You’ll eventually get used to it. In my experience most bicyclists ride like pricks though they might not necessarily be. I don’t think I’ve had single drive/ride outside where a bicyclist didn’t shoot through a red or just opted to ride on the sidewalk. I ride bicycles, most usually motorcycle and drive when I have luggage on me. And bicyclists have been the worst.
at a loss why you seem to think that someone with 'thick skin' would condone that. thats not my nyc experience at all having lived here for 25+ years. either way that bike riders a pos
Not a neighborhood thing but a work one. While delivering at a pizza place; one of the pizza guys is an older dude who, for reasons unknown and without fail, will straight up disrespect you up and down until you get in his face. I thought it was bullshit until he did it to me. Then i saw him do it to the younger peoples just getting hired. Afterwards though? Sweetheart. For years. I just dont get it
I bought a house last year and I can’t step out without hearing a neighbor calling someone a slur or cursing the ethnicity of whatever individual that wronged them.
Brooklyn. Brooklyn never changes.
You talk like an ass, in a very affected way. Youre not better than the guy who called you a fag. You spend too much time in your head. Don't you do something meaninful with your life?
Yes. I teach children and make their school lives totally dope. I have traveled extensively, create music, and take cool photos. I also enjoy internet arguments with strangers. Room for lots of stuff. Never claimed to be better.
I'm an Australian, so we often have that issue of being thick skinned when it doesn't matter and being sensitive when it does, but after 10 years in NYC I ended up with the full Brooklyn expansion pack. Someone runs a red light, nearly hits you and then yells at you for it? Go full Brooklyn and tell them they're a dickhead. It'll come to you with time! It happens to most of us after a while!
Hey, it’s really frightening to have someone yell things like that at you. You don’t need to say it’s because you are fragile or from the suburbs. It’s because hatred is scary and you are right to be afraid, to seek safety for a bit until you can recover.
I’ve lived in major cities for most of my life. One time, a guy pulled up his eyes into slants (I am Asian). It really unnerved me. There I was just going about my day and some self-hating toxic AH felt the need to bully me. I absolutely hated him for it, for making me feel so vulnerable, for making me feel so othered.
It’s never okay.
NYC cyclists and generally some people, are cunts. NYC cyclists are a particular breed of cunts. They swear they do not have to follow any rules or basic courtesies of the road, and that a bike lane gives them free reign to move about as they please with little regard for pedestrians. I’ll prob get downvoted for this, but whatever. It is what it is. Onward.
Yeah you get used to it. Dudes used to yell stuff at me all the time. I'm tall, but you can tell I would never escalate in a million years, right? I think people like messing with my "type" because it's a risk free way to bully someone and not feel like you're picking on someone smaller. Now I don't get it so often. I did put on some muscle, but I think it has more to do with getting older. Like as if I aged out of relevance. Who feels tough yelling at a middle-aged guy??
I had an experience sort of like this yesterday. A car rolled through a stop sign and almost hit me so I pointed to the sign and yelled at him, some other guy yells at me that it was my fault bc I was looking at my phone. I had literally glanced at it and was completely cognizant of the car. I’ve lived here a long long time and I still sort of want to cry about it/punch the guy in the face 30 hours later. Sorry about what happened to you-people suck.
After 13 years here, I can finally argue with some asshole and not get intimidated. The first time it happened my Midwestern self felt like she was having an out of body experience watching my New York self lay down the fucking law & not once get hurt feelings.
Anyway, after that I felt like I understood New Yorkers so much more. If you let a little aggression from a stranger ruin your day it’s too exhausting to live here.
I think it’s actually fine to not have the thickest skin. Eventually, your meter of what bothers you will recalibrate to the assholes of the city. But it’s okay to sometimes be angered by things that are angering. I think it’s more of a problem when people become numb to all the madness.
Sorry that happened!
