NYC is MID

If your life consists solely of work and clubbing, NY is for you. If you are a balanced person that values a balanced life, it absolutely is not.

By the end of my week in NYC I was genuinely screaming get me back to London.

Let me preface this with: I've been wanting to go to New Yizzla for a while. I have friends that live there, I consoom a lot of media from there, I've fallen for a lot of the propaganda, etc etc etc.

But man was I disappointed. The entire city is mid.

The People

The people are characteristically distinct - not excessively but no one is ashamed to dress or speak how they want due to social constraints. In London you can not stand out, you will be judged even if you are part of a specific subculture like the UAL/east London creative scene.

Feels like there is a lot more HUMAN history in New York because of decades of interesting people.

Unfortunately New York also contains the most performative people ever. When the expectations to be characterful and distinct are high, you'll have those desperately trying to live up to that expectation.

Despite the decline in diversity you'll still have more interesting conversations, London has more diversity in occupation but less in thought. Everyone is part of a monoculture and has lived the same experiences, whereas NY you'll have more interesting extremes and people with more interesting careers. Easier time both networking and having "deeper" conversations if that's your thing. Londoners won't open up to a random. Less cliquey too. More extroverted.

Not that many "beautiful" people as the internet or social media would have you believe. London better (and more diverse).

People will have a studio matchbox on the lower east side... and own a husky.

Manhattan

The City

Everyone severely exaggerates how dirty it is and how many crackheads there are. Likely those from safe areas and call every homeless man a crackhead.

The city feels like an archaeological site of post-modern culture. Every street likely has some sort of cultural significance. Yet without this knowledge it means nothing to you, and now it means even less as that site of architectural cultural significance has been parasitically occupied by a corporate host - a Starbucks or Lululemon or Apple Store or alo or sweetgreens or Pret.

The buildings are distinct and have a lot of character. You can walk down any street in Manhattan and you will not see a row of repeating buildings. Unlike London where an entire area will be copy and pasted in a specific style e.g. Angel, Hackney, Clapham.

Different areas definitely have distinct vibes despite the corporate invasion. Note: When I say corporate invasion I don't necessarily mean corporations, I also mean their employees. I can imagine it was a lot more distinct and different in the past. The best places are the ones that tourism, gentrification and commercialisation has not affected. You can see a microcosm of this across Manhattan:

• Little Italy - man what a fall from grace, the entire street is a tourist trap selling "Forgeddabout it!" t-shirt, sickly sweet processed cream cannoli, fake gelato mounds topped with random coffee beans and strawberries (gelato only comes in metal tins), pasta shops with those people that stand on the street inviting you in with bowls of fake pasta shapes that are supposed to entice you?. The Italians of old would cry if they hadn't completely sold out.
• Soho - similar to London's soho, the corporations have sucked the life and soul out of the place.
• Chinatown - now we're talking; the opposite of Little Italy, the charm of Chinatown is still strong, the culture still shines. What a difference native chinese are from American-born, you think an American-born chinese would be on Pell St periodically flashing, from the inside of his jacket, a laminated sheet of paper containing images of Rolexes and other fake watches. Or chop up chickens in Amaze Meat Market on Elizabeth St. Come on.
• Midtown is mid. It's where I was staying, you deceptively think you'd have access to the entirety of Manhattan but there's no point. Two minutes from Times Square, main strip 5th Ave etc. You essentially live in Leicester Square, zero vibes.
• Chelsea and Greenwich Village, aptly named, are the closest places to London - vibewise. Walking through the High Line is identical to any scenic city walk through London.

Insanely dense. The best feature. You can imagine how crazy it used to be 20/30/40/50/100 years ago. Nowadays it's genuinely dead. The streets are dead. It's all corporate.

I want to say that New Yorkers have made the most of what they have but that's not true, when you consider the amount of money that flows through the city, you expect more. There are so many more vacant buildings all over New York especially central areas like Manhattan compared to London where any vacant building anywhere, whether retail or residential, would be snapped up. The data backs this up:

Both spiked during COVID. London recovered to near-zero. Manhattan's "current low" is still ten times worse.

Unfortunately London high streets contain a lot more chains and less independent businesses. Also way more gambling shops and casinos on London streets, don't think I saw a single one in NYC.

Severe lack of green spaces bar Central Park. Every other park doesn't count. Possibly the worst and starkest difference. Their public spaces and outdoors are abhorrent, the presence of central park does not do enough to compensate.

Design & Marketing

If you're into marketing you'll realise all marketing comes from New York. It's actually an embarrassing realisation. The fonts, the typography, the photography, the style, the terms. It is birthed in New York and spreads. So what the F are the marketing departments in London doing?

Honestly marketing is so good you actually stop to look at the ads. They're tasteful.

Biggest example: I HEART NY. The best tourism marketing campaign likely ever. NY flag trash though. Or the Yankees logo, instant classic. If London had anything that could remotely compare we'd be doing a lot better.

Signage is beautiful, even trucking and rubbish disposal have beautiful, intricate, tasteful signs.

Food

London has better food. Every single kind of food - bar maybe Dominican or Puerto Rican which we have none of so can't compete. Maybe also Korean food.

