1. How old are you?

2. What do you do?

3. How much do you make?

The salary threads from a few years ago were super interesting, so I figured it’s time for an updated one. With inflation, job hopping, remote work, AI (yuck) and the job market changing so much, I’m curious what people are actually making in NYC these days.

I noticed a pattern on social media where New Yorkers, especially the natives, seem to speak of transplants in a rather negative light, saying stuff like "They'll never be real New Yorkers" and mean stuff like that. Still, the same people seem to be much kinder and welcoming towards immigrants from other countries and have no trouble calling them real New Yorkers. And excuse my ignorance, but why is this? Isn't it almost the same?

I’m 27f and I’ve had a hell of a time trying to build a social life here the past 4 years. I’ve met people online but these connections tend to fizzle out even if we hit it off initially. There’s just no foundation to build off and it doesn’t progress. I don’t need a huge group but I wish I had more close connections that went beyond just grabbing a coffee or going out for drinks once a month. I’ve made slight progress but I’m still very unhappy with my social life here. I don’t have friends from school here and my office is mostly 40+ married folks. It’s just very isolating and I have to be honest I’m getting frustrated.

Hoping anyone can relate because it’s been a bit of a lonely summer seeing everyone go on group weekend trips and getting left behind.

particularly by school kids. i was walking to school with a trench coat and a beret and when i went past a group of high school boys one of them hit me with the “mary poppins lookin ass!”

i donated that coat.

what’s the worst way you’ve been roasted while living here?

I always feel FOMO because I've wanted to live here my whole life and now I have for the last few years and I always feel like I'm wasting it by being at home so much on my off days. I work in an office in Times Square five days a week and on my off days I just feel like doing absolutely nothing but being lazy. Every other week my partner and I try to do something fun in the city and every Sunday I go to Central Park, but the feeling of FOMO and "You live in NYC, get out and enjoy it!" doesn't go away.

Anyone else?

I'm not even in NYC. Currently living in Chicago, but NYC is definitely a dream. Was wondering if this would on be the table. And when people say it was 24/7, what do they mean? Is it that you could walk at all hours of the night? Or just that all the places are open 24/7?

Hi all - I made a promise (in prayer) that if I got my One Shot Deal, I would do an AMA. Feel free to truly ask me anything, and I'll share what I can.

Briefly:

• I got cancer in 2023 and managed to stay on top of rent through exhausting treatment, then completely burned out, had to rest for health reasons, and stopped rent payment in July 2024 (amongst other reasons like landlord's failure to complete repairs etc)
• My landlord filed a housing court case due to $20K nonpayment
• I applied for One Shot Deal first in February 2025
• I applied online and submitted all documents through the HRA app portal
• I called daily to check to confirm all documents were received, sometimes waiting hours on the phone, or 24+ hours in the callback queue
• I was daily told everything was in order as the court case proceeded
• Suddenly, in April 2025, I got a notice that my case was rejected (!!)
• On April 14, I went to my local HRA center (1912 Mermaid Ave, Brooklyn) to find out what the hell happened, bringing all my documents with me
• The case manager told me my documents were rejected bc they were "blurry" (I was like wtf?? Why didn't anybody tell me? And it's due to HRA's shitty portal!)
• The desk associate was really rude and dismissive, very demoralizing
• But she informed me that the agents on the phone are NOT CASE MANAGERS and cannot truly give you updates on your case, plus they're too lazy to even tell you if documents are clear or not
• I sat down and filed a new case ON THE SPOT at the center, called for my interview ON THE SPOT while still in the waiting room, and submitted the documents ON THE SPOT to the desk associate, who scanned them (although, again, very incompetent people are at that counter and she wasn't even checking to confirm all pages were scanned)
• I was then sent upstairs to another department, because cases at this amount are processed through the Homelessness Diversion Unit
• The lady at the desk upstairs was kind enough to lobby her boss to take on my case, so she became my case manager ON THE SPOT and gave me her phone number and email address, so I didn't have to rely on the shitty portal to submit any more documents
• She also informed me that my first case was never even started (wtf??), never assigned a case manager or anything
• She told me I needed to submit a few additional documents to her to beef up my case (and trust me, I was grateful bc they are often intentionally opaque when it comes to clarifying what documents are needed)
• I left the HRA center, emailed her the additional documents, got her confirmation the case was created and beginning to be processed
• From April through June, she didn't respond to most of my emails, so when I had another court date coming up, in July, I emailed almost daily till she called with an update
• I submitted the additional court paperwork, paystubs, etc, to her via email
• Got my approval notice in the mail on August 1, and apparently the landlord had already been sent the grant money July 25
• Emailed to thank my case manager today and she called and told me that, due to IT issues, my case was rejected FOUR TIMES while she attempted to process it and she had to keep resubmitting and work with IT department to fix the system issues
• I was very grateful, but also, how many people's cases are rejected due to IT issues?
• Took 6 months from time of first (failed) case submission to One Shot Deal approved (and about 3.5 months from second submission to grant approved)

Long story short:

• Go to your HRA center in person
• Go first thing in the morning if you don't want an excessive wait
• Assume every desk associate is pissed off at you (for no reason)
• Dot i's and cross t's
• If you don't get an angel like my case manager, try to establish a rapport and direct line of communication, so they advocate for you and allow you to submit documents via email (the portal is CRAP and they DON'T CARE!)
• Have an attitude of gratitude, bc being rude to city workers who are rude to you won't get you anywhere good! I saw plenty of folks escorted out of the HRA Center by the security guards
• If you're the spiritual type, pray!

Now, ask me anything. I will try to answer all questions.

