Languages in the Big Apple

Bloomburg’s got a new agenda: he wants tourists to be treated nicely.

A new ad campaign featuring celebs such as Robert De Niro, Jimmy Fallon, and Julianne Moore aims to give New York a small-town vibe by soliciting tid-bits with explanations such as the fact that Fifth Avenue acts as the divider line between the East Side and the West Side. Just Ask The Locals.

But are New Yorkers even unfriendly? I can’t recall what it was like to be a tourist here, so I can’t say for sure, but at the same time, I myself have never witnessed bumbling tourists being treated with contempt.

I’ve even found that strangers seem to strike up conversations more often here than anywhere else I’ve lived.

So where does the reputation come from? I suppose the only interactions that fall into the ‘unfriendly’ category are the routine exchanges where there isn’t any time for pleasantries. Like at the grocery store, or Duane Reade, where asking How Are You? or leaving with Have a Nice Day isn’t as common as it probably is in, say, Louisville, Kentucky.

But that’s just a by-product of city living — when you have so many interactions with so many people every day, the extraneous gets cut out for the sake of convenience. Not exactly hostility.

Which is why, in New York, these new ads seem just a little hokey.