I thought New York City (NYC) was going to be very loud and crowded and while it was sometimes, there were lots of places where you could very easy to take up as much room as you wanted on the sidewalks, or only pass a few people here and there. I loved that NYC was full of life.

Loved this park in the middle of the street

NYC is loud

Yes it was loud, especially with people honking their cars all the time for no reason - but not enough to be annoying. There were tons, and I mean tons, of food carts everywhere. You couldn’t turn a corner without seeing one of them. They would blast popular music and have flashing neon signs creating a unique pedestrian experience.

The subway system was kinda stressful, there were many subways going all the time, and it was easy to get confused. But there wasn’t as many people as you would see in the movies, only when we were going to popular areas did we experience tons of people.

Culture Shock...

The biggest culture shock was the number of people riding bikes, especially those with extra seating. I’ve never seen so many people use bikes, not to mention that they were on the road all the time.

The car honking and people driving recklessly made me uncomfortable, everyone was in a rush and didn’t care if you were in the way; this was very different from Calgary. The huge schools and trees in the middle of city was a huge surprise. The schools looked so regal and huge! And the number and size of the trees was impressive. The trees were massive covering over entire roads.

In restaurants I was surprised when the wait staff would take your card to pay, and not bring a machine over to you.

Yes this is a pillow fight in the streets. NYC is fun!

WOW Experiences...

The Grand Central Station with various constellations painted on the ceiling was magical. Everything floor to ceiling was polished, painted, and decorated. It did not look like a subway station because it was so big and beautiful.

I loved NYC’s “High Line” and how we would walk over cars and through buildings on an old railroad line now planted with trees and flowers. You could see down some of the long roads with bridges connecting them, and old buildings made from brick as well. You could even see the floating park in some places.

The One World Trade Centre was impressive. The elevator went so super-fast my ears popped a couple times and even after getting off I swayed a bit. Not to mention the view from the top is amazing.

Central Park is massive and we spent a long while just walking to one place. The trees are huge, there are people playing music and selling stuff, and horses everywhere.

“Little Island” a floating park on the Hudson River is a unique experience. Even though it wasn’t “floating” and more just built into the ground over the water, it was still very nice and pretty. It was very crowded which sucked a bit, but I got beautiful pictures of the water and sun.

One last highlight was Times Square. It was crowded but very bright. We went at night and it felt like day with so many lights. Everything was so colorful, not to mention we went while it was lightly raining so the sidewalk and street reflections created even more colour and light. I felt so little standing in the middle of it with these tall buildings with bright colorful billboards.

Comparisons to Calgary

There are lots more people on the streets in NYC than Calgary and there are also lots more things to see and do in NYC than Calgary.

NYC has lots of very old looking architecture that stands out. But it’s all very pretty. One thing that was confusing is a building that looked like a giant cathedral but was actually a Macy’s department store. Calgary also has tons of cool looking buildings that are old, but they don’t stand out too much because of all the tall modern architecture that surrounds them. In NYC the old and new fit into each other.

NYC negatives

One thing I didn’t like was I didn’t feel particularly safe during late evenings. There was trash piled up on the sidewalks and people coming back from clubs being drunk. Not to mention me and my dad walked past a guy putting something up his arm right in the middle of the sidewalk.

There were tons of homeless people walking around and sleeping near the streets. Also are a ton of police, ambulance and fire trucks everywhere. We couldn’t turn a corner without being blinded by their flashing lights.
And when we went to a mall, (editor note: the 9/11 Memorial and Museum area) there were military officers standing around with huge guns and dressed in camouflage.

Lasting memories...

Probably watching two people walk between the subway cars while MOVING very fast! They just stood there like it was normal. Also, so many pigeons. Everywhere.
I never saw a rat though, I kinda wanted to because I’ve never seen one before as they are illegal in Calgary.
Oh, and a poor woman slipped on someone's vomit on the subway.

Last Word

NYC was a lot to behold, but it was pretty fun. I don’t think I could live there. It’s too much for me, I felt exhausted after a few hours of walking around and seeing things. It’s loud during the night and I didn’t feel particularly safe either.

Will Ollenberger

Everyday Tourist’s Note:

I invited Will to do a guest blog after reading Will’s Dad’s Twitter posts of their NYC experiences. I am always keen to learn more about how others experience other cities and how they compare to Calgary.

I have visited NYC three times, once in the early ‘80s as a visual artists to experience the graffiti and street art, once in the early ’90 as a curator to experience the city’s contemporary art scene and again in the early ‘00s for an International Downtown Association Conference to experience the city’s sense of place and its city building/living issues.

I think it is time I went back.

Teenager Experiences New York City