Dear Andrew,
Welcome to the Big Apple!
Yes, living in New York City — which I have, this time, for twelve years, is indeed, “shitty,” as you so aptly described:
Just in some basic respects – like getting online or using your phone – it’s like going back in time a little. Time Warner cable … well, I probably don’t need to tell New Yorkers what it’s like there. We bought the most expensive cable package to expedite my work at home – and it just decides to crawl like dial-up every few minutes. My mifi cannot get a signal that’s stable. My iPhone is suddenly iffy – calls are dropped and online access is far slower than in DC.
Welcome to my world.
Here’s one tip — drop Time Warner Cable as fast as you can. We had it only because it was our only choice. (I have a documented list of 54 times our Time Warner cable service stopped working over a three-year period.) As soon as Verizon wired our building, we switched — faster Internet, same channels, clearer picture, and cheaper.
You’ll always have dropped calls if you keep AT&T for your iPhone. If it happens in your apartment, demand AT&T gives you (for free) an M-Cell, which will help only a little.
Then the following: we went to a store and found a couch; they delivered the wrong one. We went to Best Buy to get a new TV; they delivered the wrong one. When they did deliver the right one, the cable-box was dead. We could not get any DVR either. I had to go into the Beast offices to live-blog Obama’s implosion. Scalding hot water comes out of the cold faucet – randomly. And the space we live in is one fifth the size of our place in DC. Just to walk a few blocks requires barging your way through a melee of noise and rudeness and madness. And a glance at your bank account shows a giant sucking sound as the city effectively robs you of all your pennies at every juncture.
Practically everything here costs more. Our sales tax is extremely high, the NYC cops don’t do their jobs, and rarely will you find a cab driver who doesn’t make you want a Xanax. Apartments are small and building managers don’t give the smallest thought to your comfort. And every day you’ll be assaulted by people who believe their texting in your walking path is their God-given right.
The subways are dirty, hot, ugly, and smelly. Service in most restaurants and stores is atrocious. Atrocious. There’s not a single great diner in Manhattan, and the ones that are passable after a while no longer pass.
When you’re there for a few days or a week, it can be bracing. But living with this as a daily fact of life? How does anyone manage it?
…
Do you just have to harden yourself to live as if this is normal? Or will it get better? Please tell me it gets better.
“Please tell me it gets better.”
It does not get better.
“How does anyone manage it?”
It’s the greatest city on earth.
Image: The Empire State Building adorned in the Pride Rainbow. Photo by Inga Sarta- Sorenson, director of communications at NGLTF.Â