You're Not A REAL New Yorker Until...
So Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian are Konquering New York City, following Patti Stanger as the latest West Coast based reality stars to transfer to the big apple. But just because you live in New York, open a store in New York, and even profess to love New York in spite of all its foibles, you still probably don't qualify as a real New Yorker.
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New Yorkers, real New Yorkers, are quick to tell you that coming here for NYU, or to try your luck as an actor, or to experience life in the big city, doesn't make you a New Yorker, it makes you everyone else.
The general rule of thumb seems to be that to qualify as a real New Yorker, you have to have lived in the city for a minimum of ten years, and that's being generous.
Otherwise, there are certain milestones, or rites of passage, that may get you a New Yorker status earlier.
It's hard to identify what makes a true New Yorker without feeling like you're trying to be Carrie Bradshaw, even in this post Carrie Bradshaw New York. Still, we asked our friends at what point they considered themselves to be New Yorkers. Do you agree with their responses?
So when can you maybe consider yourself a New Yorker?
- When you can give cab drivers directions.
- When you stop pointing out places you recognize (or even places that are just near your apartment) in movies or TV shows.
- When, if you left for a year, and then returned, your coffee guy/dry cleaner/favorite bartender would remember you.
- When you know which bars, streets, and even neighborhoods to avoid on the weekends (Ahem, the entire Bowery)
- When you stop subletting, or at least have a permanent or long-term sublet.
- When you stop being indignant about the cost of rent.
- When you've lived through some sort of a disaster, whether it be blackout or blizzard or transit strike or worse...
- When a random celebrity sighting isn't worth getting fazed, or even texting about.
- When you stop referring to the subway lines by colors, and can name all the stops on any given line.
- When you start SCREAMING at cars who almost hit you while you're crossing the street, something you'd never do at home.
- When you don't cite Annie Hall or Sex and the City as your favorite New York movies.
- Your family comes to visit you in New York, instead of you flying out constantly.
- When you have a bagel place.
- You don't care about walking into moving traffic because you are a master and the cars will wait for you.
- When you realize that despite having told your friends that you're sick of the city and moving next year, for the past five years, you're never really leaving.
- When you can stop bragging about living in New York.
- When you feel incredibly entitled to the city, and annoyed by all the people who have moved to it after you.
- When you can map out Central Park/Tompkins Park/Washington Square Park using street performers and homeless people as your landmarks.
- The one constant about New York is that it's constantly changing, and because of this, New Yorkers are always aware of what's changed, what's different, and what's gone. (Like how the Dallas BBQ on University is now a Chase, how the Pan Am building is now MetLife, how Ground Zero used to literally just be a hole in the ground, and obviously before that...)
And, the one I think really sums it all up:
- When you view New York with just as much nostalgia as you do excitement.
Celebrities Who Qualify As Real New Yorkers
Tinsley Mortimer
Jerry Seinfeld
Jay-Z
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Gwyeneth Paltrow
Julianne Moore
Sarah Jessica Parker
Ben Stiller
Scarlett Johansson
Celebrities Who Do Not
Whitney Port
Naomi Watts
Anyone with the last name "Kardashian"
Olsen Twins
Josh Groban
Gerard Butler
Tiger Woods
Keanu Reeves
James Franco
We're sure we're missing something here. What do YOU think qualifies someone as a real New Yorker? Tell us in the comments.
Vassili Verrecchia Shows Off His Favorite Things In His Paris Home
While his brother, Timothee, runs the NYC office, Vassili takes on the Paris-based side of things. To gain some insight to what inspires such a creative and entrepreneurial spirit, we asked Vass to show off some of his favorite worldly and sentimental possessions in his Paris home. See where Vass's travels have taken him...
about 6 hours ago
about 8 hours ago
about 16 hours ago
02:56:54 PM May 21, 2012
02:35:16 PM May 21, 2012
11:01:39 AM May 18, 2012
09:45:07 AM May 18, 2012
Rebecca
October 25, 2010
5:58pm
where does beyonce fit in? i say she counts because she's married to jay.
BJT418
October 25, 2010
7:13pm
From Brooklyn...born and reared in Bed Stuy....true New Yorkers don't worry about being "real New Yorkers."
BJT418
October 25, 2010
7:28pm
And I just looked at your list of celebrities who qualify. Well, since Jay Z, Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, and Scarlet Johannson were all BORN and REARED in NYC, that makes them realer than whoever wrote this article.
deso
October 25, 2010
7:39pm
Born on Grand St. LES, NYC. and i agree 100% with BJT. Real new yorkers dont write a list about being real new yorkers. You guys ALL come from somewhere unless youre born here. PERIOD. Even kids from staten island are more New york than all you transplants.. toke on that for a bit.
Oy
October 25, 2010
8:03pm
Wait, does the author ever claim to be a "real New Yorker"?
