New York’s uniqueness lies in its extraordinary amalgam of different cultures. It is therefore difficult to pinpoint one overarching culture shared by all of its citizens. While New Yorkers are famous for their distinctive accent, a walk amongst the city’s multilingual population will expose you to a wide variety of accents and speech patterns. Sub-cultures abound in virtually every part of the city. Ethnic ones, for example, still flourish in neighborhoods like Chinatown, Little Italy, Little India, and in Astoria (Queens), the largest indigenously Greek population outside of Athens. Gay and lesbian life is prevalent in historically bohemian Greenwich Village and Chelsea. Student populations proliferate at New York University’s Greenwich Village campus, Columbia University in Morningside Heights and the Upper East Side’s Hunter College.
You love it or
hate it. One of those two you'll feel when you arrive in New York. This
city will not leave you indifferent. The city overwhelms you by its
giant scope. The hundreds of theatres, thousands of restaurants, Wall
Street, the Empire State Building, more than hundred languages, Statue
of Liberty, Central Park and a lot more of cultural peaks. It is the
city that never sleeps, because the economy keeps turning 24 hours a
day. New is the city of the cities.Too small for being a country and
too large for being only a city. This metropolis with 10 millions
inhabitants is the place where it all happens, vogue and renewals arise
and dissapear here. Each neighborhood has his own identity. New York
or "The big Apple", such as the nickname sound of this metropolis, is
more than a city. It's an experience.
Despite the diversity, several characteristics do come to mind that could be considered common to most New Yorkers as a whole. With everything literally at their fingertips, New Yorkers are by definition savvy and worldly, and very little surprises or shocks them. A visitor may encounter some service industry rudeness endemic to that of any major American city, but most people on the street or in the subway are friendly and helpful after you get past an initial wariness. On the other hand, New Yorkers are unfailingly proud of their great city, and this pride can, at times, come off as arrogance and an inability to see the positive beyond the Big Apple’s city limits.
New York offers the visitor as many cultural activities as there are existing cultures – in other words, an overwhelming choice that couldn’t possibly be experienced in only one visit. Numerous offerings in sports, the arts and university life are available for the taking!
