Here's a nasty little secret I discovered while out of town
last week: New Yorkers, at least those who live in the city, are
the butt of jokes to the rest of the country. We've managed to
lose whatever respect and sympathy we had after September 11,
2001.Tourists flock here because we still have so many
attractions to offer, but while our city shines, residents reap
ridicule.
Last week, I visited Virginia's Colonial Williamsburg and Busch
Gardens, both jammed with spring break visitors from all over the
country. Many of those I met had Southern accents, but
surprisingly others were from around the city. On the tram to the
historic sites, the bus driver was speaking to a couple sitting
up front who mentioned they were from upstate New York.
"There's a world of difference between upstate and New York
City," the woman cautioned, proudly. The driver then said
she'd met a man from New York City who asked if she was in the
union. When she told him she wasn't, he said he made three times
her salary. "Yes," she answered him, "but it costs
four times more to live in New York City." Everybody on the
bus started laughing.
There was a time when I would have jumped in to defend my
hometown - but how can you argue with the truth?
I'm a former Manhattan chauvinist who used to feel smug about
living in the "city," even when it was in a housing
project. I had no idea what living in the other boroughs meant.
Even when I resided in the more expensive areas of the city, like
the Upper East and West sides, the rents were incomparable to
what they are now. What I paid $165 a month for then is now
renting for $3,000!
Besides our having to pay outrageous prices for small, cramped
apartments, our voting choices prompt even greater guffaws.
Everyone knows that Senator Clinton is the Democrat front-runner
for the 2008 presidential race, yet she is heavily favored for
re-election this November. Basically, that means that New Yorkers
will be voting for someone who can't wait to leave the state.
Ann Coulter has been quoted as saying, "The rest of America
hates New York." Laughing, she added, "I love that. I
find that comforting." Well, Ms. Coulter is not a New
Yorker, but I am. I was born here and I miss what this city used
to be.
Admittedly, there are some things about New Yorkers that invite
derision. Watching someone pooper-scoop behind a Great Dane
invites the question: Why is this dog living in an apartment? New
York has always attracted posers and fakes, but neighborhoods
used to keep things real. Now even the neighborhoods are
vanishing, being replaced by posers and fakes with enough money
to live in the condominiums replacing the old nabes.
But one has to actually get out of town to get an idea of how we
are perceived by the nation. Sophisticated (in their own minds)
New Yorkers may look down on Nascar people, but once you leave
New York and head south, you are in Nascar country.
Thousands of cars filled the parking areas at Busch Gardens and
Colonial Williamsburg. The $3-plus a gallon gasoline wasn't
stopping them. (Pssst! The economy is booming and it's all
President Bush's fault.)
I saw Nascar stickers on hats, jackets, and bumper stickers.
There were couples with babies and old folks in wheelchairs. The
theme park had special signs welcoming the military and their
families. Loudspeakers along a bridge honoring the armed forces
piped out the various anthems of each service. Before the show
started at the Haunted Lighthouse, a film aired thanking members
of the military for their service to their country - and the
crowd cheered. No wonder there's so much opposition to having
Nascar here in Staten Island. It attracts real Americans.
The Stars and Stripes flew everywhere in Virginia. In
Williamsburg, I bought my grandson a coonskin hat and a toy
rifle, and could only imagine the look of outrage on the faces of
Manhattan mothers, who, mired in PC culture, have forgotten that
freedom has always been won by necessary violence.
This is really why New Yorkers are regarded with scorn. Those
with a lick of sense are packing up and moving to the real world
while the ostriches remain in denial. Meanwhile, April 20, the
Islamic Thinkers Society rallied in front of the Israeli
Consulate joyfully shouting about a mushroom cloud on its way.
A young FedEx courier told me, "I just can't understand you
people in New York. You were attacked and you still say there's
no connection with the war on terrorism and 9/11.That's just
stupid."
Can't argue with good sense.