want with? if i wanted to stay forever where i live, i'd buy from the landlord.

i know renters laws are kind of socialistic, and they might make sense in some contexts, but i'm generally against price controls of any kind, and believe that the market regulates itself just fine.

of course it seems unpleasant to say to people "sorry, your free lunch is over", but living in the middle of manhattan is a fucking luxury. i say give manhatan to the rich and let's start a new fucking city elsewhere.

nutley, new jersey, maybe.

....but i do own my apartment.

or so i thought?

you renting?

no. i won't ever have to pay a red cent.

so it's your property?

beware of renting it out in nueva york then, or you might never be able to return, if tesla has his way... i'd check w/ a lawyer or something.

i do believe that i am the owner of that unit.
i'm never going to rent it out to anyone. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE etc.

I'm visiting NYC in August for like a day. I go upstate about every year, but never been downtown. Looking forward to it.

but if you gonna live in england you could rent so that you don't lose money-- you still have to pay property taxes, maintenance, etc.

however, if tesla has his way, you'll have to rent it for $500/mo for eternity and never be able to return.

or so i understand?

you need a legal loophole.

anyway, enjoy whatever you end up doing.

The closest I was to New York was DC. Now I regret never having visited that city.

okay, what do you mean by "maintenance"
because i'm not paying dudes to come in and fix stuff or anything