Maybe on some level it’s because I can sing the first line of John Mayer’s “Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey” with refined empathy, but I know deep down inside there’s more to my affinity for New York than being able to drink away my sorrows with shots of Suntory Yamazaki anytime of the day.
I was born inside Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital back in 1983, so when I say I’m from Los Angeles, it’s about as factual a statement as I’ll ever make. Eric D. Berry, born and raised within the confines of El Lay, and yet more New York at heart than some New Yorkers. But why? How is it that a Jack Johnson singing, flip-flop wearing man feels more at home in The Big Apple than he does in La La Land?
With friends, family, coworkers, the opposite sex and random strangers pressing for an answer, the response is something I’ve thought about over and over again.
At this point, I’ve developed a go-to that I’ll share before flushing this out a bit. In LA, everyone is trying to be somebody, but in NY, everyone just is. What do I mean by this you ask? Los Angeles is a miraculous mirage full of remarkable illusionists. Most people there are pretending to be someone they’re not to fit into the Hollywood glam machine. In New York, people just are who they are and you either accept it or fuck off. There are certainly pretentious aspects to NY, but they’re not embedded in the culture like out west. The folks here know they’re the shit; they don’t need to pretend to be. I mean, the secret has been out for a long time: New York is kind of the greatest city on earth. Why else would millions of people cram into packed commuter trains, pay outrageous rents and spend most of their days trying to rival Jay-Z’s hustle just to live here?
New York is the epitome of the American dream; a visual tour de force of ethnic diversity. On any given day, there are as many as 800 languages being spoken around the city by over 250 ethnic denominations. I mean outside of London, where the hell are you going to see/hear that? Certainly not in LA. And with this diversity comes some weird sort of symbiotic relationship amongst New Yorkers. While all different, we work together collectively flowing in and out of subway tunnels, down tightly packed sidewalks and in and out of taxis with an effectiveness the Germans would be proud of. It’s a city with 8 million stories, but those stories are all, at least at various points, acted out in front of the same backdrop.
And don’t think for one second that sort of diversity doesn’t permeate the food culture. The main reason I prefer New York to LA is dining. I can’t think of many other places in the world you can order bone marrow at a Michelin star restaurant like Minetta Tavern, then grab a $1 slice of pizza from Uncle Joey’s next door; not that you’d want to, but just the fact that you can is fucking awesome. I could eat out every night in my Brooklyn neighborhood for a year and still not dine at every restaurant. Coming from Los Angeles where you have to drive everywhere, I feel incredibly blessed to walk out of my brownstone and have Peruvian, Colombian, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Turkish, Greek, Japanese and Indian food within a five-minute stroll. And this isn’t bullshit cuisine … it’s legitimate, tasty and moderately priced. You fuck around in this city and serve someone a plate of mediocrity and the Yelpers will be nibbling at your revenue. Do it too many times, and you’ll be relocating to a strip mall in Jersey.
Then there’s the women. I enjoy looking at a blonde beauty with a fresh Dr. Ordon boob job just as much as the next man, but I really adore women of substance, and there’s no shortage of them in New York. Whether your thing is hipster hobo, urban chic, Prospect Park yoga maestro, Upper Eastside stroller mom, NYU geek chick or cool bartender girl, New York has what you’re looking for. Add this to the fact that the women are far less superficial here, more cut to the chase and just hotter, and it’s evident why this is heaven to most men.
Women here don’t care about what kind of car you drive because no one really drives anyway. And if they do care, it’s not like there aren’t 19 other girls in Union Hall you can’t go talk to instead. If you’re moderately attractive, not a douche and have some form of employment, dating here should be relatively easy. And if you’re a relationship sort of guy like myself, there’s no reason you can’t hum “City Love” down the streets of Manhattan in June, and air guitar your way through “Covered in Rain” in Brooklyn by December; it’s totally possible … just ask Uncle John.
Which brings me to another plus of living in New York: you don’t have to drive. Unless you live out in the boonies, getting around New York is easy. It’s a city designed for the walking man, and for $2.25, you can get to just about anywhere in the five boroughs. I love my Jeep, and I miss her on occasion, but give me the option of spending 45 minutes reading a book or sitting in traffic screaming at incompetent assholes and I’ll pick Katniss Everdeen, her bow and The Hunger Games ten times out of ten.
Being able to get around the city so effortlessly is also a perk for someone like me who hates sitting at home. There have been plenty of days I’ve left my house at 10:00 a.m. and not returned until 3:00 a.m. the following morning. It’s brunch in Brooklyn, an afternoon at Manhattan’s world-class MET, a Yankees game in the Bronx, capped off with a late dinner in Hell’s Kitchen and drinks at The Gate in Park Slope. I love this city because there’s always something to do, a lot of those things are cheap or free, and getting to them doesn’t mean sitting in traffic, paying for gas, having to park and remembering where your car is when it’s time to go home.
