New York, New York...

Ok, it wouldn't be fair for me to not rag some on my beloved NYC after (another) weekend back home:

1. Umbrellas. New Yorkers hold them just over the tops of their heads as low as possible and then don't look where they're going. I think I got my eyes taken out almost a dozen times on Main Street in Flushing. Well ok, maybe this is just an Asian thing...

2. It seems like in places other then New York City, you can actually lock and leave your bike for more than a few hours at a time and reasonably expect it to still be there when you return. I've gotten my fair share of jokes from New Urban Arts staff and students for a) checking on my locked bike from my work desk every couple of hours b) either releasing the front wheel and locking it to the rear wheel or c) simply taking the front wheel to my desk and sitting with it. Whatever, I'm still that fat Chinese (Korean) kid in Prospect Park. I tried to tell them that bike thieves were so good in NY that Kryptonite's "gurantee" was always valid everywhere except in Manhattan USA:

In the late 1980s, just as Kryptonite began to offer a newly designed mountain bike lock, anti-theft guarantee claims began to increase dramatically in Manhattan. This increase in theft forced Kryptonite to stop offering the guarantee in Manhattan and spurred the Zane’s to redesign their locks.

-Lemelson Center for the Study of Invenion and Innovation

I forgot that it was so bad that it was a huge promotion when they came out with a guranteed Manhattan u-lock in 1994.

Kryptonite introduced the New York Lock in 1994. This newly designed lock allowed Kryptonite to reestablish an anti-theft guarantee for $1,000 in Manhattan. The company recreated its earlier publicity event by successfully locking bicycles throughout New York City to prove the efficacy of its locks.

Problem was, it was way smaller than their standard lock so you couldn't do the double wheel lock with it making it not so useful.

3. I may bitch about RIPTA but you know what? RIPTA a) takes dollar bills and b) gives you change (even in if it's only in the form of a credit on a RIPTA card). Will NY buses ever catch up?