Okay, so living in New York City is amazing for so many reasons.
Let's just name a few: we live in the cultural capital of the world, so there's never any dearth of amazing concerts, shows, readings, and art events for the average New Yorker to experience whenever we want.
Not to mention, NYC is the most linguistically diverse city in the United States, which makes for plenty of amazing opportunities to learn about other cultures right in our backyards. Plus an inconceivable amount of ethnic foods to try.
But sometimes, living in this city sucks.
Sometimes you have to wait in a huge line to get in the door of something you were stoked to do. Or, you really have to go to the bathroom and you're an hour subway ride from home.
Here's the thing. You're not alone. We're all handling these tribulations.
Read on to commiserate with us about 6 of the worst things about living in this incredible and magical--yet sometimes exasperating-- city.
1. Not being able to find a bathroom
So the situation of difficult choices begin. You've been avoiding your bank account like Jeremiah's Vanishing New York avoids 7-Eleven. But the problem here is that most businesses have signs that say "bathroom for customers only."
And they really, really do not like people who use there bathrooms and are not customers. So your conundrum sets in.
Do you purchase a $3 beverage just to the right to use a bathroom? Do you try to sneak in like a vagrant and use the bathroom without buying anything?
[anad]
Or, do you just hold it and endure the subway ride back to your apartment?
There is, however, a reprieve for this terrible situation. We're happy to report that NYrestroom.com compiled a list of publicly accessible bathrooms.
You can visit that site on your phone, plug in your location, and they'll let you know where there's a bathroom near you. #Hallelujah.
2. Getting your rent bill every month
valtourchin New Yorkers be like : "Found studio at good price!" #funny #sad #sarcasm #ironic #creative #advertising #apartment #rent #NYCrent #NewYorkLiving #NewYorkReality #shoebox #closetLiving #microApartments
Every New Yorker knows this feeling, and we know it all too well.
We spend the whole month laughing jovially about how we're the 2nd most expensive city in the nation, but when your rent check arrives in the mail it isn't a joke.
Every party, concert, celebrity run-in and amazing riverside view suddenly measures up against the devastating number on the bill. We all ask ourselves every month: is it really worth it to live here?
Then we pay the bill and remember, it is completely worth it to live here. We all feel like badasses because of the stellar way we're making it work.
3. Getting stuck in traffic on the West Side Highway
Or, you know, traffic in general. Since there's a ton of street congestion in NYC, and the average speed on NYC's streets is the glacial pace of 9.5 miles per hour.
Because perhaps you live in East Harlem and you were running super late to get to a bar in the West Village, so you decided to snag a taxi. Because everyone knows taxis are magically faster, right?
Wrong.
[anad2]
Not on a Saturday night around 11 p.m. they're not. So it winds up taking three times longer to get to the bar than it would've if you took the subway, plus it sets you back $35.
Let's all pledge to learn from each other's mistakes. If it's rush hour on a weekday or prime party hours on the weekends let's all Take. The. Subway.
4. Getting drenched by a taxi in the rain
reginald_nyc #hazy night in #Manhattan :) #newyorkcity #flatirondistrict #nomad #nyc #streetsofnewyork #nycstreetphotography #rainynight #nycrain
Contrary to popular belief, this is not just a ruse of a situation that happens to Carrie Bradshaw in SATC. It's a very real situation, happening to very real people.
Let's say, hypothetically, you're really drunk and walking home in the rain and you just bought your friend a book as a birthday present.
Then, a cab speeds by and washes up all this water from a puddle drenching you and your new book.
It's a bummer when that happens, right?
,
5. Getting stuck in a crowd
pforpublicist So lucky I get to walk through here twice a day. #grandcentral #nychustleandbustle #lovemycity
But every New Yorker knows about the heart sinking moment he or she is really excited about some free performance or food fusion, and arrives at the scene only to find thousands of New Yorkers had the same idea.
So no, you probably won't get anywhere near the screen at the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival and you'll have to spend a lengthy amount of time waiting for a ramen burger at Smorgasburg or cookie shots at Dominique Ansel Bakery.
[anad]
And yes, you're definitely going to have to jam yourself onto a few subway trains and into a few elevators while you live here.
If you want these things bad enough, though, you just have to buck up and deal with the crowds. And if not, there are tons of incredible places in the city that are plenty of as yet under-the-radar restaurants and under-the-radar views in this amazing city.
6. Construction
willy_yay 47 stories up and it looks like I'm ground level to this thing ...holy crap this thing is a monster! #nycconstruction #parkavetower
NYC is constantly innovating new stuff.
We're getting a new ferris wheel in Coney Island, a new observation deck at Hudson Yards, lots and lots of new apartments in Brooklyn, and lord knows we're getting a new subway line on 2nd Avenue.
While all this new stuff is amazing, and integral for the city to grow and to remain the epitome of beauty and fun in America, all the construction does get tiresome.
Let's just put it this way: power drills running in the morning and breathing in sawdust on our redirected pedestrian routes is not our favorite part of living in NYC.
7. Getting woken up in the middle of the night
bpat93 "There's something in the New York air that makes sleep useless." #TBT #NYCNights 😍😭 @whyilovenewyorkcity
All our nighttime lullabies consist of a cacophony of these sounds.
[anad2]
Most of us are weirded out when we try to fall asleep anywhere else and can't hear anyone screaming at anyone below our windows.
But most of us also know the feeling of being shaken awake by street sounds and then having to quiet our pounding hearts for hours before we can fall back asleep.
Check out 13 Things You Absolutely Need to Do This Autumn in NYC.