That's the headline to a post on joshinthecity, a blog by a 36-year-old Sydney, Australia, resident. He starts: "I didn’t write this, but do the right thing, read up. As someone who has spent quite a bit of time there over the years, trust me.. ALL of this rings true."
Among the advice for tourists that he's passing along:
Dress: First, don’t f**king wear Crocs, don’t let anyone you’re with wear Crocs and don’t tell anybody you own a pair back home. They’re uglier than pretty much anything else in the city, and that’s saying something. New Yorkers don’t wear shorts and only chicks wear sandals, so stick with long pants, jeans, and dark color shirts–light colored button-downs are ok–dress shoes or Nike Dunks. Avoid Hawaiian shirts and NASCAR apparel like your life depends on it. Pastels suck, and fanny packs and passport lanyards scream “douche” from a block away.
Don’t stand in groups at street corners, subway entrances or in front of doors. Basically, just make sure you’re not in anybody’s way, ever, and you’ll be good to go.
Oh, and don’t ask us to pick you up or take you to the airport. We have plenty of cabs, trains and buses to do that for us, and we don’t want to, anyway.
Update: It was written by Andrew at Hunter College in a post that appeared last Thursday.
15 comments:
alas, he didn't mention stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to unfold a ginormous map of the city.
Good call, BB.
Generally speaking, I'm fine with tourists -- particularly the ones who have a real appreciation of NYC and its history... and those who choose to see things not on the main line of tourism.
Still. I think this is my No. 1 pet peeve: The walking-down-the-sidewalk-six-wide groups. Who then SUDDENLY STOP without looking around first.
whoever wrote this is a botter douche. i know guys who wear crocs. sure i think they're ugly too but people most certainly do wear them. and i wear shirts i bought in SE Asia which to the uninformed look like "Hawaiian" shirts, whatever that means. Seriously, anyone who hates tourists that much is a complete uneducated idiot. And you guys would probably mock republicans for being xenophobic but somehow this NYC anti-tourism shit goes over with your crowd.
Freakin' Mario Batali wears crocs. and he's cool (even though he started out in jersey)
Yes, I see problems in this list too. For instance, to point out his major-and most universal-peeve, clustering and stopping suddenly; this is also a very common yuppie/hipter behavior, and most of them are not "tourists" in the sense he means it. Certainly, it's annoying, but it has more to do with utter self-absorbtion than just not living in NYC. After all, people walk down streets all over the world.
In regards to the rest of it, I don't get his problems with the way male tourists supposedly dress, other than that maybe any deviation from the current "wrinkled, untucked shirt/baggy pants/converse sneakers (or flip-flops)" male uniform upsets him, which I think suggest a disturbing desire for conformity and control. And New Yorkers don't wear shorts, and liking NASCAR is evil (I suppose he sees it as "white trash"). And on top of it all, sneakers have to be Nike? Wow, visitig NYC is expensive!
Also, since this was written by a college student, I think it would be interesting to find out if he thinks flip-flops are somehow less-ugly (or more functional) than crocs.
I'm sorry, but I think his post suggests more questions than answers.
People do wear crocs and "Hawaiian" shirts. I'm pretty sure Andrew correctly refers to them as "douchebags".
I get the impression he doesn't hate tourists, but hates the people who are inconsiderate and obnoxious (most of them are tourists, but there are some New Yorkers who are just as bad). NY does have the tendency to bring these annoying traits out in many tourists.
Most New Yorkers do love tourists as long as they are considerate and appreciate aspects of the city - whether it be the arts, sports, architecture, restaurants, nightlife, parks, people, shopping, music... or something else. But we do hate obnoxious people who act like they are the only one in a city that 8 million people call home.
Exactly my point. I haven't found this "I'm the only one in the world" attitude to be disproportionately from tourists (or at least tourists who look unmistakably like tourists--I might have been fooled). It's distressingly comonplace these days, and I think he's misplacing all that anger.
Anyway, I'd still like to know if he prefers flip-flops.
Yet another d-bag college student who's been in NYC for a few years and thinks he's gotten in all figured out. Prententious jerk. Tourists can be a pain but I run into plenty of self-absorbed NYers who take up half the sidewalk with their dogs in one hand and a cellphone in the other.
Has OP ever been to the Upper West Side? It's awash in crocs. No, they're not just for tourists anymore.
Or would he consider UWS-ers to be faux NYers anyway?
first off, this guy and everyone on this page are still technically tourists; given the fact that you're here all of 4 years tops on daddy's dime.
next, crocs are gay, period. never acceptable, ever.
last, all tourists are welcome, all the time. be nice to them, and save the impatience for fellow new yorkers; they're the only ones who would appreciate it for what it is and not mistake it for rudeness.
If you follow the link, and read the entire article, not just the small part pasted - I think he's got some good points. Yeah, some of it is kind of sensational, but we wouldn't be commenting on the article if it weren't.
"next, crocs are gay, period. never acceptable, ever."
places where crocs are not acceptable (for real)
steel foundry
the marines
job interview for corporate law firm
mt. everest
sulfuric acid factory
B2 stealth bomber
prom
...
Places where a decent person can wear crocs without the fashion police damning them to douchebagville:
on a canoe trip
at the beach
gardening
at the pool
in the park with the kids
at the grocery store, buying food... to eat
dropping off laundry
at a casual restaurant
at a local bar
they cover peoples feet for god sakes. If someone finds them comfortable more power to em'
Whose the bigger dbag, the woman (or man) who wears foot mangling stilettoes (pun spelling!) or a croc wearing gay-bag with nice bunion free toeses?
tourists get in the way, yes they do, but 35% are hot girls so I can afford to loose 3 mins on a 10 block walk up broadway. if it weren't for the tourists/foreign residents in nyc the city would be getting pretty grim economy wise (but oh so quiet and spacious) i think.
Blame the politicians and corps that made the dollar sink so low that Europeans can come here and buy homes right out from under us, not the average Swede who is on holiday and may be too in awe of the city to really pay close attention to footwear faux pas.
actually, I posit that it has more to do with the fact that NY (much like London, Paris, and other cities famous for being rude to tourists)is an actual working city where people have things they need to get done. Check this out: http://www.stuffnobodylikes.com/?p=224
The only place crocs are acceptable to wear is in a hospital. It's designed ergonomically for someone to withstand standing for long periods of time; it's not meant for walking. So, regardless if a neighborhood (UWS or whatnot) accepts it to be worn, people (whether they're tourists or not) who wear crocs on the streets are, indeed, douchebags. Next thing you know, people will be wearing scrubs on the streets because some fashionista, like Anna Wintour, or American Apparel had advertised them in their respective magazine or catalog. Or perhaps if the SATC girls are wearing them.
I've been to Paris many times and have not in fact found them to be rude. The rudest europeans, bar none are, the Spanish.
You should be thankful tourists take time out of their lives to come here to spend money, be they European tourists or American tourists. This anti-tourist mentality is childish and hypocritical.
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