People in New York are actually quite hospitable. They just have places to be, things to do, and they are tired of explaining which way is downtown and bumping into people who are too busy looking up. I find that a calm smile and a friendly tone of voice goes a lot further in New York than in most cities. People are more genuine there. If you get a negative response, that person is just trying to save you both some time.

> If you get a negative response, that person is just trying to save you both some time.

Really? So I should be thanking the nice man for saying, "Fuck you! Get outta my way you mutherfucker?" After all he was just being considerate and trying to help us both out.

Did you really get that response? Like any place, NYC has its share of jerks, but since coming here 3 years ago I never encountered anything like that..

Yes.

I have heard this, but not noticed it--I make eye contact all the time on the subway, and I have not once had someone talk back to me, much less initiate sex or violence. This might be a size thing (too fat to be sexy, too big to be worth fighting), but I honestly suspect that New Yorkers exaggerate the city's hostility in this respect. Eye contact is too primal to change this fast, or to vary this much by geography.

When I was in New York in November people seemed quite friendly to me, and did not evade eye contact. (There were even people who gave out free hugs on Union Square.)

But then, I was growing up in former Prussia. So I may have other standards than Americans.

I htink it depends on when someone lived in NYC and which train they took. If you were here during the late 80s early 90s, you heard a lot more of "What the fuck are you looking at!?". I saw at least 3-4 fights start that way.

Now this is a purely anecdotal correlation, but I noticed less and less of this kind of crap at the same time as crime was purportedly going down in the city. I know that there are a million ideas floating around about the reason for the drop in crime (abortion, "broken windows", etc.), but I'd like to see at least one of them incorporate the "chill out factor". Maybe for some reason NYC residents just became slightly less aggressive ?....Nah that's just crazy talk :)

Why was there a big drop in crime for NYC in the '90's? Sometimes just one man can make all the difference. From Wikipedia:

Rudy Giuliani served two terms as Mayor of New York City... He was credited with initiating improvements in the city's quality of life and with a reduction in crime.

The thing about NYC is that there are just so many people you can find someone to fit any stereotype so it is easy to reinforce preconceived notions. If you get on the subway with the attitude that there are a lot of people ready to fight if you look at them the wrong way you will be able to find one.

Thats the funniest thing I have read in a long time. :)

I have been living in NY for about 10 years now and I can tell you that I never had problem. But more often than not people don't make eye contact here in NY they stare at you.

Of course, this all depends on where in NY you are. In NY, there are micro-communities within communities and they have their own rules. Some may consider making eye-contact offensive, other may not.