10 Things New York City Residents Are Tired of Explaining to Everyone Else

Mention you’re from New York City at a party, and you can predict the next five questions word for word.

New Yorkers have answered them so many times that the replies run on autopilot.

These are the things New Yorkers are tired of explaining to everyone else.

1. The City Isn’t the State

Tell someone you’re from New York, and they picture Times Square.

Meanwhile, New York state holds dairy farms, mountain ranges, vineyards, and waterfalls that many Americans have no idea about.

Whole counties smell like hay.

A kid from Buffalo and a kid from Brooklyn grow up in different worlds.

New Yorkers have explained this at every out-of-state barbecue they’ve ever attended, and the other person still says, “So, near the Statue of Liberty?”

2. Where Upstate Begins

Where does upstate start? Ask five New Yorkers, and you’ll get five answers and one argument.

To someone in Manhattan, upstate begins the moment the subway ends.

To someone in Albany, that’s insulting. Meanwhile, Albany is practically the city to someone in Plattsburgh.

The Hudson Valley crowd claims a category of its own, which settles nothing and starts a second argument.

There’s no official line, and there never will be.

Explaining this to outsiders takes longer than the drive to Poughkeepsie.

3. A Bodega Isn’t a Gas Station Store

A bodega is a corner store, a kitchen, a pharmacy, and a social club squeezed into a space the size of a two-car garage.

There’s usually a cat, and the cat usually runs the place.

The guy behind the counter knows your sandwich order, your kid’s name, and your opinion of the Knicks.

Chopped cheese at 2 a.m. isn’t something a highway rest stop can offer.

New Yorkers stop explaining this one eventually. Some things you have to taste.

4. Sidewalks Are Traffic Lanes

Walking is transportation in New York City, not recreation.

Stopping mid-sidewalk to check a phone causes the pedestrian version of a five-car pileup.

Need to look at a map?

Pull over. Stand against a building like you’d pull onto the shoulder of a highway.

Three friends walking arm in arm across the full width of the sidewalk will hear about it, and the comment won’t be whispered.

Sidewalk speed keeps the whole system working because thousands of people share each block every hour.

5. Living Without a Car

“But how do you get groceries?”

You carry them. Two blocks. It’s fine.

Millions of people from New York City go years without touching a steering wheel, and their lives aren’t a hardship documentary.

The train comes, the train goes, and nobody circles a parking lot for twenty minutes.

Relatives visiting from car country still shake their heads like they’ve met someone who lives without electricity.

6. Pizza Is Eaten Folded

New Yorkers fold a slice of pizza down the middle and eat it while standing, possibly while walking.

Knife and fork? On pizza?

New Yorkers have watched tourists do it, and they've never recovered.

The fold is engineering. It keeps the tip stiff, the cheese aboard, and one hand free for coffee.

Nobody needs a table, and nobody needs a demonstration.

But New Yorkers keep giving both anyway.

7. Bagels Taste Different at Home

Every New Yorker who moves away learns this the hard way.

The first out-of-state bagel arrives puffy, sweet, and wrong.

New Yorkers credit the water. Bakers credit the technique. Scientists shrug.

Whatever the cause, the difference is big enough that people fly home with a dozen bagels in their carry-on.

A bagel run is the first stop New Yorkers make after being out-of-state, before they even unpack their suitcase.

Explaining it to someone who's never had the original is like describing a color they've never seen.

8. Times Square Is for Visitors

No New Yorker is in Times Square on purpose.

They're passing through it, under protest, because a train transfer forced the issue.

The costumed characters, the chain restaurants, the crowds staring straight up: All of it belongs to the tourists.

Ask a local for their favorite spot in the city, and they'll name a block you've never heard of in a neighborhood you can't spell.

That's where New York lives, minus the Elmo suits.

9. Rude Is the Wrong Word

New Yorkers move at full speed, and outsiders mistake the pace for rudeness.

But watch what happens when someone trips on the sidewalk: Four strangers dive in to catch the fall before the person hits the ground.

Ask for directions, and a New Yorker will give them mid-stride, walking with you half a block to make sure you've got it.

The gruffness is a speed setting, not a character flaw.

Small talk isn't part of the package.

That's a feature, if you ask us.

10. Manhattan Isn't the Whole City

Five boroughs make up New York City, and Manhattan is just the loudest.

Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island hold the majority of the people, the food, and the family stories.

The best dumplings are in Queens. The Yankees are in the Bronx. The ferry is free.

Each borough keeps its own accent, its own pizza rankings, and its own opinion about the other four.

Skip the other four boroughs, and you've seen the postcard, not New York City.