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Tourist Sidewalk Line Divides New Yorkers
By
John Del Signore
Published May 20, 2010
Modified May 20, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 20, 2010
Modified May 20, 2010
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The line painted onto a Fifth Avenue sidewalk dividing pedestrian traffic into "Tourists" and "New Yorkers" was "the talk of the Internet" yesterday, reports the New York Post, which paid a professional journalist and photographer to go do actual reporting from the scene of the prank. (They even edited together a video segment.) The Daily News dispatched journalists, too! Both tabloids report divided opinions on the dividing line.
Ambitious 22-year-old tourist Melissa Pace, of Ohio, told the Daily News, "I'm a tourist, but I want to walk in the New Yorker lane. I might get away with it because I'm wearing new jeans that I got in SoHo." She already sounds like a "New Yorker," right? Bianca Smith, a receptionist, liked the idea, and actually told the Post she hoped officials will find a way to force pedestrians to obey the delineation. "I don't know if the lanes could be enforced, but it would be nice," said Smith, who gets that sometimes you have to give up certain freedoms for the sake of convenience.
But Rolando Gilbride, 33, of Brooklyn, seemed to think the whole absurd prank was simply absurd. "Real New Yorkers don't notice crap like this," Gilbride told the News. "We don't look down when we walk. We look forward." What do you think, Internet? Should the NYPD begin enforcing the new tourist/New Yorker lanes on all NYC sidewalks by checking pedestrians' IDs? Or should tourists be equipped with electric shock collars upon arrival in NYC, programmed to zap them whenever they stray beyond pre-designated tourist zones?
Tagged
new yorkers
pedestrians
real new yorkers
sidewalk
tourist
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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