I could continue rambling, but in short: New York is amazing because I can be myself; take culinary tours of the world on a single block; spend time with Katniss instead of passive-aggressive drivers; check out hot chicks, and do 80 things a day without coming close to doing it all.
New York is a very special place, and I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to call it home … even if I do end up back in LA one day. 🙂
Dude you read my mind and my life! Thx!
Nice post! I was born at Hollywood Presbytarian too but in ’82. Spent most of my life in LA and now I’ve landed in San Francisco. It’s no NYC but is a great and unique city to check out west if you haven’t already.
Thanks for checking out my blog. Can I ask how you came across it? BTW, love SF.
A New Yorker friend of mine sent it actually. I think LA still has a lot to offer but it’s most lacking in the neighborhood and community feel. NYC and SF has got it beat on that aspect big time. You have a great blog! Love the travel stories and the photography.
While I certainly think everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, I sort of find yours riddled with cliches and generalities. In a city/county of nearly 10 Million people, Angelenos are all just “trying” to be something/someone?? I must assume you are alluding to the entertainment industry there. I hate to burst your bubble, but the majority of people herein don’t inhabit that world, but the world that is REAL, and supports everything else: Teachers, Civil Servants, Shopkeepers, Entreprenuers, Academics, etc. I too was born in LA, just east of downtown, but in 1970. Over time, I have been around the world, and in many great cities across the US. What I’ve found when visiting back east is that the whole “why LA sucks” thing is all one ever seems to hear. Why is this such a sticking point? I can tell you, as a native, that kind of rivalry with ANY other city doesn’t intrigue me in the least. Nor anyone else from here, for that matter. In short, it’s okay to love where you’re from, and not have to defend it to all comers. I mean, do you know of any city that is required to defend itself this much? I mean, it seems like some kind of weird sour grapes to me.
Love your take on it … and I’m certainly not referencing every Angeleno when I make my case. My parents and close friends do not fall into the category of people I describe in my piece, and neither do you. But that archetype is certainly symbolic of what LA represents to so many people around the world, not just New York … and they certainly exist throughout the city in droves. I’m not sure what generalities you speak of, but when you’re talking about the first and second most populated cities in the United States, you kind of have to speak in generalities.
P.S. The last 2 areas of LA metro I lived in, Pasadena and Long Beach respectively, had many of the things you mentioned: A dizzying array of culinary offerings, light rail, free buses, entertaining downtown areas, universties/colleges, opera companies, dance, live theater, the beach/mountains, plenty of outdoor activities, and thriving civic events and happenings year round. Plus, PAS has the Rose Parade, and LB the Grand Prix, on city streets no less, every year. These are merely 2 distinct places in the LA Metro bubble, and surely one takes the good with the bad, but I am a happy resident of one of the most progressive and dynamic places in the world. That’s the REAL Los Angeles. Maybe the next time you come home, you can ignore all of the annoying transplants, jockeying for position, and get to know some of us real Angels 🙂
Interesting read. I’ve only visited NY, and I loved it for all the reasons mentioned, and am probably gonna rethink my upcoming vacation plans because of it (Sorry, DC). That said, I’ve lived on the Sunset Strip/Hollywood going on five years, and even here, I do not recognize most of what you’ve said of LA in real life. Don’t get me wrong… I’m lukewarm about this place, but it’s mostly because of one very real and damning point you mentioned: If you don’t drive here, you are not getting very far. Transit here is abyssmal and expensive, and much of the city/metro is either inaccessible or can take hours to reach, even when the destination isn’t that far “as the crow flies.” And good luck finding your way back when most of it shuts down at night. When I moved to the “big city” to attend UCLA, I was excited about leaving my car in the garage, but I can’t even get real Mexican food–in LA–without driving, or a 30 min one-way walk. The history of our city coming into its own in the age of the automobile created one heckuva a modern mess. The other real and related problem is the spread, as you can see here in this pretty amazing map:
http://archinect.com/news/article/18228916/comparison-of-other-major-cities-that-can-fit-inside-la
And that’s just the City of LA–Not the metro, which as you know dwarfs the city itself…
PS: You were curious how another poster found your blog? You should enjoy this: I came here from a sidebar link on the LA Weekly site! : )
LA Weekly brought me here, listen, let me show you or any of your readers a good time here in the city of angels. I promise i will change your opinion about us. I live in the South Bay of Los Angeles, far from the Hollywood you see on tv. Let me take you to a dodger game in the summer, or a beach cruise from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica, then a club in Hollywood and some tacos in Culver City.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve spent 22 years of my life in Los Angeles, so I know the place more intimately than any other city on the planet. Still, I appreciate the offer very much!