NYC commuters?

[RoadGrime]

...well, my daughter is moving to the 'big city" after going to school and living in Boston for four years. She has a graphic design job in manhattan and is thinking of living in Brooklyn. She is rather pumped...i'm kinda holding my breath. Any words of advice i can pass along. Thanks a lot!

[BERZERKOWITZ]

Originally Posted by RoadGrime

...well, my daughter is moving to the 'big city" after going to school and living in Boston for four years. She has a graphic design job in manhattan and is thinking of living in Brooklyn. She is rather pumped...i'm kinda holding my breath. Any words of advice i can pass along. Thanks a lot!

Yes, be smart. Be aware of your environment. There are people out here that will rob or hurt you if you are an easy target. Do not walk around glued to your new i-phone. Do not flash expensive jewelry. Do not get so drunk you don't know where you are. New York can be a great place to live if you know the rules. Good luck with the new job.

[loph917]

wow park slope and williamsburg got a lot tougher than i remember.

over here in queens i see that shit all the time. no one paying attention to their surroundings because they have to immediately stop and text whomever with that ultra important last minute message prior to taking the last step onto the subway stairs. the only "hurt" is what i'd love to do as i plow them over because they were too inconsiderate to move out of the path of travel.

better advice is respect the people around you; you are not alone in this great big city. do not assume you are the only person on the sidewalk and/or on the subway. there are other people and you should get out of the way as best you can!

Originally Posted by BERZERKOWITZ

Yes, be smart. Be aware of your environment. There are people out here that will rob or hurt you if you are an easy target. Do not walk around glued to your new i-phone. Do not flash expensive jewelry. Do not get so drunk you don't know where you are. New York can be a great place to live if you know the rules. Good luck with the new job.

[BERZERKOWITZ]

Originally Posted by loph917

wow park slope and williamsburg got a lot tougher than i remember.

over here in queens i see that shit all the time. no one paying attention to their surroundings because they have to immediately stop and text whomever with that ultra important last minute message prior to taking the last step onto the subway stairs. the only "hurt" is what i'd love to do as i plow them over because they were too inconsiderate to move out of the path of travel.

better advice is respect the people around you; you are not alone in this great big city. do not assume you are the only person on the sidewalk and/or on the subway. there are other people and you should get out of the way as best you can!

I don't know if this is a jab at my post, but if it is, you must not spend a lot of time in NYC. I've personally seen women get their phones and bags snatched faster than I could even react to do anything about it. I've been on trains with belligerent bums, and wanna be gang bangers. The world is not Park Slope and Williamsburg, and a naive girl in the wrong place at the wrong time could become a victim easily. Being considerate shouldn't even have to be explained, but not getting off an empty subway platform at 3am, might. The world isn't all fun loving hipsters and co-ed's. Better safe than sorry.

[apriliacati]

Originally Posted by BERZERKOWITZ

Yes, be smart. Be aware of your environment. There are people out here that will rob or hurt you if you are an easy target. Do not walk around glued to your new i-phone. Do not flash expensive jewelry. Do not get so drunk you don't know where you are. New York can be a great place to live if you know the rules. Good luck with the new job.

My wife would agree with you on the first 5 sentences .She used to commute everyday from Brooklyn to Manhattan, for 30 years. Thank god she doesn't have to anymore. After being robbed one to many times, we moved out of Brooklyn, to a part of Connecticut where people still leave there door unlocked.

I still have great memories of Brooklyn, it was a great place to grow up when I was a kid.

[JustRon]

Originally Posted by RoadGrime

...well, my daughter is moving to the 'big city" after going to school and living in Boston for four years. She has a graphic design job in manhattan and is thinking of living in Brooklyn. She is rather pumped...i'm kinda holding my breath. Any words of advice i can pass along. Thanks a lot!

"Brooklyn" can be extremely different, depending on the area. If she can afford it, I'd suggest Cobble Hill or Carroll Gardens for some of the nicer/safer areas. Then, maybe Brooklyn Heights (but it's overpriced, and overrated in my opinion).
I'm biased, because I live there. But, I chose that area after looking at a LOT of 'hoods. Some parts of Brooklyn are REAL bad- almost 3rd world-like. But, that's definitely the minority. And, some of the hipster hoods (like parts of Bushwick and East Williamsburg) have some pretty bad sections.