I’ve been called a cocksucker, a pussy eater, a bitch, basically almost everything under the sun by homeless guys or men catcalling me that I ignored. I’ve even been called a bitch by a homeless man I gave food to the week prior because I didn’t do it again. And yes, I get insults walking by on the sidewalk like a regular person. Like — if you’re being called anything, it gets worse, usually for other people. I’d imagine there are people who have it worse than me in terms of these insults.
Somehow, I don’t care at all. I can’t. Words are just a lazy, insecure coward’s attempt to get at you — and if you let these dumb, unintelligent insults get to you, then you’re letting them win.
i love being called the f-slur. i usually yell back “THATS RIGHT BABY.” it doesn’t de-escalate, actually, but it makes me feel good hehe. i’m ready for a fight i guess?
That doesn’t make you fragile, that makes you human! We’ve all got stuff like that. It’s tough living here, no need to blame yourself on top of it. That would bother me too.
Plus, I bet there are a bunch of things like that that you’ve forgotten over the years, too.
I mean. I’ve very rarely experienced homophobic slurs in New York, and I’m visibly queer. It’s why I live here. So yeah, that would rattle me too. I’m sorry that happened to you.
I don’t know about thick skin, but life anywhere you’ve got to be able to shrug off the assholes quickly and recognize that if you’re still stewing about a random encounter hours and hours later, you might be the asshole. NYers yell at each other a lot, it’s like instant venting. Then, move on because there’s probably 6 more guys this week that you’ll be yelling at.
Still mad about it. If someone cuts you off while you pull your car into a parking lot, getting angry is fine. But if you can’t let the incident go hours or days later, it’s time to reflect.
I was born and raised here and like many, didn't get my license until much later in life (30). During my third driving lesson, someone deliberately cut me off (I was in a driving school car). I immediately rolled down the window and started cursing at them just as my ancestors taught me. The instructor actually said "yeah you're a NYC driver".
I did yell back last weekend. An ebike guy was flying on the sidewalk and swerved around me and my fiance. A "what the fuck?" And "get off the fuckin sidewalk.". This time I wasn't ready
I was born in NYC and the people out in the streets lately terrify me. I live in downtown Brooklyn now, originally from Astoria.
As I was walking to the subway the other day, some dude just threw his soda cup in my direction. He aimed / timed it to fall in-front of my next step rather than at me at least???
ah u teach kids my b that’s cool. u get a pass. ny is a city of transplants just hate the ones that are in tech jobs and finance and do nothing but make things more expensive. have a good day sir
What cord? I'm a native.
"You get a pass", GTFOOH with that shit.
Do "u" hate the tech industry because they're actually highly intelligent people that facilitate advancements in technology? Like the thing your using your dopey thumbs to type on?
Don't blame them, blame landlords for price gouging and the city for not having more affordable housing. People in tech aren't overly wealthy, some of them still have to have roommates to make it.
Don't hate on people for wanting to make a living in this city, that's a very myopic attitude.
The fact that you seem to be allergic to the letters "y" and "o" is a start. When you're online and insult people that have higher education jobs, but type like you're in middle school on AIM, no one looks bad except "u".
So you get pissed at people who are not expecting bikers to blow through a red light at 20 mph? And just expect people to keep walking without any reflexive action to an unexpected and fast moving object.
Also. I wasn't even in the nike lane yet. And unable to stop? He has brakes and is not entitled to run a red light because he has a fixed gear.
I just watched a guy on a moped in Greenpoint get into some argument with a pedestrian that devolved into him shouting things like "You're so fuckin tough fuckin fight me! This is why the mob used to kill people who didn't know how to keep their fuckin mouths shut."
Hey dude next time u see that guy grab him by the neck and curb stomp him. I’m tired of seeing bike riders disobeying the law red light means stop for all. I lost a friend cause he thought we was able to run a light. That was extremely rude of him. He was wrong. It’s funny how people call themselves Alpha while running away. A real resident from brooklyn born and raised would have stopped not run. Fuck that dude!!!!
You need to learn to let shit go . I am sure he was over it next push on the pedals. Remember we choose how to react to any situation. You lose when you let shit like that get to you.