I can't comment on michelin star dining which is probably what NYC is better at. To reiterate I only got to experience normal human dining, nothing upscale. Yes I'm probably missing out on a bunch, I'll just watch Ertan's videos for that experience.

$1 slices are $3.50. And aren't that good.

Halal carts are mid af. Even the best ones are trash. Compare halal cart slop to LEBO GRILL. Miles apart.

SHMEAR.

Living Here

Rent is ridiculously high for tiny box apartments. But salaries absolutely compensate.

Walking around it feels like you can absolutely find a good deal on rent if you socialise. Like you're telling me you, walking through Chinatown, you won't find a room for $500?

They need 10x the repairmen/plumbers/electricians they have now. Every apartment even the luxury ones is in some state of disrepair.

Not for families, zero family spaces and consideration for them. Would never travel here with kids, let alone live.

Sample sales in New York are the best. 75% off Brunello Cucinelli, Margiela, ALD - crazy.

Getting Around

The roads are vast and spacious, yet it doesn't feel like a car centric city. I thought they'd be narrower.

The road naming system makes perfect sense but it does get annoying when you've been walking for an hour and you're still on 5th Ave. Way easier to learn and navigate.

Walking in New York is more tiring than walking in any other city I've been to. Maybe because it feels like you aren't making progress.

I actually quite like their metro system. Somehow much more convenient in terms of station density and also not having to descend a 300m long escalator to get to a platform (talking about you Angel station). Or 4 sets of escalators to get to the platform (talking about you Moorgate Elizabeth line). Also way way cheaper than London, a week of using the subway costs $34 total, no matter how much you tap. London $34 is like 2 days of the bastard underground. However I did not pay for the train once. Had to immerse myself in the culture.

ESCALADES, LINCOLNS, big presidential trucks everywhere. My first thought is who is being escorted around? Apparently you can order them yourself.

Muslims in Manhattan

Mosques in Manhattan are shockingly bad, few and far between and in a terrible state. There is no primary central defining mosque like London's Regents Park or ELM.

You barely see any muslims in central, the only muslims you'll see are:

• Bengali NYPD Traffic Police
• African Cab Drivers
• Egyptians in their Halal Cart Prisons
• Freemixers in Qahwah House
• Uzbeks/Tajiks/Kazakhs - haven't figured out what they do though

In Manhattan it feels like they are 0.01% of the population. This increases when you venture out to Queens.

Which makes it all the more impressive that Mamdani won the election. It is genuinely 100x more impressive than Sadiq Khan winning London Mayor.

Harlem

Harlem ghetto feels like Lyon except everyone is black instead of Algerian. And they're more docile than the Algerians.

116th Street is a serious ghetto.

People seem friendlier and more down to Earth.

Brooklyn

Williamsburg is somehow both a pre-WW2 and post-collapse Soviet country. Meaning: The hasidim are still roaming around yet the architecture is insanely bleak - especially in the winter.

Dumbo is one scenic view, flooded with tourists, at an intersection of typical NY white girl commercial slop: alo, sweetgreens, whole foods, equinox.

Went to a few food spots, honestly all mid. Mid indian food. Mid pizza place (yet rated top 100 RESTAURANTS 2026). White hipsters charging you $6 for a slice because they put Italian football tops on the wall. CTFO.

Downtown brooklyn isn't bad, very much like South London.

Brooklyn Bridge is nice, architectural masterpiece, great views.

Queens

Astoria, Queens, whatever - the strip is dead, halal food is okay, desserts, cafes whatever all subpar realistically.

This is why when Muslim Americans come to the UK they're like wtf this is amazing. Get to know man.

Jackson Heights is a slumtown. Between Bangladesh and Latin America it is by far the dirtiest part of New York. If you think this is "cultural enrichment" you aren't normal.

A walk down Roosevelt Ave will have you go from Nepal to Bangladesh to Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay etc etc.

Dominicans selling Boost Mobile contracts on a loud speaker blaring reggaeton. I have a theory that latin american marketing is whoever plays your favourite song the loudest outside of their store gets your business.

Yet there is one kinda Muswell Hill looking high street off of Roosevelt with clean buildings and a GAP and nicer shops.

General Observations

The US is so behind on minor feats of engineering and sustainability its insane. To list a few.

Plastic use is everywhere. Straws, lids, bags, cutlery, plastic bags for the plastic cutlery.

No sustainability on regular use services like bathrooms: automatic flush, automatic taps to conserve water, smart lighting. You don't even see hand dryers, it's all tissue and toilet paper. We can be grateful for James Dyson in our country.

No uniformity across public services, why does the subway have 4 different type of gate: turnstile, electronic, full-height, metal gated. All of which are inefficient and easy to subvert.

Cycling. Super poor cycling infrastructure, I couldn't identify a single bike lane anywhere (perhaps due to mounds of grey snow covering half the road). Also behind on other forms of public transport, no lime bikes only those trash citi banks that were stuck in snow and nobody used. Don't complain about the weather - people in London cycle in -5 celsius (me included).

Everything is way sweeter even savoury goods. Doesn't even make the food tastier. Thank you Jamie Oliver for the sugar tax.