Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Stupid Survey Says New Yorkers Are Very Rude?
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 21, 2011
Modified Jan 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 21, 2011
Modified Jan 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
An idiotic survey by Travel & Leisure claims that New York City is the #2 rudest city in America, second only to Los Angeles. That LA is considered numero uno in incivility makes sense—there are countless self-serving jackasses over there—but anybody who's ever visited NYC know the old stereotype of the boorish, inconsiderate New Yorker is just a canard perpetuated by those Hollywood scumbags. Stop and ask a New Yorker for directions and others will immediately gather, competing to guide you. Fall onto the subway tracks and New Yorkers will risk their lives to save you. Hell, even our bank robbers are polite! So how did this stupid survey rank us so high on the rude list? Oh, wait it didn't—it's just the schmuck who wrote the dumbass Travel & Leisure article misrepresenting the survey.
What the survey actually asked people to do was rank how "friendly" a city is. Which is a horse of a very different color—though the result is still utter manure. You see, when Katrina Brown Hunt wrote her vapid article accompanying the survey, she decided that not being friendly is the same thing as being rude. As New Yorkers, we would like to politely ask Hunt to go play in traffic: just because we don't always make friends with the tourists doesn't mean we're rude. It means we're busy! And maybe we have enough damn friends.
We can only assume the tourists who considered us so incredibly cold and unfriendly are a bunch of hayseeds who can't get over how we don't smile or say hi to each and every person we pass on the street, like y'all do in Charleston, South Carolina—supposedly the #1 friendliest city. But if we behaved like that here, the important business of this city of 8 million people would grind to a laryngitic halt. Also, we're probably on our phones and can't be bothered. So stop taking it so personally, tourists! And stay in your lane (please)!
And another thing about this bullshit survey: It ranks Charleston, again, as #1 in the category of most attractive people. NYC comes in 13th, behind those famously winsome inhabitants of Denver, San Diego, and, um, Salt Lake City. Yes, SALT LAKE CITY. The survey even says Phoenix/Scottsdale has hotter citizens!? It's all enough to make a person question his faith in the media's wholly unscientific puff polls. Nevertheless, we still wear the Reader's Digest crown for the most polite city in America. Suck it, Charleston.
Tagged
nyc
polite
rude
travel + leisure
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.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
The DSA's NYC chapter accused the NYPD of collaborating with ICE and demanded Mayor Mamdani hold Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch responsible.
By
Brigid Bergin
,
Elizabeth Kim
and
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 9, 2026 at 6:31 p.m. ET
Three people critically injured in Bronx vehicle crash
When officers arrived on the scene in Allerton Friday afternoon, they found three pedestrians who were unconscious with trauma to the head and body, according to the NYPD.
By
Kaya Laterman
News
Three people critically injured in Bronx vehicle crash
When officers arrived on the scene in Allerton Friday afternoon, they found three pedestrians who were unconscious with trauma to the head and body, according to the NYPD.
By
Kaya Laterman
NY will opt in Trump’s school choice program, Hochul says
By
Jon Campbell
Residents, lawmakers warned for months of potential for deadly ICE activity in Marble Hill
By
David Brand
Manhattan DA argues judge shouldn't dismiss state charges against Luigi Mangione
By
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .