To truly love New York, you must hate New York
Summary
To truly love New York, you must hate New York." A lifelong New Yorker drops this paradox on Kareem, who's been in the city for 14 years but still gets called a transplant in the comments. The conversation swings between complaints (lugging luggage, $800 everything, grocery runs that suck) and fierce loyalty. They debate the sacred ten-year rule for earning New Yorker status. The rider's take? It's a mindset, not a time requirement. You could feel it in three days. But there's a catch: you can't claim it if your dad pays $8,000 a month for your West Village apartment and you've never struggled. Real New York credibility comes from going negative on your bank account for an Alphabet City security deposit. The struggle feeds the art. That's why the city's the greatest, even when you hate it.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? To truly love New York, you must hate New York.
100% agree. There's a lot to hate.
It's a pendulum. It's swinging just as far in one direction as it does the other. You have to accept it, though.
You have to say, "I hate it." But it's home.
How many times have you lugged an amplifier on the Q train going to a club? Never. But I have lugged luggage. It's an annoying place to live, right? Getting groceries sucks. Getting a cab sucks. Everything is $800.
That struggle is important. Like, that struggle goes into the art. That's why New York is the greatest. But you hate it.
Do you ever like it? I love it, but I love it and I hate it and I love to hate it.
How long have you lived here? I've lived here my whole life.
Oh. Ah. New York guy. Yeah. New York guy.
How long do you think I've lived here? Uh, 9 and a half years.
14. 14.
It used to be when you hit 10 years, people are like, "All right, you can say I'm a New Yorker." And now they're saying you'll never be one. And in my mind, I'm thinking, "Okay, so I'm going to have lived here for 30 years eventually, and I'm going to be doing subway takes." People are going to be writing in the comments, "Oh, this transplant." No, no, take within a take. All right,
Double take. I think you are a New Yorker as soon as you feel like you are a New Yorker. It could be 3 days. It could be 3 years. It doesn't matter. It's a mindset, not a time requirement.
It's a mindset, not a time set. It's a New York state of mindet. I don't want to go that far
because there are some people here that are like concrete jungle where dreams are made of and their dad pays for the rent and it's $8,000 a month in the West Village and they don't have a job and they've never struggled a day in their life. My first apartment in New York was 450 ft neighborhood
in Alphabet City. In order for me to put security deposit down, I went negative in my account.
Oh my god. And that is also the location of the Broadway show Rent just for reference. What advice do you have to give for uh people who just got here? Just jump on in. The water's warm. You know, that's what New York is all about. It's not exclusionary. Anything you want to do, eat, anything you want to do ever in the world, it's here.
I love New York.