Tess Rose Lampert is a New York City-based writer, beverage educator, and lover of savings. With over a decade in the alcoholic beverage industry, she strives to enhance consumers' everyday experiences with food and beverage through dynamic and interactive writings, educational seminars, and events.
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Being from New York gives you a certain attitude, fast-paced and totally unique, even a bit rough around the edges. There are aspects to everyday life that get so ingrained, it can be easy to forget that they don't apply to everyone everywhere. Some of these quirks are nice, others not so much (such as the new outrageous average rent amount), but they are all essentially New York.
Asking someone how much they pay for rent is considered normal small talk amongst New Yorkers. Drooling over someone's rent stabilized or rent-controlled apartment is also totally understandable. Especially given the recent report that the average rent in Manhattan now tops out at over $5,000 a month — 30 percent more than just a year ago.
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Being enclosed in small spaces with the same people over and over again is no reason to talk to them. In fact, you might get a dirty look if you are the person to say "hello" in the elevator.
The little blinking men and hands are more suggestions than rules when it comes to crossing the street. New Yorkers know they can cross the street whenever there are no cars, or if they can safely make it across in time by running.
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Even when you have nowhere to be, you have somewhere to be in New York. Walking slowly, unless you are disabled or elderly, is a sure way to identify yourself as an out-of-towner.
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Any bathroom that can comfortably fit a human is huge by NYC standards. Likewise, any kitchen that has a full-sized stove and room for two people to stand in is king-sized.
Between the subway, ride-sharing apps, yellow cabs and walking, who needs a car? Many adults who have lived most of their lives in New York don't know how to drive a car.
The bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich plus a cheap coffee from the corner deli/convenience store is a balanced meal, not to mention affordable and delicious.
Related: Where to Find a Good, Cheap Breakfast in Every State
Pizza is a way of life in New York, and a staple to any good New Yorker's diet. You and all of your friends are likely to have a different opinion of what's the best slice in within any given 1-mile radius.
Learning how to live with one tiny closet or no closet at all is something most self-respecting New Yorkers have done at one point or another. Having ample closet space is a luxury, not a given.
Related: 11 Storage Ideas Inspired by Marie Kondo to Simplify Your Life
Your idea of comfort food is when you can click "reorder" on Seamless rather than leisurely cooking grandma's most memorable dish. Depending on the size and functionality of your kitchen, most of your meals might be delivery, and that is totally normal.
They live here, too. If you run around screaming because you saw a rat on the subway tracks, or rummaging through trash bags on the sidewalk, you're definitely not from around here.
The New York uniform is all black, no matter the season or temperature. If all of your clothes are all black for every occasion, you'll fit right in.
New Yorkers have the unique ability to be literally pressed up against other humans on all sides, often in extreme temperatures, while riding the subway and pretend that they are in a room all alone.
Real bagels are not just round bread. And real New Yorkers don't toast or scoop their bagels, they eat them fresh with a schmear of cream cheese and probably smoked fish.
Times Square and other touristy places are places to avoid at all costs, even if it means switching trains in order to dodge the crowds.
If you've lived in NYC long enough, you know which $1 pizza places are good and which ones are just “meh.” Pro tip: F&M Slice Pizza on Avenue C is very good.
The smells of New York are unique and pungent, like a fine cheese, except more gross. It's common for a New Yorker to get outside of the city and exclaim, "What's that smell, it's so nice!" upon breathing fresh air for the first time in a while.
Going out on the weekends is for bridge-and-tunnelers; we go out on the weeknights to avoid the crowds.
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Spanish is the unofficial second language of the city, and even if you've never worked or lived with Spanish-speaking people, you've picked up a few words here and there.
You own at least one thing you found on the sidewalk, either on bulk trash day, or toward the end/beginning of the month when people move.
You would, or have, dated someone just because their apartment was really nice and/or in a great location. It's okay, there's no shame.
You are able to pack up your entire life and move your home within 15 days. Moving in New York can't be planned too much in advance and has to happen quickly.
You don't get star struck when you see a famous person out and about, and even if you do, you play it cool so you don't embarrass yourself.
Related: 22 Places to Hang Out Where You're Most Likely to See a Celebrity
Worse than losing your job, worse than getting the flu, bedbugs are pretty much the worst thing that could happen to you. If you let a friend who had bedbugs stay with you while they clean their apartment (i.e. burning everything they own and finding a new place to live), you are an amazing friend.
You always look down, never up, to avoid stepping in dog poo or other gross unidentifiable puddles on the sidewalk.
New Yorkers have ambition, and we're all basically workaholics. It's the city that never sleeps because everyone who lives here is always awake trying to take advantage of the infamous opportunity that abounds here.
Everyone who lives in New York has a roommate at one point or another. Apartments are expensive and space is limited, which means college-style housing with lots of friends is usually the way to get started.
New York moves fast, and so do its people. Waiting more than 5 minutes for anything feels like an eternity and will probably results in loud complaining, likely with another language mixed in; Spanish and Yiddish are most common.
You've seen it all, literally all. A clown on a tricycle with a pet lemur could ride down the block blasting Ace of Base's music, and it wouldn't faze you, because you've seen it all, and that's nothing compared to the person, or people, you've witnessed doing obscene things on the train.
Even though you ignore your fellow New Yorkers, have probably yelled at them and been yelled at by them recently, you know that if anything happened that threatened the community in a serious way, everyone would band together in an even more serious way.
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