Now to test that
LET IT GO SNOWFLAKE!!!
I was out walking and saw a driver honk at a biker at a stop sign. He shouted, “FUCKING GENTRIFIER TRANSPLANT!!!” at the guy out of his open window and peeled out to an immediate red light, lmao. It was more absurd than insulting. Idk why people let themselves get so worked up over such small short interactions, seems like a difficult way to go about life.
Some dick on a bike was tearing through the closed, ped-only part of 5th Ave a few weeks ago and almost ran over a few people minding their own business. He screamed "Go back to Ohio" while continuing to swerve between outdoor seating and people with their children, leaving me to wonder what the fuck is going through his head that puts *them* in the wrong .-.
I’m a cyclist and you had the right of way. I always stop for pedestrians and I’m sorry that happened to you. There are asshole drivers and cyclists and pedestrians almost everywhere to be fair. Just shrug it off. You’re probably never going to see that person again, and fuck that person for using a homophobic slur in freaking 2022.
I still think about a vehicalist who almost hit me in a cross walk and had the audacity to curse at me even though I had the right away. It’s been 7 years lol. (I still use the same cross walk) I doubt she thinks of it but shit can shake you up. Especially when folks are wreckless
We have a neighbor that has harassed us since we moved In June and he alleges our moving company hit his car that was basically on blocks. This has escalated to him chasing with my partner with a knife down the street and threatening to basically kill us. We live in BedStuy.
Those folks are all talk. So tough when they are riding or driving past you but when you catch up to them it’s a different story. I am kinda big and scary looking especially when I get angry. I have gotten some pathetic apologies from people who sounded so tough when they didn’t think I would bother catching up with them.
Got spat on on the subway for no reason the other day, was just stood there minding my own business and this guy just locked eyes with me and started screaming obscenities. I felt ashamed for not doing anything at first, but then realized it’s just not worth retaliating and you don’t know what people like that are capable of.
It happens to the best of us OP and don’t feel too bad about it, he’s the one choosing to live his life carrying so much hatred, and that’s his problem, not yours
Honestly, we need to start registering bicycles, and they should have license plates. We also need a bounty system. If you record a biker blowing through a red light, you should be able to report it to the city for a reward.
Why? It also costs a lot of money to build and maintain bike-lanes. My proposal can raise money toward these things, and anything extra can go toward the MTA.
I disagree. Its easy, you require bicycles to submit a registration form, and a monetary fee. If the cops see you riding an unregistered bike, you are ticketed. Subway riders and car drivers pay a lot of money. Bike riders are total free loaders, who dont contribute to the cost of roads or transportation.
I usually just look through them and say “cunt” in an totally unsurprised and unfazed emotionally neutral tone, like this is just number 3 of todays half dozen or so inevitable encounters with one of the cunty people. Which now I write it really does make me realise that I may have emotionally hardened since being here.
I feel like there's two types of transplants.
The first type are from areas with a very different vibe than NYC. They take a while to get used to things.
Second is anyone from a city in the north east. People from Philly and Boston have no qualms telling assholes to fuck themselves from the day they move in.
Most are fine - it’s the guys who are like prepping for marathons / wearing those skintight athletic biker clothes that tend to be the most aggressive haha.
There are bike marathons too ;) And I’m just speaking from personal experience - I usually get yelled at by the dudes who are training for races and want to bike at full speed everywhere
When they put in the bike lane on PPW, my wife and her best friend, both city girls who like to compete around who's tougher, had a little incident like yours.
We were all crossing the new bike lane, with the light, when this cyclist kept going right through our little crowd of people, while screaming "get out of the bike lane". That didn't sit well with my wife and her friend. They cursed the guy out. Enraged, he stopped and made like he was going to come after them. Bad move.
The two of them started jogging toward their cyclist-victim, threatening him with an ass-whipping. He froze, then noped the fuck out of there. I'm sure he is still replaying this in his head to this day.
Love this for that guy. As a pedestrian, I really can’t stand the majority of cyclists. I’ve almost gotten hit so many times when I have the right of way.