[BushwickKLR]

Originally Posted by broadwayron

"Brooklyn" can be extremely different, depending on the area. If she can afford it, I'd suggest Cobble Hill or Carroll Gardens for some of the nicer/safer areas. Then, maybe Brooklyn Heights (but it's overpriced, and overrated in my opinion).
I'm biased, because I live there. But, I chose that area after looking at a LOT of 'hoods. Some parts of Brooklyn are REAL bad- almost 3rd world-like. But, that's definitely the minority. And, some of the hipster hoods (like parts of Bushwick and East Williamsburg) have some pretty bad sections.

There is no such place as east williamsburg. That's just a name the landlords came up with to charge more rent to the hipsters by Morgan ave. Bushwick sucks and the 83rd precinct is doing everything they can to keep crime statistics down in order to make the neighborhood look safer than what it is. There has been 3 shootings this weekend alone and only one showed up on the news after a 17 year old kid was shot in the head on Wyckoff ave...

[RoadGrime]

Hey, thanks a lot for the info, "eldest daughter" is a great kid, and I wish her the best! Just think, next summer I could do an 'urban assault' on my '98 R1100GS.

[motopreserve]

Originally Posted by RoadGrime

Hey, thanks a lot for the info, "eldest daughter" is a great kid, and I wish her the best! Just think, next summer I could do an 'urban assault' on my '98 R1100GS.

Oh boy. Don't even get everyone started with suggestions of parking that thing here in the city :)

[RoadGrime]

Originally Posted by motopreserve

Oh boy. Don't even get everyone started with suggestions of parking that thing here in the city :)

ok ok...I'll wave as I pass thru town!

[Domiken]

Congrats your daughter's big move. I have been living in the city for 5 years now (late twenties), and I have personally never felt comfortable in Brooklyn. I lived in Queens for 2 years and never had any issues (Middle Village), but that's because I couldn't afford Manhattan at the time. Brooklyn is the "cool, hip" spot to be in these days, especially in her industry but it's completely overrated IMO. You'll be paying close to the same amount of money as Manhattan but with a higher chance of petty theft and commuting woes. I have friends that did the move to Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, and Cobble Hill, etc and they all have petty theft stories, but they still just looooove Brooklyn for it's charm and hipster style (they're all in fashion, design, etc..) so they don't mind paying $7 for a glass of OJ from a locally grown brownstone rooftop "farm" to be cool (whoops, I meant their parents don't care).

Just when I was starting to accept Brooklyn, my fiancee and I went out to dinner with another couple in Cobble Hill not too long ago, we had an amazing dinner but on the walk to the car, 15 "urban youth" kids no older than 14yrs of age threw garbage at us they hit my coat but I didn't feel it but my fiancee was hit in several places with plastic crap etc... furious and in rage my friend and I chased after them but they all ran (and we realized they were just little punk kids) so when we were getting in the truck 30 of them were now yelling making their way to the car like a scene out of Somalia. I told my friend to just run them over with his pickup lol (excuse my Florida mentality) but then we realized this is NYC. But anyway, lost all respect for Brooklyn, won't even dine there anymore. You can keep your brownstone's, ill stick to my East Village and Manhattan in general.

And I'm not from the midwest, I grew up in Miami with a large mix of ethnic backgrounds and nationalities and I've had my fair share of moments, but this was just ridiculous...

[motopreserve]

Domikin,

While I empathize with your story (and have heard many more), the flip side is that I've lived in Williamsburg for 12 years without incident. I'm in the heart of hipsterville, and while I am now about ready to leave, I can say that the major difference I notice between Brooklyn and manhattan is a sense of community.

Even during the most annoying moments of B'Burg (Thursday-Saturday!), I choose ignore the chick with nose ring-sketchpad-Smiths Tshirt), to speak to the old man on the corner who has lived here since the 1940's. In my time of living in manhattan, I rarely had those moments.

