Good lord, do some of you really think people are that stupid? That they'd go into the shoe section at Saks in NYC on a busy day and try to make idle conversation with the sales accociates? Please, this thread has gone off the rails.

If it pains you so much to live in a city where there's lots of tourism, where people go to museums and take trolley and bus tours, etc., maybe it's time to move. To Detroit. Get over yourselves.

"I'd love to see a customer in the Lord & Taylor shoe department - where 40 customers are fighting over 6 clerks - try to start up a conversation. there would be a riot"

I think I'd rather enjoy seeing a female shoe riot in NYC (I'm assuming nytraveler was referring to the women's shoe dept.). And to think I could start one just by engaging in some idle chit-chat!

Women in Manolos don't either wear or carry them up and down subway steps. they take cabs - if not limos. It's the women in the faux manolos that are holding you up. And agreed - if shoes are so high - or tight - that you can't get up or down stairs in normal speed (NOT running) then wear flats to work and change there.

(And just think what happens if you're wearing stilettos when they call a fire drill - and you have to walk down 16 flights.)

Do not assume traffic will stop simply because you are in the crosswalk.

Hmm... limos - tacky. Cabs or car service. And with the way the publishing industry is doing, I wouldn't be surprosed to see Anna Wintour on the subway someday soon (but not Graydon Carter). ;)

They get those Manolos for free - hence the subways.

“You are holding up everyone trying to get up or down the subway stairs.”

It is fun to watch them tip over, though. I only got to see it once – on Lexington Avenue. She just fell over in the street. She’s lucky she wasn’t killed.

We just returned from New York yesterday. It must be so stressful to try to live your normal life there...I was talking to some co-workers about that this morning....what if we wanted to walk 4 blocks to grab lunch and there were THOUSANDS of tourists hanging out on the streets? What if every sidewalk was wall to wall people every single day? I hate threads that impose "rules" on ones guests, but the number of tourists would make life in some parts of Manhattan quite difficult.

This came to mind today ... when we were walking on the sidewalk .. I heard a noise behind me and a man was driving his motorcycle on the sidewalk. only to the corner ... but jeez!!
So if people on bicycles annoy you on sidewalks in NYC .... be prepared for the sidewalks of Buenos Aires :D

<<<but the number of tourists would make life in some parts of Manhattan quite difficult.>>>

them's the breaks :-) (you want to live in NY, you put up with tourists and their quirks, period)

I tell my friends that rule #1 in NYC is:
Green doesn't necessarily mean "Go" and red doesn't necessarily mean "Stop"

LOL

Right on wyatt92 and sf7307......And, just when I thought I was a man alone!

Oh~and if they say "rolex" or "Louis Vuitton" on Canal Street, follow them.

We were in the McDonalds on Times Square - so crowded we could hardly move - a guy actually came in saying "Coach purses, coach purses"! LOL.

I'd like to see your city taxes WITHOUT the tourist income.

If you go back to the original post there is only one section specifcially for tourists. But that is where the attention seems to lie.

There is a double standard for all these defensive tourists. If a NY'er visited their home town and told the local people to stick it because they were helping the economy, they would be considered doubly rude because it came from a NY'er. But for some reason it OK to express hostility to NY'ers.

At lunch hour the city sidewalks are clogged not just with hundreds of tourists, but also hundreds of workers going out to lunch. the difference is that many of the former are milling about clogging up the works, while the latter are walking quickly and purposively to where they're going (except for those guys selling all sorts of schmatas out of cardboard boxes).

Maybe this is the place to propound my theory about the Statue of Liberty and its place as a prime visiting site for tourists. OK: bear in mind that on any given day - especially weekdays - this town is crowded with folks who work here - what is it? = about a million come in from outer boros and neighboring states for their businesses and jobs let alone those who live right in town. It is a crowded city. And on top of that we have a gazillion tourists. So - the city fathers dreamed up a gimmick to get these visitors off the island. And so - all this hype about a visit to the Statue of Liberty. Hey - the real deal is to get a lot of tourists out of the way - and especially making them wait in those long lines for the SOL ferry and all.

Actually one of the vivid memories I have from Rome is a very loud group of New Yorkers in the Roman Forum:

Husband 1, while wielding video cam: HEY GINA, WHERE YOU AT?

Wives 1 and 2, subjects of video documentary, with arms raised: ROMA! ROMA! ROMA!

All the while, completely unconcerned with local walking customs. But purposive!

It's not just tourists, and it's not just NY - anyone who has to navigate through a busy city center gets frustrated by people gumming up the works.
No different than someone in a rural area driving to work, stuck behind someone puttering along at 20mph, and when you change lanes there's another one, and another one, etc.
Jroth - I like your theory.