Noo Yawk (MySpace 1/24/2008)

Subject	Noo Yawk
DateCreated	1/24/2008 10:57:00 AM
PostedDate	1/25/2008 1:00:00 AM
Body	One week in New York City, and one more to go. Grew up here, but moved to CA long ago. Some impressions after arriving from chilly coastal far northern California:  (some items added or modified during the second week) - car horns - A recent NY transplant tells me, yeah, they honk a lot -  but he doesn't mind, because they quickly "get over it".  Drivers "don't go psycho, like in Philly". - "regular coffee" - They generally add the cream and sugar for you.  The old expression "regular coffee" (meaning cream-and-sugar) is still understood in some places. - languages - Lots of ethnic neighborhoods - dominated by one group or mixed. I went for a long walk last night, and all I heard on the street was Russian. - sullen vs. warmth - New Yorkers for the most part are warm and friendly. But outward appearance may suggest otherwise. Been noticing that some ethnic groups like to feign a sullenness. Weird. - cheap food - Standard eating out is inexpensive. All sorts of ethnic cuisine. Fresh food tends to cost less than in California - including California-grown vegetables. One exception is citrus.    - "clementines" - They come in a little cardboard crate - and are regarded as a treat.  Funny, but they look exactly like tangerines.  The ones I ate were pretty tasteless. - fresh fish - Whole fish, not in refrigerated displays, but on trays of crushed ice.  Abundant diversity, mostly unfamiliar.  And cheap, even though you have to pay for the weight of the guts and head.  Fishing industry here is still providing food for the masses. - bread - You're in a store and looking for fresh, unwrapped bread?  First check what's available in the bread section.  In the west, fresh bread is usually shelved with the up-scale foods, and priced accordingly. - hardware - Seems that hardware costs 1/2 what it does on the west coast.  But nearly all that stuff comes from China, right? - transit heaven - Sometimes dirty, but the transit lines make frequent runs, and they seem to go everywhere. Big macho subway trains - none of that sissy "light rail". Smooth-riding welded tracks?  Fagedda-bout-it.  The rails are bolted together, and the harsh "click-clack" enhances the heavy-duty ambiance.  Electronic cards rule - nobody pays cash on the bus. - trash - Lots more street trash. But for those who care to use them, there are public trash cans - something that's missing out west. - heat - Despite the frosty weather, shop and apartment interiors are kept toasty warm. Contrast that to northern California, where it's not uncommon for restaurants and coffee houses to be chilly and drafty in winter. - cold - No need for a heavy winter coat - the "layers" technique learned from backpacking also works fine in the urban environment. Grey ice on a dry sidewalk was a surprise! - red light - It  means "stop," period. No legal right turn after stop.  - traffic - Surprisingly light.  If this were California, there would be a lot more cars on the street. - legacy - More than a few neighborhoods are dominated by 19th century buidings, their past residents and businesses, their cultures and lifestyles mostly forgotten.  And these buildings are still serviceable, and considered desireable.  In the part of  America where I now live, older buildings are often treated as disposable (e.g., "scrapers"), and structures often don't seem built to last.  - Californians - At music events, I keep running into people I know from out west.