October 25, 2010
8:09pm
How about when you know how to spell TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK. Go back to San Diego.
enoughalready
October 25, 2010
8:17pm
3d generation NYer here to tell ya, I think I'm starting to prefer L.A.!
Peter_Feld
October 25, 2010
8:31pm
The illustration gives it away. You're a real New Yorker if you prefer Manhattan to Annie Hall.
October 25, 2010
8:33pm
How about when you stop feeling inordinately threatened by other people moving to New York?
Josh In
October 25, 2010
8:57pm
Agreed with the comment about Manhattan vs. Annie Hall. That is if we're talking straight NY Nostalgia movies... And on that note, in Celebrities who qualify as "real New Yorkers," please add Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee.
beatdown
October 25, 2010
9:00pm
the only "real New Yorker" I know who could have written this piece would have to be my 5th grade niece!
beatdown
October 25, 2010
9:04pm
lol on the Tompkins thing but I've gotta tell you, we natives back in the day always called it 7th Street Park!
Thadeus
October 25, 2010
10:29pm
One does not become a New Yorker unless they are born here. If you weren't born here, you are just a resident of New York and cannot claim to be more. Also, if you are not born north of 14th street and south of 110th, you aren't a New Yorker, but close enough to bridge and tunnel.
Cain
October 25, 2010
11:13pm
Being a "Real" New Yorker is a State of Mind... Some of these are good signposts, but don't tell the whole story... I know people born and Raised in the City who are more like enoughalready who would move to LA in a heartbeat, so that doesn't necessarily make you a "Real" New Yorker... I thinks its whether you Love the City after seeing in all its facets the good/bad/ugly, and still cant imagine living anywhere else. THATS what make a "real" New Yorker
BeataNoelle
October 25, 2010
11:45pm
Kinda halfta agree with the folks about being born here. You can feel as much at home here as you like, but unless you were raised here, I don't know if you'll ever quite get it. My parents have been here for 30 years and still don't think of themselves as New Yorkers. Wherever you spent your formative years, that's where your from. I could go live someplace else for the rest of my life (and I have lived in other places) and I'd always say I'm from New York. I know those sentiments irritate the newcomers who want to move here and make the city their own, make it feel like home. Don't worry- you have. New York today is seriously different than it was 10 years ago, and that's thanks to you all, and there's nothing much that can be done about it. It's always been a city of immigrants, both from at home and abroad. Lolz to the list. Made me chuckle on the train.
bgg7
October 26, 2010
2:39am
Knows how to walk over cobblestone streets in heels.
Basia
October 26, 2010
12:28pm
Transit strike, garbage strike, blackout and blizzard. And Stiller & Meara were members of my block association. If you need a birth certificate to be a New Yorker, someone just feels a little too threatened.
CitySeXSlave
October 26, 2010
4:04pm
Um firstly anyone who was not born here isn't from NYC and as for the founders of this group last time I checked they were from Greenwich and Ohio so they cant comment on this issue. Oh and being Bridge and Tunnel doesn't count so if your from New Jersey saying "oh my parents are from Brooklyn" that doesn't qualify....Especially when you shop at the same exact shops in your mall like Forever 21...
BortMuppet
October 27, 2010
3:16am
...when a homeless man throws a bag of urine at you. The end.
Magic Garden
October 29, 2010
2:47pm
I have a monthly party for native New Yorkers, who obviously are the REAL REAL New Yorkers. It's called The Magic Garden - check it out at www.nycmagicgarden.com . PIX PIX PIX!
sellopt
January 20, 2011
3:39pm
I think they should add When you think the Borough you live in is the best... FYI its Brooklyn
Shlep
October 1, 2011
10:17am
It always gives away the authors true orign when they ignore the other 4 boroughs, whether it's bashing them or claiming their own to be the best (i.e. sellopt). Hate to burst anyone's bubble but there are 5 boroughs and unfortunately Staten Island is one of them. Nowadays it's easy to think of Brooklyn and Queens and think "Goddamn hipsters," but deeper in those boroughs (off the damn waterfront) is a character, a grit, that Manhattan no longer matches after it's transformation into a less-sketchy tourist destination (thanks Giuliani). And of course let's not forget the Bronx, home of the Yankees, a horrible rep, and as much character as any of the other boroughs. So what makes a real New Yorker? An appreciation for where you come from and the wisdom to never turn your back on the place that raised you (but the balls to call your borough the best).
NYSole89
December 3, 2011
11:47pm
@Shlep: i agree with you on that. i was born and reared in Queens... Far Rockaway to be exact... and i never hear anything about the "outerboroughs". ppl who aren't from here are so fixated on the city and maybe parts of brooklyn now due to gentrification but the other 4 boroughs never get any sort of love. Queens all day baby!!!