5 Things I Hate About Living in NYC

1. The Transportation system- Like I said, the subway and bus system here is extensive and that's all well and good, however, unless you're taking the subway it takes freakin' forever to get anywhere. Which is a problem for me, because when I want to get to school, I have to take a bus. It's my only option. Unless I want to pay about the same amount as my tuition per semester to take a cab. According to Google Maps, it's 3.5 miles to my school. What would take me about 5 minutes to drive on Long Island turns into an hour long commute one way. I've never quite understood the phrase "faster than a New York minute" because there's really no such thing as getting anywhere fast on this little island. Again, unless you're taking a subway there's a lot of "hurry up and wait" for the next bus or cab to arrive so you can "hurry up and wait" some more in traffic.
2. Not having a car- This goes hand in hand with my complaints about the transportation around here. Sometimes when I want to go somewhere I don't want to wait 10-15 minutes for the next bus to arrive. I want to leave my apartment and start moving, not sit around and wait. Maybe it's because everyone on Long Island pretty much gets their driving permits on their 16 birthdays, but I miss my car more often than not.
3. It's dirty- You know how on all those cop shows you see people wandering around the city and it's bright and there's lots of movement and all that stuff that makes for good tv? Well, it's not like that for real. And I'm not just talking about the people who 'forget' to clean up dog poop on the sidewalks, I'm talking about other things like air pollution. Sometimes I look outside my window and go "wow, it's such a beautiful day out, I want to go hang out outside" but the moment I get outside I want to go back in. On a nice day outside the only thing you want to do is take a deep breath and enjoy the experience. When you take a deep breath in the city it's hard not to feel like your lungs are rebelling against you thanks to all the car exhaust, truck exhaust, cigarette smoke and somehow stale feeling air. It's inescapable, even in places like Central Park, and for the most part I try to do as little deep breathing as I can when I'm outside.
4. No roof access- When I thought about living in the city and the things that would be cool about it and the things that would suck, there were only two things I required from any potential apartment. A fire escape, and a roof that I could go to and hang out on. After all, on all the cool tv shows that take place in New York City, that seems to be the place where everyone hangs out. I got my fire escape. I didn't get my roof access.
5. People- While I may act friendly enough to the average person, I'm not really a people person. The only reason I don't go all out and show it like say, Mary Shannon of "In Plain Sight", that's only because it's easier to just suck it up and deal with a person rather than picking a fight about how dense they are. There's a lot of people here. And 90% make me want to drill a hole through my skull. The cure? A book and earplugs with my iPod at all times. It's safer for everyone involved.