Welcome to my new series, Travel Tips for NYC Tourists.
Today's topic is "How to Tour NYC Without Looking Like a Tourist". When I say "How to Tour" I really mean "How to Walk in NYC without Looking Like a Tourist". Sorry to mislead you, but it's important. REALLY important.
Walking: yes, it seems so simple, but once you get out on the streets of this wild, new and exciting city, tourists seem to forget common walking courtesy.
It could be the height of the buildings that causes delusions of grandeur or that you're overly stimulated by all of the
people milling around you - either way, please equate walking in NYC to driving your car. Yes, the same rules apply.
Think of it this way: you commute to and from home, work, running errands, etc. in your car. If you're in the US, you drive on the right. When you drive, do you get frustrated when people cut you off? Stop suddenly in traffic? Text and drive? Drive in a cluster? Ok. Same rules apply to walking here. How, you ask? Well for NYC commuters, our sidewalks are our roads. During rush hour, we pretty much run like hell to the subway to get on our way home or out to dinner or out for drinks. If you're standing in the middle of an overcrowded sidewalk taking a photo of your friend in front of a souvenir shop with a Statue of Liberty, think of it as you just slammed on your breaks in the middle of the interstate to do something other than drive.
Just a little awareness and courtesy can make walking a lot more enjoyable and as a bonus, you won't be deemed a rude and inconsiderate tourist by us locals. Also on that note, if you see a person walking quickly with a look of concentration or irritation on their face, try not to think "Jeeze! New Yorkers are so rude and callous!" - that isn't necessarily the case here. You have just witnessed someone commuting who probably just encountered a typical tourist. Just ignore them, stay out of their way and go about your business. And definitely don't ask them directions. Do feel free to ask the people on a smoke break hanging out by a door or a police officer who is not currently in the process of answering an emergency of some type (they're surprisingly nice here) or even someone working in a store.
Another thing to avoid doing when walking in NYC is to walk several people across. Especially holding hands or having your arms linked. This is truly a bad idea. Again, we walk to the right (well most of us do) and if you, your mom, your sister and your dad are all standing next to each other, chances are, you're taking up the entire sidewalk AND walking much slower than we normally do. This will result in angering the local wildlife (yep, us good ole New Yorkers) and you could be pushed, given nasty looks, nudged out of the way, or have obscenities yelled at you. Sorry, that's just the way it is.
And a safety note: PLEASE don't walk and look up at the buildings. Because of their height, they can be very disorienting. I have seen people get hit by cars because they were looking up at the buildings and walked out into traffic. Do stop, move to the side and admire the architecture of NYC. It's phenomenal, but not worth getting hurt or killed for.
One last lesson for walking in NYC is try and keep up the pace. We walk fast. You can only get somewhere as fast as you can walk there.
Now, to summarize:
- Walk to the right.
- Don't stop in the middle of the sidewalk - instead, move to the side, out of the way.
- Try and keep up the pace with the folks around you.
- Don't ask questions to people who don't look like they want to answer your question.
- Do ask cops for directions.
- Try not to walk and look up at the buildings.
Thanks for reading and I hope you'll tune into my next edition of "Tips for NYC Tourists".
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