Manhattan as seen from the Hudson River.
I am a “country bumpkin” at heart. I would rather live in a place where deer and cows (or horses) roam freely in my yard rather than city buses and taxi cabs. But that is just me. I know plenty of people who couldn’t see themselves living anywhere other than a big city including one of the biggest cities of them all – New York City.
I think maybe if I was young an single I would enjoy living in the city for a few years, just to get the full New York City experience. New York City is a very exciting place. In fact my mom, before she passed away, talked about getting an apartment in the city so she could spend some time there since the kids were all grown. My mom loved to travel and experience new things. She once took a trip to China for a couple of weeks – by herself! She just decided one day she wanted to go to China and up and left for a couple of weeks.
Our son is looking forward to moving to New York City when he graduates fro high school. Sadly I don’t think he fully comprehends how expensive living in New York City is (he wants to move to Manhattan).
P&G Brands – Febreze, Head & Shoulders, Bounty, Dawn, Tide and Secret – have come together to showcase the struggles that many New Yorkers face on a daily basis and how tough they are to handle it all. The campaign is called #NYTough and it provides New Yorkers with a break from the challenges they deal with on a daily basis with brands that are tough enough to help them live and thrive in the “Big Apple”.
Manhattan as seen over the Hudson River on a helicopter.
Brooklyn Bridge under construction
Queens, NY as seen from Roosevelt Island
Manhattan (left), Roosevelt Island (right) and I believe that is Queens or the Bronx in the background.
The #NYTough campaign has a series of video interviews hosted by local comedian Michael Che. The videos highlight what is means to be “New York Tough” and invited New Yorkers to share their unique stories.
“I grew up on the lower east side of Manhattan and over the past thirty years, I’ve seen just how tough the city can be,” stated comedian Che. “I jumped at the chance to help share some comic relief with the community through the #NYTough campaign because comedy about New York has always been a part of my routine. It’s been a wild experience getting to interview such a diverse group of people, from taxi drivers and dog walkers to starving artists and retirees, about their own New York tough stories.”
New York City is such a diverse city. There are five boroughs and many different neighborhoods. My family grew up in Brooklyn (except me and my sister) and my husband’s family is from the Bronx. It’s amazing how in NYC you can turn the corner and find yourself in an entirely different neighborhood. We’ve heard so many stories about life in the big city.
My family visits the city often. I don’t know how people deal with all that traffic. Just a minor “fender bender” on the West Side Highway (or Harlem River Drive) can cause backups that go for miles and last for hours. Just the other day going into the city there was traffic on the West Side Highway – bumper to bumper – and we were at a complete standstill. For what should have taken 45 minutes to get to (location) took over an hour and a half – twice as much time.
Manhattan Street
Random side walk vendor with a bubble machine.
People EVERYWHERE in Times Square
Even the inner streets of Manhattan can be a driver’s worst nightmare. I don’t know how people navigate those streets. When you toss in people who refuse to obey the street signs (“jaywalkers”), double parked vehicles, truck deliveries and on-going construction – it’s insane!
The noise in some areas of the city can be so loud too. How do you sleep with all that noise going on around you? I go bonkers if there is a cricket in our home let alone listening to people talking, cars honking, sirens and other miscellaneous sounds.
If you don’t like crowds New York City is not the place for you. There are plenty of quiet neighborhoods but when you enter the more “touristy” parts of the city, or the business locations, you can barely move on the sidewalks because there are so many people.
You also have to be rich to live in the city, in my opinion. We once ate at a restaurant and ordered two cheeseburgers, one hamburger and a chef salad plus four sodas and it came to OVER $120! We eat at the same restaurant closer to where we live and would spend half that amount on the same meal.
A few weeks ago we were in the city and spent $12 on two hot dogs, $6 on two bottles of water and $8 on two pretzels. Yikes!
Don’t get e wrong. We love the city. It’s an amazing place. It’s a “one of a kind” place. To me there is no other city like New York City. It’s packed with so much culture, entertainment, education, history and so much more. Yeah, $4 for a pretzel might seem like a lot but when you are strolling through beautiful Central Park while enjoying that pretzel the price doesn’t matter. Yes, the construction is a nusance, but when you see the end result you know why it was necessary. What the city did to rebuilt after 911 is amazing. We saw “ground zero” a couple of years after 911 and it was nothing but a giant hole in the ground. Now there are amazing buildings and a beautiful memorial and museum.
Central Park.
Only in New York will you see unique people like this in Central Park.
A guy offering free hugs in Times Square.
Take a trip to the “Top of the Rock” (the top of Rockefeller Center) and you’ll be in awe of just how beautiful this great big city is.
I want to give kudos to those who live and work in the city and for being so #NYTough. I also totally “get” why they call New York City home.
You can check out the first video in the series fro #NYTough here – “Man of the Streets” videos. Here is one of the videos for your entertainment.
I would also like to encourage readers to check out Buzzfeed for more interesting content – Buzzfeed.com/NYTough.
To see what others are saying about this unique campaign please check out the hashtag #NYTough on social media.
Do you live or work in New York City? Have you ever spent any time in any of New York City’s boroughs or neighborhoods? Feel free to share your experiences.
911 Memorial Fountain
Statue of Liberty as seen from the Hudson River.
New York City as seen from the “Top of the Rock”.
I have a prize package to give to a lucky reader that contains products from the P&G brands participating in the #NYTough campaign. The prize package consists of;
- One (1) Crest Complete Whitening with Scope
- One (1) Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant
- One (1) Bounty paper towels
- One (1) Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo
- One (1) Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Conditioner
- One (1) Tide Pods
- One (1) Febreze Heavy Duty
- One (1) Dawn Platinum Power Clean
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end on October 28, 2014 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen in their place.
To enter please comment on this post and tell me why you would like to win this giveaway and/or if you have any stories you’d like to share about living and/or working in NYC (in case you live in the area).
For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement or the additional entries wont’ qualify (I do check). Extra entries are optional.
Kimberly
*I received some free P&G products in exchange for my participation. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
The post What is it like to live and work in NY? Find out with #NYTough (giveaway ends 10/28/14) appeared first on She Scribes.
