The reason I bring this up right now is because I just, this past Tuesday, went up to New York City. This was actually my first time going up to NYC since moving to the east coast almost 2 years ago. I've been up there a few times, but I gotta say, I'll take the empty, wind-blowing nothingness of West Texas over that place anyday.
Lots of people seem to dislike NYC because of the crowds. I've never had that problem. While I've heard stories of people being slammed into overcrowded subway cars, that's never happened to me. Most of the time I'm walking around and, unless I'm in a crowded, touristy area (like Time's Square), its pretty empty. Walk a couple blocks away from 5th and 7th Avenues and its just a quiet street, with some tall buildings. Other people dislike NYC because of the smell, or because of the people (I've never had a problem), or because its expensive.
Lots of people seem to like NYC because of the food options. I don't care about fancy food one bit. If you want to spend money on fancy food, cool. I don't. I've had it, and while on occasion its nice, I certainly don't crave it one bit. Lots of people seem to like NYC because of theater options. OK, that could be fun if I had a girl on my arm, but without one, forget it.
Honestly, pretty much everytime I go to NYC, with or without friends who "know the city" or live there, I end up walking around most of the time from one restaurant to another. I end up tired, and frankly bored, because its just a city, and I don't need to eat that much.
This trip, I rode the train up, ate, took the subway to the battery, went to a meeting at the Ritz, walked around a bit, rode home. It was about as short as you could plan, and I was still bored. How do people stay there for days?!?
The next time I go to NYC for any reason, I'm going to see if I can't get an underground tour to see the mole people. That sounds fun. I'll leave the rubbish up top to everyone else.
