New York: "It's SOOOOOOOO Touristy"
 

How MANY times have we heard this "so touristy" label applied to places? I mean, who really wants to be so close to "these people" and their smells and funny clothes? It seems so "common" as they say in the Cotswolds.

Well, some people apparently don't mind one bit and I am proudly one of them.

This from today's NY Times:

"Tourists make up 70 percent of Broadway ticket buyers, and last year a record 56.4 million visitors came to New York, according to Fred Dixon, the president and chief executive of NYC & Company, the city’s marketing and tourism organization."

I don't quite understand conflating the very different notions of visiting a great city and mingling with others who also are visiting the city.

I enjoy being in NYC, and I enjoy being around New Yorkers. One of the great joys of doing that is the certainty that in a few days, I get to head home and won't have to deal with all of the New Yorkers' idiosyncrasies. (Sort of like grandparentism.) When I go to New York, I flip the Tourists/Locals ration by almost never staying in Times Square.

The "70 percent of Broadway ticket buyers" statistic is an interesting one (assuming that it's not like one of my statistics that I just make up). My guess is that if you exclude any musical that's been playing forever (Les Miz, Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys), that 70% gets cut by at least half.

Restaurants and Broadway shows have a short half-life with New Yorkers, then soldier on with the tourist trade. I remember when "Cats" opened to rapturous reviews and sold-out theaters. People streamed into Scribner's to buy the paperback of TS Eliot's <i>Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats</i>. But then it kept pulling them in and wouldn't go away and the word "Cats" became a punchline and civic embarrassment akin to Donald Trump or The Naked Cowboy.

I suspect the producers, backers, etc., of "Cats" were not the least bit embarrassed.

I am native NY'er and I never tire of the City.

We only go to musicals when we have a visitor who wants to go. But we do go plays, concerts, and the occasional dance performance. Besides Broadway there are hundreds of other cultural events each week.

Visitors usually do not try different ethnic foods that are available.

It is most enjoyable to walk the City and make your own discoveries including the 1000's of independent stores.

Few visit the boroughs, especially the rich diversity of Queens and Brooklyn.
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I suspect you are right -- a friend knows one of the investors in "Jersey Boys" -- he knows it's utter trash but is, as Liberace used to say, laughing all the way to the bank.

I agree and have commented on it often. The locals who complain about tourists on sidewalks, holding up lines at the subway, etc. would be complaining about their higher taxes if tourist money stopped flowing in.

I think many tourists are more likely to seek out ethnic restaurants they don't have at home. I KNOW I cover more ground in the city than my friend who still lives in the UWS apartment that she grew up in. When I brought her cheese from Murray's after a food tour she commented that she'd heard of it all of her life but had never gone because it was "too far". She sticks closer to home in her neighborhood. A friend who lives IN the theater district rarely goes to a Broadway show.

There are all kinds of locals and all kinds of tourists. It's a great city for all.

We really don't like New York, after two visits we decided not to bother again. We couldn't work out why. It has great charisma, the views from films abound and it has obviously a huge vibe.

It was only after another totally peaceful two weeks in Charleston we discovered why we hated New York. We left CHS which is so laid back we usually nearly miss flights because we are so relaxed. Normally we change in Atlanta but last October it was Newark, we landed and realised why we hated New York.

It's just too loud.

Give me fishing in the marshes any day.

There is a double standard for tourists. When you visit someone you are expected to be respectful guest. But a tourist dropping money seems to negate courtesy.

I have all sorts of problems with people now of all ages walking with electronic devices as if the President needs immediate information and advice on the economy and ISIS.

Do you really think it would it hurt the "visiting experience" to walk to the right and not walk five abreast?

There are 1,000's of ethnic restaurants in every neighborhood in NYC. It is one of things that define NY, so if you cannot find one, you are not looking hard enough.

Even in the theater district there is, besides Italian, Cubano, Latino, Moroccan, German, plus others.

Well - to a native New Yorker - noise is normal - it's the sound of 9 million people leading very busy and productive lives.

As for marshes and fishing - plus heat, humidity and midges - you couldn't pay me enough.

But then we each like different things. If you want silence and fish - be my guest.

Charleston = "marshes and fishing - plus heat, humidity and midges " & "silence and fish"?!?!?!

LOL!

Charleston isn't a city with people living "busy and productive lives"?!?!?!?!

LOL!

Stereotypical but stereotypes exist for a reason -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of...rker_Cover.png

:-)

IMDoneHere, the walking five abreast is what drives me crazy, so rude. I encountered the same thing when I lived in Chicago. I doubt those tourists would do that at home.

Growing up in New York, there were all sorts of things my father refused to do with me on the grounds that they were too touristy. I had to wait till I was grown up to go up the Empire State Building or ride a carriage in Central Park. But the theater was certainly not one of those things. On the few nights my father didn't have theater or concert or opera or ballet tickets, he would walk the few blocks from his apartment to Times Square and wait till the crowds in front of a theater would go back in after intermission. He ended up seeing the second act of every show in town.

If you quiet, find a monastery.

If you want clean, go to microchip factory.

If you want some place that is not crowded, try Montana.

If you want the most vibrant and diverse city in the world, well, you know the answer.

It was BritishCaicos who, after describing two pleasant weeks in Charleston, ended his post with "Give me fishing in the marshes any day."

I've never been to Charleston, but it struck me as an odd description of the city where Rhett Butler "was not received." Have to get there someday.

Ah, that makes sense, FD.

I like Charleston. I've never fished in the marshes. When I think "Charleston", I don't think about fishing at all.

You should go. It is lovely. I prefer Savannah, but both are wonderful.

Nikki, that is so cool! Would he stand in the back and/or look for an empty seat?

Marshes and tidal creeks surround Charleston. I got it.

Starrs, I only accompanied him when he had actual tickets. But I believe there were usually seats because shows didn't sell out or people left during intermission. This was in the sixties.

I love that story! Thanks!

FTR, Charleston nor Savannah = fishing.
You can fish nearby, but you have to leave the city to go fishing.
I've been shrimping along the coast but doubt very many tourists go to Charleston or Savannah to fish. Or for "quiet". Both are quieter than NYC but both are much smaller.

NYC is a great city, no bout adoubt that. ;)

Interesting take on tourists in NYC:

http://gawker.com/bring-crime-back-t...are-1545650609