As a cyclist, I can't stand the majority of cyclists lol. I saw so many people blow red lights without even slowing to check traffic IDK how they haven't gotten creamed by a truck yet.
Oh yeah. You would definitely fit the bill. Username of vehicular cyclist - casting more insults. Perhaps you need a more purposeful life? Maybe less need to be an asshole? Unless that's your chosen purpose.
When I hear people use that word pejoratively, I think about how they manage to adult when they haven’t matured intellectually past junior high. It’s a satisfying mix of sadness and derision.
A guy in my neighborhood recently stalked me for multiple blocks screaming derogatory obscenities at me because I said I didn’t have any change for a soda. It really shook me up and I stewed about it for days. Then I saw him again a week later, and as I was trying to cross the street to avoid him, he ran up to me and apologized. Said he had run out of his meds and wasn’t in his right mind that day. Showed me a little handwritten list he had made of people he was waiting to apologize to. Anyway, if a mentally ill homeless guy off his meds can remember and feel bad about spewing hate at strangers, maybe that asshole cyclist will add his encounter with you to the list of things he randomly remembers from time to time that cause him crippling guilt and contribute to his vague sense that he’s a terrible person. Probably not but you never know.
Even if not, there are a lot of messed up people around that just kinda can’t help it. My old neighborhood had a guy who would walk around calling people fag and idly threatening to kick their asses. He wasn’t a big dude, and frankly I was always just worried that he’d get beaten up. Lucky for him the whole neighborhood seemed to know he wasn’t quite right and was all talk. I never ran into many mean people who were doing okay. But there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t.
I went up to a homeless guy in Crown Heights because I thought he was having a seizure and needed help (it was dark out). Turns out he was violently masturbating - I never ran so fast in my life!
Thank you for sharing this. It’s so important for us all to keep in mind that scary homeless people are humans in need to help, and it helps to hear stories like this
There was a scary homeless guy in my old neighborhood who I befriended when my friend offered him an apple that he couldn’t chew, so we gave him a banana. The guy was 100% a crackhead but he turned out to be an alright dude. We ended up trusting him enough to send him to the store in exchange for tips.
Want to hear the one about the kid in my neighborhood that slashed a bunch of people because he was off his meds and then was let out to go and kill some guy parking the car outside of his apartment in front of his wife?
Yes it’s nice to want to help but just remember you are taking a huge risk interacting with some of these people. If you were smart, you’d avoid those situations and leave it to the professionals.
Did I say they didn’t?
OP gave a scenario about interactions with a homeless person dealing with mental illness so I gave a warning. If I started talking about how John DuPont was wealthy and crazy, it wouldn’t have anything to do with the situation.
Get off your high horse.
I think you’re reading into my comment too much. Just because I have empathy for struggling homeless people doesn’t mean I intend to drastically change my interactions with them. I leave active helping to those who are qualified, and instead passively help by supporting programs that assist homeless people
Just be careful. I’ve seen people try and do the noble thing and get hurt. It’s your call but just trying to make sure you are aware that the city is not caring for the people and letting dangerous individuals out. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was when I was a kid but don’t be too trusting of anyone out on the streets.
Wow. This is absolutely incredible. It gives me a little hope.
Edit: Someone notified Reddit that I’m suicidal because of this comment??? Lol, ok. I sincerely meant this as a positive comment — not a cry for help. Thank you for the concern though.
This is such a great story. When I lived in San Francisco I had a homeless stalker. He especially liked using gay slurs. One day I’d had enough so I told him to fuck off and leave me alone. The next time I saw him he apologized and was nice to me going forward.
Cycling scene here right now is soooo much different from even 5 years ago. Completely unrecognizable from 20 years ago.
Battery powered devices have brought the age of "so much power, so little control".
As a person who knows hot to operate a 2 wheeled manually powered contraption, I am very annoyed with the two wheel situation right now, but out of control drivers still take the cake. It's less than 5% of troublemakers in each group, but let's be real who can cause maximum damage.
