NY vs. DC: The Final Battle
In honor of my last full day in DC before going back to NY, a comparison of the two cities:
NY is dirty.
DC is clean.
NY is diverse.
DC is full of the same type of poeple doing the same type of thing in the same dark suits.
NY has a public transportation system that goes everywhere.
DC has a clean public transportation system that doesn't go too far.
NY lets you eat on the subway.
DC can arrest you for eating on the metro.
NY is hot and humid in the summer.
DC is like a swamp in the summer.
NY museums charge entrance fees.
DC museuems are free.
NY has excellent art and science museums.
DC has excellent history museums.
NY has lots of kosher food, lots of shuls, and lots of Jews.
DC has very, very limited kosher food, one shul, and not so many Jews.
NY has Times Square, Broadway, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and the Empire State Building.
DC has the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Supreme Court.
NY has Columbia.
DC does not.
And so, I am on my way back to NY and Columbia (in three weeks) and all that is both good and bad about that wonderful city I call home.
posted by Eli7 @ 8:01 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
But they both have the same never-ending flow of traffic...
And that, my dear J, is why you never, ever drive in either city if you can avoid it. (Though don't tell that to my parents who I'm sure would gladly give up moving me into my dorm if they could.)
You are forgetting Ohev Shalom on 16th street! Sorry, just nitpicking.
Yes...instead we just sit on the subway desperately trying to keep to ourselves.
Last time I was on the subway (about a week or two ago) to one side we had nail clipping guy (spraying his nails everywhere…ewww) and to the right we had breast-feeding lady (and of the course the other woman berating her for doing that)...
I guess you just have to choose your poison.
Where'd you work this summer? Also, where'd you get your "very, very limited kosher food"? I'm moving in to an apartment in Foggy Bottom at the end of the month, ahead of a new job downtown and was wondering how I'd go about that...
You didn't mention that DC's "transportation system" is sorta like 'pay as you go' without a flat $2.00 charge like in NYC.
What's wrong with DC's art museums? You only mention the history, but what about the National Gallery?
NY has batei medrashim with a "kol torah."
DC has one shul with infrequent shiurim.
NY has restaurants and attractions to visit at night.
DC shuts down after 5pm (except for the bars, if you're into that).
Both have ESPN Zone.
Here's the deal with kosher food: there's Eli's Deli and the DC JCC, which is expensive. There's Safeway for supermarket needs, but if you want anything more than that (i.e. cheese, challah, meat, grape juice, pizza...) or anything that's not ridiculously overpriced, you have to go to Silver Spring.
I hate the pay-as-you go system in DC because you can end up paying alot, and you have to hold on to that little piece of paper till you get out of the Metro...
The National Gallery is nice, but it doesn't hold a torch to the Met or MoMA.
DC has monuments that are open 24/7 and are really fun to visit at night.
I hate ESPN Zone.
You'd think someone would have opened some sort of kosher store in DC by now, instead of making everyone trek up to SS to buy the Shabbos necessities!
FDR memorial at night is one of my favorite places...the weekly summer concerts on the steps of the Capitol at night are also enjoyable.
You went to Michlalah...did you find the Gtown/Kesher community frum enough?
Lastly, where did you work this summer-was it through the famous OU internship program? (Unless this info is private).
The pay as you go system is annoying but allegedly justified on the fact that many people come from Maryland and to make the people who use it locally pay the same amount as those who come from Silver Spring would be unfair.
DC has basically no kosher restaurants. They used to have Stacks, which was decent but had the worst service in history. I'm surprised they can't keep a legitimate kosher restaurant open.
Not all museums in NY cost money. It's been a while but I remember the Museum of Natural History being free, although it has a large suggested donation. But don't try getting away without paying on a date.
DC is a fun place to visit, but I would hate to live there for a few months.
Yeah, I'm moving down for a year and as my move-in date gets closer I'm wondering if I'm certifiably crazy for giving up NY for such a long time.
I can say with almost certainty that I'll be back next year for law school, unless G-d has other plans. Hopefully one year won't be too bad.
Michael, my condolences. DC is nice, but Nephtuli is right; it's a fun place to visit, not to live in. I love NY and am happy to be back to Jew-land, but I'm sure your year in DC will be nice and you'll be back in NY before you know it.
(But I really didn't stay in DC for shabboses so can't really answer your questions about the community there.)
Hmm. Now I'm tempted to do a Boston vs. New York post on my blog. ;)
Who's in first in the AL East?
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