8/21/2013
By IVAN PEREIRA and MORGAN RIBERA
New York is the rudest and most arrogant state in the nation? Please!
Although the Empire State, particularly the city, took the top spot in those rankings in a Business Insider survey this week, Big Apple residents and visitors alike say that reputation doesn’t reflect the true nature of the city. But some New Yorkers took pride in earning that “honor.”
“The only way to separate yourself from the masses of people going down the street … is to consider yourself better than them, or else you just feel like you’re in a big herd,” said lifelong New Yorker Simon Lagoy, 22, of the Lower East Side.
The poll, , asked 1,603 Americans to rank the 50 states in a number of categories, such as best fans, hottest residents and best food.
Walter Hickey, the Business Insider reporter who worked on the survey, said the answers were based on perception not knowledge of the state and the city.
Some who recently moved to the city, like Jaci Wamberg, 26, who relocated from Chicago a year ago, said she discovered those perceptions were mere exaggerations as she explored the five boroughs.
“I don’t think you can make a blanket statement like that,” she said.
However, just because the city and state get that label doesn’t make New Yorkers bad people, according to Mark D. Naison, the director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program.
Naison, a Brooklyn native, said New Yorkers have good reason to toot their own horn because they are highly competitive im everything from basketballto academics.
Regarding rudeness, the professor said it comes from Gothamites being quick to speak their minds. The always outspoken Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz agreed.
“No question we’ve got plenty of swagger — and you bet we’re honest and can charm people off their feet while being in their face at the same time — but Brooklyn rude or arrogant? Fuhgeddaboudit!” he said in a statement.
George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Company, said those negative perceptions haven’t stopped visitors from exploring the city in record numbers over the last few years. He added once they hit the streets they begin to see how great of a city it is.
“We have more repeat visitation than any other city in the world,” Fertitta said.
Bernie Gaffney, 35, a bartender who immigrated to the city from Ireland 14 years ago, said she too hates the misconception about the New York from tourists or first timers.
“I think it’s like a naivety,” she said. “Their first impression is Times Square where they’re not bumping in to true New Yorkers, they’re bumping into other tourists and cultures and it’s crowded and everyone’s in a hurry and that gives them the impression, ‘Oh, New Yorkers are crazy.'”
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How New York fared in the survey by Business Insider
Weirdest: 6
Best Food: 1
Favorite: 3
Craziest: 2
Best Vacation: 10
Drunkest: 6
Arrogant: 1
Nicest: 34
Rudest: 1
Best Scenery: 29
Hottest People: 4
Smartest: 2
Best Sport Fans: 1
Worst Sport Fans: 1
State you want kicked out: 9
Overrated: 2
Underrated: 47
