The Undeserved Rep of New Yorkers (NYE in NYC)

I spent New Year's Eve 2008 and New Year's Day 2009 in New York City. My VA Board friend Adam (aka Silent Boba Fett) hosted a party in his Queens apartment. The invitees consisted of Boardies (including my friend Ben - HeWhoMassagesAtCons, his wife Amy, another Amy - Minikitkatgirl and her roommate Dan and another, "proper" Dan - Champ Blankman) and locals from the New York Browncoats and a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan group. As a result, the pre-midnight festivites tended to be Whedon-centric: a Dr. Horrible sing-along, a viewing of "Commentary: The Musical," a sing-along to the Buffy musical episode, "Once More with Feeling," and viewings of the Buffy and Angel episodes "Hush" and "Smile Time" respectively. Awesome fun!

(A quick aside: one of the guests, a Manhattanite named Richard, was the cousin of porn star Steve Drake. As this was probably the closest I will ever get to that particular personal hero of mine, I was thrilled and delighted.)

During my brief visit to the city, (certainly not my first, although my first in this century,) I encountered scores of New Yorkers. To a person, they were all friendly, outgoing and personable. I have never heard and/or recited the "Happy New Year" litany more times in my life. Folks held doors open for me. Couples in elevators smiled and wished me well. People in traffic yielded to my turn indicator. Men at toll booths smiled and offered the holiday salutation. A man delivering pizza pulled up behind my parked car and asked where I was from in Ohio. With a charming Brooklyn accent (I'm guessing, I was in Queens) he told me he had a friend in Akron and had lived in Cincinnati for five months. He finished our exchange with a radiant smile and yet another "Happy New Year!"

Where were the angry, nasty, apathetic New Yorkers made popular on television and in movies? I didn't encounter a single one. Not in convenience stores or Dunkin Donuts or delicatessens or on the street. I remarked about this aspect of my experience to Adam, who just shook his head. "New Yorkers have a bad rep," he said. "It's largely undeserved, but it's tough to erase."

Let this blog be my small contribution to righting that wrong.

Perhaps it was the holiday -- one where NYC is truly in the global spotlight. Maybe I was just really, really lucky. Who knows? For my part, I came away with a much improved opinion of the Big Apple.