Rozhovor s Newyorčankou Katie o New York City, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, jak zpívá Alicia Keys. Město plné hluku, prachu a špíny, ale také energie, barev a života. Jaká místa v NYC neminout? A jaké bizarnosti v místních ulicích běžně potkáte, na které byste jinde asi těžko narazili?
Rozhovor s Newyorčankou Katie o New York City, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, jak zpívá Alicia Keys. Město plné hluku, prachu a špíny, ale také energie, barev a života. Jaká místa v NYC neminout? A jaké bizarnosti v místních ulicích běžně potkáte, na které byste jinde asi těžko narazili?
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Speaker 2:Hi everybody and welcome to today's episode. I'm super happy to welcome my guest for today, katie Smith. Hi, katie, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:Hi, great. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Well, today we're going to be talking about your favorite place in the entire world, am I right?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely 100%.
Speaker 2:So we're talking about New York City, which is your home.
Speaker 3:That's right. I've lived here for about seven years now.
Speaker 2:And obviously you love the place because you also write about it and you share a lot of knowledge about it. You have your blog and podcast called Coming to New York City. So I'm wondering what made you start this project?
Speaker 3:Yeah, when we moved here seven years ago, I didn't know anybody in the city and so I was moving and coming here, having traveled here before but never living here so, and I didn't know who to talk to or who to call. So I kind of did everything on my own. I was with my husband and our two kids at the time and we decided to move and we loved it here. But then, once we got here, a lot of people, a lot of friends and family, were reaching out to me to get tips and tricks on visiting the city, because they had known anybody that lived here before. And so I started putting together a document of all of my favorites of New York City and things to do and things to avoid and places to stay, and I would email this document to anybody who reached out to me for who had questions. And that document started getting longer and longer and more involved.
Speaker 3:And then other people that I didn't even know would reach out to me and ask questions, and then people started asking questions about moving here, and so I just thought you know, I didn't know anybody when I was moving here or visiting here. I would have loved to have somebody to reach out to to ask these questions. And so, instead of just having this one document that I send to friends, maybe I will make this a bigger thing and be everybody's friend that they can reach out to for tips on New York City, whether they're traveling or moving, and I'll just open up and I'll share about my life and maybe encourage some people to visit who may have been too scared to come before or unsure, and then also encourage people who have always wanted to move here. Just let them know that it is possible and it's not as scary as you might think. And so that's kind of where it where it came from and it's, it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's fantastic what you do. I think it's perfect, thank you. And well, now that you talked about, you know, visiting. So let's say I'm a tourist and I have just like, maybe three days in the city. So which places are a total must for you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say a bus tour is the first place I would start, because it gives you a really good idea of what the whole you know Manhattan looks like and you can see all the different places and then you can kind of decide from there which areas peak your interest and which places seem like they fit your vibe.
Speaker 3:Obviously, times Square is a great place to go check out, but I wouldn't stay there. I think a lot of people think that staying in Times Square is a good idea, but it is so loud and so crazy all the time and you really can't get much sleep. So I would go visit Times Square but not necessarily stay there. And then things like the Empire State Building and Central Park and the Statue of Liberty are all amazing and I would do those things on your first two days and then on your third day pick a neighborhood that's a little bit quieter, like the Upper East Side or Upper West Side, maybe Greenwich Village or Tribeca, and just visit some of the cafes there and the restaurants and the diners and walk to the local parks and then kind of get a feel for how I guess regular Manhattanites live. So that's always a fun thing to do, kind of on your third day. Once you've done all the tourist stuff, then just pick a neighborhood and Enjoy it and walk around the streets and see how people live.
Speaker 2:Yes and well. I would also assume that many people you know live under the impression that New York City equals to just Manhattan. Right, but obviously that's, that's wrong. So I'm wondering, what do you find most appealing about, you know, the rest of New York City.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the rest of New York City is huge. Manhattan is the smallest borough out of all of them Size-wise, and so you also have Queens, the Bronx, brooklyn and Staten Island, and that's where people Really live their everyday lives. So Manhattan is this Fast-paced, you know, highly charged, energetic place where people do live, but Most people live in the outer boroughs. So you will just find normal, everyday, regular people who live there, but you'll also find amazing museums and parks and Really authentic food there as well that a lot of tourists don't always visit. So really, just a train ride out of Manhattan to one of those outer boroughs, you'll see the pace slow down a little bit, but then you can also experience a lot of really great art and music and a lot of a lot of life and a lot of culture out there as well.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And so what is it that you love the most about your hometown?
Speaker 3:I love the people. Where I lived before in Texas it was in South Texas I didn't see a lot of people who looked different than me or Thought differently than I did or believed differently than I did. So it was very, it was very. We were very much the same, and that's good to a certain extent. But I wanted to experience more and I wanted to understand people more and so, and I wanted my kids too to have a Bigger understanding of the world. And so, moving here to New York City, just walking down the street, you hear five different languages being spoken and different kinds of dress and different kinds of beliefs, and so I think that it has made my family better and More well-rounded and I feel like we're better people because of New York City, because now we understand different cultures better and we understand people and we have a more of an empathy towards people and, yeah, it's really just opened up our minds to to a lot of different things.
Speaker 2:That's beautiful, and so what does it mean for you to be a New Yorker?
Speaker 3:You know, I Always think to Frank Sinatra's song New York, new York, and it says if I can make it here, then I can make it anywhere. And I think that's true, because it's not always easy, it is expensive, it can be a little dirty, it can be, you know, all those things that you may think, but it's also really beautiful here and it's really an amazing Community, and so I feel like if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, because you can, if you've hustled enough and you can, you know, afford to live life here and you can. I think there's, like I said, with all the people, there's a little bit of Every country here, and so if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, because you've experienced quite a bit.
Speaker 2:Well, they just actually reminded me of one sentence that you also like to use, which is New York or nowhere. Yes, yes, how would you, how would you explain it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, especially since COVID. It took a lot to stay here when we were in lockdown. Our apartment felt very small and a lot of. There was a lot going out on right outside of our windows lots of sirens, lots of Protests.
Speaker 3:You know I there was a lot going on during that time and we really had to make a new commitment to our city because it would have been really easy to leave and it would have been more cost effective to leave all of those things. But we decided to make a new commitment to our city that we are here to stay and a lot of people come to New York City to take something from the city and we wanted to come to give something back to the city and I feel like COVID really helped us to solidify that and to really recommit ourselves to being a part of the city and not just a family that comes and goes, but to really give back to our city. And so for us it's New York or nowhere, because we're here and we're committed and we're not going to go anywhere. We're not going to leave our city when it needs us the most.
Speaker 2:That's so nice, and so is there something that you actually don't like about a city. Is there something that you hate?
Speaker 3:I was thinking about this and there's really nothing that I hate other than the bad rap that New York City gets for being rude. A lot of people think that New Yorkers are really rude when, in fact, they just tell you what they're thinking. And sometimes that's even more helpful, because when I was living in the South in Texas, people would say nice things to your face and then say mean things behind your back. But here they'll just tell you the way it is and you don't have to wonder what they're thinking. You know that they're either happy with you or upset with you, but then you can move on. But people in New York are actually very nice. They just don't have a lot of time, but they are very nice.
Speaker 2:So do you think this is? Why do you think is that? Is that because they just don't have time to be talking about you behind your back? They just want to have it sorted.
Speaker 3:Right, yes, exactly, they just want to put it all on the table, put it all out there. We all know where we stand and we move on, and we don't have time to do it any other way.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so how can we describe or imagine a typical New Yorker? Because I, at least, I don't know. I would imagine a man wearing a suit or a lady in expensive high heels I don't know Where's Prada running the streets. So is that so?
Speaker 3:You know not that I have found there are a few of those and COVID has changed that a little bit here, Because a lot of the business men and women have not come back to the city yet. Necessarily they're still working remotely. But even before New York City you have to have comfortable shoes, you have to wear your tennis shoes so you may see somebody in a suit or a dress. Then they'll have their tennis shoes on with it. Because we walk a lot and there's a lot of walking to be done and the streets are not always and the sidewalks are not always the best place to wear heels and all of that. But I would say the majority of New Yorkers are laid back, just working, everyday people that, like I said, there are some of those in the business suits and in the dresses, but the majority are just normal, everyday people living their lives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so is that. Oh sorry. Going back to the shoes, because I just remembered my boss in London she would come in tennis shoes and then she would change to high heels. Is that what people do in New York as well? And you know what? Coming into the office, she would change.
