New Yorkers Don't Know New York

Does this guy know NYC better than you?

How well do locals know New York? A recent "New York Pass or Fail Survey" polled city folk about NYC and its attractions. Reading through the results, provided by New York Pass, is really just sort of depressing. For example, 41% think that the Top of the Rock is on top of the Empire State Building! This statistic is only made more alarming by the fact that the name of the attraction might as well be its address. People, it's on top of the Rock! Sigh.

A little less than half polled knew that the World's Fair was in Queens, and shockingly 44% actually knew the Transit Museum is in Brooklyn. 18% knew that the seven points on the Statue of Liberty's crown stand for the Seven Seas and Continents; around 25% know that the Met and the American Museum of Natural History sit across Central Park from each other; 80% knew Santa worked at Macy's; 41% knew that Historic Richmond Town is on Staten Island; and 89% didn't know that the Origami Holiday Tree kicks off the holiday season every year at the AMNH (a 30 year old tradition).

The New York Pass VP, Ken Barrows, says that while "New Yorkers can tell you ten ways to get to The Guggenheim, truth be told, many of us have never actually been there. In many cases, our tourists seem to know more about our city than we do." Not acceptable!

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on December 30, 2009 4:14 PM

Comments [rss]

Trilby16

There are stupid people everywhere. We have our share, I guess.

fixilator

A huge percentage of native-born New Yorkers I've met are smug and perfectly satisfied with their provincialism. They know absolutely nothing of the rest of the country (or world, for that matter) and don't care to.

But then, this piece was about them not even knowing New York. Doubly pathetic.

S.K.

"When you're from Brooklyn, everything else is Tokyo"

-Larry King

LB

Because there not real New Yorkers .

NannyState

The fact that they didn't ask "who has the best pizza?" delegitimizes that questionnaire.

HOTCUP

"In many cases, our tourists seem to know more about our city than we do." Not acceptable!

what business to legit new yorkers have visiting sites that are really intended for outsiders? do tourist attractions constitute what there is to know about new york?

if you think that this kind of thing is "not acceptable," then i guess i can understand where most of your posts are coming from. you're not a new yorker, and you never will be.

gothamist is getting more irrelevant by the day. where's my mid-morning jersey shore update?

r1b2

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/science/29tier.html?scp=1&sq=carpe%20diem&st=cse

JR_in_NYC

I have an issue with the second question on the survey, Which of the following two museums face each other directly across Central Park? Last time I checked both museums main entrances face east. Don't see how that's facing each other.

yytttt

It is a fact that knowing new york = knowing what the crown of the statue of liberty represents. Stone cold fact. It's like knowing hip-hop = listening to vanilla ice.

Snoopy

I've lived in New York since 1965 and I have never been to the top of the Empire State Building or went to the Metropolitan Opera or took the boat trip around Manhattan, or visited the Queens Museum or bought a knock off Gucci bag on Canal street or rode the Cyclone, or drank at a bar on the lower East Side.

Still I feel like I am a New Yorker.

Boogie Down

I am married to a native New Yorker and we have done all the things on your list in the past year, except the ESB (not happening) and purchasing knock offs (also not happening). The QMA of art is wonderful, and if you're into opera (which I'm guessing you're not) you really should check out the Met. Taking in what the city has to offer does not make you seem like a tourist.

yytttt

Fondling sleeping girls on the subway doesn't make you a new yorker.

S.K.

I know native-born New Yorkers who never rode the Cyclone nor walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

paperbackwriter

The question wasn't what borough the World's Fair was in in 1939; it was about what museum is located there. The difference? The question you pretend was asked is easy knowledge, and the one they actually asked stumped me. And it's literally my job to know what museums are in Queens. (I did, coincidentally, narrow it down to the QMA, the Queens Zoo, and some sort of tennis museum my brain completely fabricated.)

Guest

new yorkers work too much.

Snoopy

Does anyone here know who was buried in Grant's Tomb.

escherichia

and while we're being nitpicky, nobody's actually buried in there -- they're entombed.

Gwinny

right. they are in sarcophagi, so technically they aren't buried.

paperbackwriter

That is, at the very least, a real trick question. The answer isn't Grant; it's the Grants.

JacqueMehoff

did the survey mention the Circle Line photo shakedown?

I did all these things on field trips in elementary school.

It was the RCA building then and Jeopardy was taped in nyc.