There is danger living in NYC, as there is in most major US cities. And while I would hate to have that experience you had, with punks throwing garbage at you, I think it's important to keep perspective. I was jumped, only once in my time living in NYC, and it was on the lower east side.

I believe someone stated earlier, keep smart and you'll keep safe(r).

[JustRon]

Domiken-
Was that really Cobble Hill? Sounds more likely to be Carroll Gardens. It may seem like I'm splitting hairs, because they are bordering neighborhoods, but the southern end of CG has problems with the kids from the Red Hook projects.
On a related note, I moved to NYC in '99 and lived on the UES, UWS, and downtown (and Cobble/Boerum Hill for the last 5.5 years)... I would take Cobble Hill over any place in Manhattan. Having traversed probably 90% of Manhattan by foot (below 96th on the east and below 110 on the west), I can say that I like this area of Brooklyn better than any area of Manhattan.
I think safety in the better 'hoods is going to be comparable in any part of NYC.

[Domiken]

Originally Posted by motopreserve

Domikin,

While I empathize with your story (and have heard many more), the flip side is that I've lived in Williamsburg for 12 years without incident. I'm in the heart of hipsterville, and while I am now about ready to leave, I can say that the major difference I notice between Brooklyn and manhattan is a sense of community.

Even during the most annoying moments of B'Burg (Thursday-Saturday!), I choose ignore the chick with nose ring-sketchpad-Smiths Tshirt), to speak to the old man on the corner who has lived here since the 1940's. In my time of living in manhattan, I rarely had those moments.

There is danger living in NYC, as there is in most major US cities. And while I would hate to have that experience you had, with punks throwing garbage at you, I think it's important to keep perspective. I was jumped, only once in my time living in NYC, and it was on the lower east side.

I believe someone stated earlier, keep smart and you'll keep safe(r).

Sorry guys, I disagree, I have the community feel here in Manhattan. I live near Thompkins Square park and I know everyone around me and I've only lived here 2.5 years. From the old timers paying $500 a month to the new yuppies, all it takes is the willingness to have a conversation. I am an outgoing person, so I can't say it's the same for everyone, but from the Dominican Bodega on the corner who know me by name, the Laundromat guys who watch my motorcycles and say hello to me every morning and evening and talk soccer on the regular, to the Italian restaurant owner and super cool Mexican employees who I've invited on summer rooftop parties, to the pickup basketball game with the hood kids from Avenue D. I even got my current apartment sublet through a neighborhood friend who got his wife pregnant and moved out and sublet his apt to me (which he owns) for cheap (real 2 bedroom 1 bath spot), to the Brazilian brunch place which I never have to wait in line for because I know the owner and bring him business. I can keep going...

The unfortunate situation happened after having a nice romantic evening at Brucie's restaurant, walking back to Atlantic and Court (where we were parked), the situation happened on Court St. between Amity St. and Congress St. which is Cobble Hill.

I'm not one of these yuppies that move here and don't look into other neighborhoods, I have friends that live everywhere around, I've been in the majority of areas in NYC, and the motorcycle has helped me see every part of the city, but from the moment I moved here, I feel the most comfortable in Manhattan. I do respect all your opinions though.

[JustRon]

Originally Posted by Domiken

The unfortunate situation happened after having a nice romantic evening at Brucie's restaurant, walking back to Atlantic and Court (where we were parked), the situation happened on Court St. between Amity St. and Congress St. which is Cobble Hill.

Wow. That's a few blocks from where I live... there's rarely any action around these parts!
I liked Manhattan when I moved to NYC, but over time, I found myself going to BK a lot. And, all the places I liked eventually closed (Brownies, CB's, the Continental, etc)- I pretty much only go to rock shows. Now, there are hardly any places in Manhattan where I want to go, but I'm probably in the minority.

Although there are a few fringe 'hoods in Manhattan, I think there's way more consistency within Manhattan than Brooklyn. I guess I have a tough time anyone refers to the whole boro of Brooklyn, and doesn't realize HOW different respective neighborhoods are.