9 Things New Yorkers Do Without Realizing It’s Not Normal Anywhere Else
A New Yorker drives two states over for a weekend trip, and the cashier at the first gas station already knows they’re not from around there.
These are the everyday habits that mark someone as a New Yorker before they ever open their mouth.
1. Saving Empties for a Nickel
New Yorkers rinse out soda cans and stack them by the back door instead of tossing them straight in the recycling bin.
Every one of those containers is worth a nickel.
New York’s Returnable Container Act was enacted in 1982 and has required a 5-cent deposit on eligible cans and bottles since it took effect in 1983, so a shopper who returns a full bag of 40 empties walks out with $2.
Nobody scoffs at a nickel.
Kids learn to count that pile before they can count much else.
Take that same bag of empties to a store in a state without a bottle bill, and the cashier just looks confused.
2. No Sales Tax Below $110
A New Yorker can buy a new pair of sneakers and watch the receipt skip the sales tax completely.
New York exempts most clothing and footwear priced under $110 a piece from its state sales tax, and the break applies item by item, not to the whole receipt.
Buy the same shirt on a trip to a different state, and the cashier rings up the tax like it’s nothing unusual.
The discount goes unnoticed until a trip out of state costs a few dollars more.
3. Two Stops for One Six-Pack
New Yorkers grab a six-pack off the supermarket shelf without a second thought.
Reach for a bottle of wine at that same store, and the shelf isn’t there.
New York is one of just 10 states that keep wine and liquor out of grocery store aisles entirely, so shoppers make a separate stop at a liquor store for anything stronger than beer.
Lawmakers in Albany keep pushing bills to change that, and none of them have passed.
Same fight, every session.
So, when New Yorkers travel to many other states and ask a grocery store where they can buy wine, they give themselves away as an out-of-stater.
4. Reaching for a Tote Bag
New Yorkers sling a tote bag over their shoulder before they even reach the store entrance.
New York banned single-use plastic carryout bags statewide in March 2020, and stores that hand out paper instead can charge a nickel for each one.
It’s automatic by now.
A New Yorker visiting family in a state without the ban comments constantly about the use of plastic bags in stores.
5. Sticker on the Windshield
New York drivers keep a running mental clock on one small sticker in the corner of the windshield.
New York requires most vehicles to pass a safety and emissions inspection every 12 months.
Driving around with an expired sticker is a ticketable violation under state law.
Many states only check a car when it’s sold or registered for the first time.
Sticker and all, it’s an annual ritual many drivers in other parts of the country never have to think about.
Psst! How much do you know about New York beyond the five boroughs? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Empire State Trivia Test
These questions cover New York firsts, geography, and history that don’t show up on the postcards. Betting you can’t ace every one.
Most of Ellis Island’s land belongs to which state?
6. Half the State Says Pop
Order a soda in Manhattan, and everyone knows exactly what a New Yorker means.
Cross into Buffalo, and that same word gets a strange look.
A long-running crowdsourced dialect survey has mapped a regional divide that runs right through western New York, with Buffalo and the areas around it calling a carbonated drink "pop" while most of the rest of the state sticks with "soda."
New Yorkers on either side of that line grow up certain their word is the only word.
Neither side is wrong, exactly, but most states have just one way to ask for a fizzy drink.
7. No Turning Right on Red
New York City drivers sit dead still at a red light even when the road ahead is completely empty.
New York State legalized turning right on red back in 1977, but New York City opted out and has banned the move at most intersections ever since, unless a sign says otherwise.
Drive that same intersection in almost any other city, and a driver behind leans on the horn the second the light turns.
8. Tolled Before They Park
Drive a car into Manhattan below 60th Street, and New York City's congestion pricing system bills the toll before the driver even finds a parking spot.
There's no booth, and no ticket to grab.
New York City's congestion pricing program has charged E-ZPass drivers $9 to enter that zone during peak hours since January 2025.
Cameras read your license plate, and the bill shows up later.
Drivers heading into Manhattan now factor that toll into their trip before they even pull out of the driveway. People from other states are confused when someone asks about pricing congestion.
9. Board Owes No Reason
A New York City buyer can offer full price in cash for a co-op apartment, and the board can still turn them down flat.
No explanation required.
New York courts let co-op boards reject a sale for any reason or no reason at all, as long as the board isn't breaking discrimination law.
A house hunter in most of the country signs papers and picks up keys.
A New York City co-op buyer interviews for the privilege first, sometimes more than once, and the board might still say no.
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