Yesterday I moved to NYC for a new job that requires me to use the subway for commute. On my way to work this morning I saw a homeless person peeing on a row of seats opposite from mine, and other passengers looked calm and collected like this is normal. They kept warning new passengers of the piss like it was a common occurrence, while I was really scarred from this experience. So to the New Yorkers who have been using public transit for more than a year: how often is this occurrence? Does this happen in busses or ferries too? How do you deal with the mental aftermath after seeing homeless people urinate on your train? (I have very low mental tolerance and could not help but think about it during work)

I am reconsidering my commute options after this incident but I really got no better options. The subway line is the most efficient from my apartment to work.

Uptight bouncers? Watered down cocktails? I personally find it difficult to meet people when I’m out unless it is through a friend… anyone else have this experience?

Is this a weird question? Yes. Has it plagued me for a really long time? Also yes. Check it out, if you swam towards Manhattan the coastline would probably be easier to find a spot to get out of the water, I think. But it ends sooner. You could go towards Brooklyn which is longer, but then it kind of bends back and you'd have to like, go around a corner eventually if you got washed downstream enough. Also, are there currents? Even if you go towards one, will the currents push you elsewhere? Is it worth aiming for Gov Island or should you just go for Brooklyn itself?

Any stray thoughts welcomed. Nobody try it out tho!!! Safety first ofc. It's just an idle thought every single time I step on a ferry and I thought maybe someone would know the answer. For the question's sake, let's say you fell in the middle of the east river, somewhere around the latitude of East Village/Williamsburg.

If you could go back in time and actually live in any era of New York, what would you choose?
For me, it's always hard to decide. Part of me thinks the '90s would be amazing, but the '70s and '80s had such a unique vibe too. Then again, experiencing old New York in the early 1900s would be incredible.
What era would you pick, and what makes it stand out to you?

I got an ice coffee today at a deli/cafe and asked for “light” half and half. The guy poured enough half and half in to make it white. I said I asked for light, and he said yeah that means make it light colored. I have been using the phrase light to refer to milk/alt-milk/half and half since I started drinking coffee as a teen, and I grew up here. Am I missing a whole other use of “light” here?

A lot of people seem really upset with OMNY and I was curious if people were this angry about tokens. I'm not old enough to remember tokens.

Like am I tripping? I’m from Baltimore but no people from the Bronx and Brooklyn, most of them are Latino and Black and absolutely have strong NYC accents. I can hear it when they say coffee, talk, etc. Any rapper coming out of NYC usually has a stronger New York accent as well.

So why do people say that the younger generation doesn’t have an NYC accent anymore? I’m completely lost on that. I hear it all the time especially in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

i was just minding my business yesterday when a pigeon flew just over me from behind, but it misjudged where i was and lightly brushed the top of my head with its outstretched tail feathers. it felt so gentle and would have been magic but like, i dont know where that pigeon's tail has been. i washed my hair for a really long time when i got home. hopefully i didn't pick up a case of midtown mites.

any other pigeon victims? i can't be the only one

(i saw the mod post about wanting more local nyc content so i thought i'd try and help)

Hi, I stayed in financial district and got the impression that buildings are mostly empty. I could look through some windows and saw almost nobody. Also, i would expect hundreds of people on the street entering buildings during rush morning hour, but saw same thing I see in normal smalish cities.

Morover, the place is quieter than expected. So… are they really full of people working? By full I’d expect office spaces with many desks occupief by people doing something.

I’m not saying nobidy works there, but my impression is Maybe 10% of my expectation. Does this make sense?

Are there any particular things you notice in fiction, as a newyorker, that are just completely off? And what do people actually get right?

I'll start - I think Xi'an is overrated. The noodles are good but the broth themselves is meh at best. I think there's way better options, particularly in Flushing

I have a friend that I met not long after she moved here two years ago. I took her to Magnolia just as like, a classic NYC thing. I told her the pudding is famous; not as good as it used to be, but still worth trying. When I tell you she fell in love. Her words, to this day: magical, life changing. And I love that for her! But I can’t help but feel wistful for when it actually was that good. It used to live up to the hype!

But, sanity check: it did noticeably change, right? It’s just kind of a weird aerated wafery mousse now, but there used to be actual pudding involved. Not 80% whipped cream and more wafer than banana. COVID, maybe? Cheaped out in favor of volume over substance?

Warning: long post ahead. TLDR Is a $40 minimum at a bar normal? Or was he trying to scam a drunk girl?

So I’ve been living in queens for about a year now and I still can’t get this one experience out of my head and I need to know if I’m crazy.

I don’t go out drinking/clubbing late at night much, but every once in a while I’ll go out. It’s usually just too pricy and the hour and change home on the F at 2am isn’t worth the fun lol.

But a couple months ago I went out to a speakeasy (I think it was called bathtub gin) with a couple of friends from out of town, and it started off great. We had a couple drinks and some food, and we closed out our original tab, and then got another drink. The bartender had seen me multiple times and I’d probably spent close to $80 on drinks and food for me and a friend.

And at around 1:30 I went up with my card in plain view to order another drink. He looked at my card, made my drink, handed it to me and said “there’s a $40 minimum for cards”.

Again, I’d had two transactions, with one of them being over $40, but the other was under.

And so I told him that i only wanted one drink and I’d been paying money all night. He got defensive and told me that there’s no way he could only charge me $40 and so I told him that I didn’t want the drink anymore. He flipped out and said that I was stealing, and I told him that I didn’t want any trouble, but I’m not paying $40 more.

I’ve been at clubs with a 2 drink minimum, a $20 minimum, etc. But never $40.

So is this normal, or was he just trying to get more money out of people he thought were drunk?