How To Be a Cool AF New Yorker

New York is a living breathing animal. It’s in a different mood every day. So ever changing that no one, no matter how long they’ve been living here, can tell you what crazy new thing the city will drop on you on any given day. Fret not! I am pulling out the big guns now and revealing the secret to how to know about every single event that is happening or upcoming in New York . ARE YOU READY FOR IT? Well, here goes.. My numero uno go to site is an event aggregator called pulsd ( https://pulsd.com/new-york ). I’ve subscribed to it and receive two email alerts daily- one that arrives well timed with my morning coffee and the second with my afternoon tea. Each email lists 4-5 most happening events in the city. Half of these will be lunch or dinner discount deals (which are better than Groupon  https://www.groupon.com/ ). The rest is where the cool-ness lies, so many of which are gratis. Example, a famous celebrity coming to a shopping mall near you to launch a new range of perf...

Hi! My name is Mickey Bandit. I am a year old Chihuahua and I live in Manhattan in a one BR (bedroom) apartment with Ian. Firstly, let me tell you that if you're gonna live in this part of the city, the most important is to choose your human wisely at the adoption centre. Make sure they have.. umm.. a certain establishment in life. Be sure you smell this on them before you wiggle your tail and signal yes. Most humans seem to mean us well, but we are born to live in comfort, not be next to a homeless human begging and sleeping on the streets, which I sadly see too many of. Anyways, moving on. Ian was a good choice, being an investment banker after all. Once I moved into my Lower East Side apartment, the first thing was to get my wardrobe set up. Winter was just around the corner. I was only going to splurge on one winter coat, so it had to be jazzy, with a fur hood of course, just thrown back casually over the shoulders. Winter boots- check, coloured socks- check check. But, what...

If a New Yorker allowed you to peek into their hand bag or wardrobe, here's what you can expect to find (and why): Noise canceling headphones . This is a noisy city- people talk loud, some sing to themselves louder than the song they are listening to, subway escalators and trains creak and shudder, those hulks at the gym be slamming the weights all the time. I know people who sleep at night with ear plugs, to block the blaring ambulance noise. Being rain ready. That means rain proof shoes and duh, obvious, umbrella . Check the weather app before you step out coz rain gods may feel like play anytime. Though the fearsome one is the one that presides over the winds here. If it's windy your umbrella won't really help. The winds will conspire to make sure that you get to taste the rains and you can literally count till 20 before your umbrella turns over. Maybe 30 if you bought it for $30 and in similar linear upward trend. Being walk ready. Atleast in Manhattan and Brook...

..nah, just kidding, it does. But with certain words it is so fixated you'll get stared down if you don't say it their way. Let's go through a dummy's checklist below. For getting around in the city: don't say North/South, replace with Uptown/Downtown. Ordering food/drinks in-store: be ready to say "To Go" or "Stay" depending on whether you want it packed to take with you or you want to dine in. Sometimes dine in has higher tax (mandatory service charge aka tip). There's no waste/garbage in the city and no dust, this place only generates "trash". So ask for "trash bin" if you're looking for one.  I hilariously learnt that tissue papers are always only found in washrooms. To wipe the grin off your face without checking into the washroom, ask for "paper napkins". Do you know that New Yorkers don't stand "in line"? No Sir, they stand "on line". So when you're conf...

Are you in the Big Apple? Or will you find yourself there sometime soon? Then you must make the most of all that the city has to offer. Whether it's the touristy things, the things that locals do, or the craziest wackiest and wierdest stuff that happens only in New York. And more importantly, how to do it like New Yorkers- get your bearings right so you feel like you belong here. This blog series will provide you succinct descriptions of the way of life in New York, pro tips on acting like a local, secrets to discovering the best events and much more. Get to know the city- inside out. No matter how short a duration you find yourself in the city, whether you're a native, been living here for sometime or brand new; you will discover (or I hope agree with) insights presented in this easy, fast paced blog.