Speaker 3:Right, yes, exactly Because you have to go. Most people take public transportation. Most of the people take subway, the subway and so running up and down the stairs and getting on and off the train is way too hard to do in heels, so everybody has a pair of tennis shoes in their bag to walk around.
Speaker 2:That's so funny.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so do you have a favorite New Yorker. You know a personality coming from the city.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say I don't know that it's a certain person, but I love those people with New York accents, you know, like those guys that will say what are you doing? You know those kinds of things. And so I love those people and I love hearing their voices because getting that good New York accent, there's just nothing better.
Speaker 2:Actually that was my next question because I wanted to ask if there are any, you know, fun words or phrases or slang that only people from New York City would use and understand.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this took me a little. While being from Texas, it took me a little while to pick up on some of the things. But if you want to go into a pizza place and order just a regular piece of pizza, like a cheese piece of pizza, you just say give me a slice, and a slice just means one piece of cheese pizza. We also don't say subway here. We say we're taking the train, so it's always the train. And then they also say waiting online. So instead of waiting inline somewhere, like if you're waiting to get in someplace, they say waiting online.
Speaker 3:That was interesting, yeah that's very interesting yeah yeah, so that got, because I always use online as being on the internet, but for them it's waiting in a line to get in someplace. It's confusing at first.
Speaker 2:Do you have a favorite secret spot in the city that might not be secret anymore if you tell us.
Speaker 3:Sure, it's actually in Manhattan and I didn't go to this place until I lived here for a few years, because it really is. They're doing a good job of trying to bring it back. It is called the South Street Seaport and it's on the southeast tip of Manhattan and it's right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge but it's all cobblestone streets and it looks like an old New England fishing village and it has a really unique vibe, with some really great restaurants down there and you're right there on the water, so you can see the Brooklyn Bridge, you can see the East River and it's really really nice. They before I would say probably about four years ago there wasn't a lot down there, but now they're trying to revitalize it and bring some restaurants and entertainment down there. So it really feels like an escape from the rest of Manhattan and it almost feels like you've gone to another city or even another country with the cobblestone streets and the old buildings. So South Street Seaport is a really cool area.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, I have to go one day. Yes, yes, definitely. And so have you ever been in any other city around the world that would remind you of home?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I I was thinking that now it's been several years since I've been there, but Prague actually had a lot of the same qualities. It was much more more of a city than I was expecting when I went there. And you know, with the shopping and the restaurants and all that, obviously they have beautiful architecture and some amazing sites, some amazing sites, but it was a lot more city and a lot more urban than I was expecting. But you know, I haven't been to Tokyo or London, but I have a feeling that those would probably have some of the same qualities as well.
Speaker 2:Well, that's so nice to hear about Prague. I'm so proud, yeah. And so what is the funniest and most bizarre thing that you think that has ever happened to you in the city? Sorry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it's probably the people. And one person comes to mind because, really, here you can wear and do whatever you want to, nobody is judging you or thinking twice about it. As long as you're not hurting anybody, you can express yourself in whatever way you want to. But there is.
Speaker 3:We used to live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and one day I saw this man running by, just jogging, running like normal, like somebody who was working out, but he was wearing women's lingerie, yes, and I saw a lot more of him than I wanted to see and it took me by surprise. I was not expecting it at all, but I came to find out that his name is Elliot and people call him Elegant Elliot and he does that every day around the Upper East Side, and so he just became somebody that I just saw on a regular basis and I didn't even think twice about it after that. And people see him running by and it's just a normal thing, which anywhere else that I've lived would not be a normal thing. But here, like I said, people just do and wear whatever they want to and as long as you're not hurting anybody, they will just let you live your life. So that was so. That was always an interesting sight.
Speaker 2:That's hilarious. Well, katie, this was my very last question. It's wonderful. Thank you so much for taking the time and telling us all these amazing fun facts, and everything, Of course yes. And well, we definitely need to come to New York City.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And have you be our guide for sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, I would love that so much Well thank you very, very much. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:And thank you to everyone who has listened to this episode and please come to New York City when you can. Bye.