And we wear the fact that we pay twice as much for that gallon as a badge of honor!

I give you the most definitive list I think I've ever seen of reasons to love New York:

http://www.gawker.com/news/metro/gaw...now-144595.php

NYC is definitely not confined to Manhattan. It is made up of 5 boroughs, Manhattan being one of them. And as that borough has become more expensive and apartments have grown scarce more and more have taken up residence in other boroughs. In addition, NYC is sprawling to (ruining?) other states now more than ever with an unbelievable number of people commuting from deeper and deeper into NJ and PA.

For me - the bagels make it special. You can't get good ones anywhere else. I love that as a kid the fire escape was our terrace in the summer and second fridge in the winter and that the beach was our playground. I think most people like that it's big and never ending. I laugh when people mention "ethnic diversity" because it just means good Indian/Mexican/Chinese food. But I wouldn't say it's representative of American life. In fact when we leave the city we say we're going to America for the weekend.

I hate to get into that semantics war, but when the average non-New Yorker says he is going to NYC, 99% would assume he means Manhattan. On the other hand when someone says "I live in NYC", he might well expect the further question "which part" or "which borough"?

<""55. Because Conde Nasties don't threaten our food supply."">

I'm assuming they are speaking of the anorexics at Vogue?

LOL! Thanks for posting Lizzie! I love it!

5. Because we get to push tourists if we're late for work.
103. Because we know what "new bar smell" is, but not "new car smell."

Kenav, like your mother I do not drive but have plenty of transportation at my disposal. Just because I live in the burbs doesn't mean I have to drive to get a gallon of milk. I have a Walgreen next to me, a train that goes into NYC across from me. Buses that have become part of the MTA.

We live a good life out of NYC too., LOL

Hate to mention it again, but WHERE else does a person get this kind of pizza?

uga1015

From what I can tell -- there is coal fired brick oven pizza and wood fired brick oven pizza. We have wood fired brick oven pizza in our area that is excellent, but can't find any coal fired (which is what I am thinking is what is served at Grimaldi's, Lombardi's and Johns in Times Square--only one I have been to). Is this right?

Because you can get Chinese food at 4:00 a.m. and there's a line. (Woo Hop Mott Street.)

Also, rather than wasting time on elections, the city just lets the richest guy in town become Mayor.

"Also, rather than wasting time on elections, the city just lets the richest guy in town become Mayor."

No, no, Ryan. We're looking for what makes NYC unique, not what makes it like half the other places in America.

ah, but you see, not every town elects the richest guy. Here in Chicago we just elect our most inarticulate, and then demand he serves for life ;)

I can see that my being at a loss for words to explain New York wasn't surprising, considering all that NYC is to all of you. After reading all these answers, I'd still have difficulty encapsulating it for that young Turkish guy.

I hope he visits NYC so that he can see for himself.

"Because you can get Chinese food at 4:00 a.m."

I believe Woody Allen said something similar to this in Wild Man Blues as one of the reasons he loves New York. Something along the lines of "I love New York because you can get Kung Pao Shrimp at 4 in the morning. I would never do that. You'd have to be crazy to do that. But I love that you can." It cracked me up at the time.

crazy = drunk

Which is pretty much the only time that Chinese food from the sort of place that serves it until 4am tastes any good.

Personally, I prefer Mexican food at 4am in the increasingly rare times I find myself in a similar situation.

don't tell anybody, but I have an arrangement with a nearby hotel that has room service until 3 AM. for an extra $10, the guy will walk a block and deliver it to me at home. He will even stop and pick up toilet paper for me at the corner store. People crack up when I offer them the room service menu from (&(^(%& hotel down the block. Only in NY folks, only in NY.

Out at lunch today I thought of the really special thing about NY - the NYPD.