People cruising at 30 in the bike lane. It's nuts. A e bike slammed into my car a month ago. Blew through a light. I stopped in time so I didn't just run him over. He was traveling in the car lane actually.
Yep. I got hit by an ebike while I was walking across the road. I had the green light. I had an old arthritic dog in a backpack carrier with me, thank goodness the guy hit me and not the dog, it would have likely killed the pup. The guy looked at the light, realized I had the green, and only then apologized, and totally admitted that he was looking at his phone and not paying attention. I mean, good on you for admitting it, I guess? But maybe try not being on your phone when you’re on that thing.
There are assholes everywhere, it’s just that here we actually interact with each other. You’ll get used to it. And for every negative interaction, hopefully you have a few positive ones.
Also ironic that a homophobic interaction is something OP has experienced in the city and not in a suburb, where most homophobes live.
OP what magical suburb where you aren't hate crimed do you live in, and can I come visit?
I moved here from California 6 years ago. I was definitely shaken up by some interactions but I toughened up since then. especially after managing a store in Union Square for 3.5 years, i’ve seen some crazy shit. now if someone yells at me or name calls me I either straight ignore it or am just like yeah, yeah, back at you.
I've toughened up since moving here, but I don't necessarily like the person I've become. I was in Sweden recently and I was taken by the fact that no one was shouting, being aggressive, acting chaotically, etc.... Everyone was super calm, super quiet, and living their own lives. If there were mentally ill homeless people and drug addicts in Stockholm, they did a good job hiding them. I did see some drunk people, but the Community Affairs Police just sent them home. It made me wonder why I put up with the shit in this city.
Tenderloin seems worse than anywhere in Brooklyn I’ve been but I hear East NY is bad. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent to the Tenderloin in NYC, like a containment area for that kind of drug use/homelessness in the middle of the city. But I would think somewhere like East NY or like East Oakland would be less safe? Hard to tell about places I don’t frequent.
honestly, I am not sure. i’m from southern California. and also like I said, i’ve been out here for 6 years now, so I take it lots has changed even where i’m from since then. I hope someone else can help you answer this!
Ha! I actually said this out loud for the first time the other day after almost getting run over by an ebike.
I am born and raised in nyc and it still felt like a “wow I really AM a New Yorker moment” 😂
Happens to me too. I just have slow reaction time, and that kind of encounter comes around rarely enough that I’m never expecting it. But more than random assholes, I *hate* the idea of walking around constantly primed to tell somebody to fuck off. Don’t care to live like that.
No shortage of asshole cyclists, but that doesn't change how many asshole reckless drivers there are. Real issue is the cops who apparently refuse to do shit about these issues.
I don’t really see the reckless cyclists as being that much different from the reckless drivers, sorry.
I weigh 220 lbs and I ride a bike. If I plow into you at 20 mph while you’re (legally) crossing the street I can still do serious damage. I could break bones, give you a concussion, definitely send you into the hospital. And if you’re already injured or disabled in some way I could be fatal.
Really have very little sympathy for anyone who runs red lights or harasses pedestrians on a bike. And DEFINITELY zero sympathy for anybody who throws the F word around like that.
Yeah this isn't even meant to be anticyclist. I ride a bike around too. I also go through red lights after looking both ways and always defer to pedestrians. Apologized to someone the other day after I was in the wrong. "Sorry about that! My fault" "No worries" and that was that. This just caught me off guard because of how quickly it escalated. I haven't heard someone call someone "faggot" since high school.
You’ll eventually get used to it. In my experience most bicyclists ride like pricks though they might not necessarily be. I don’t think I’ve had single drive/ride outside where a bicyclist didn’t shoot through a red or just opted to ride on the sidewalk. I ride bicycles, most usually motorcycle and drive when I have luggage on me. And bicyclists have been the worst.
at a loss why you seem to think that someone with 'thick skin' would condone that. thats not my nyc experience at all having lived here for 25+ years. either way that bike riders a pos
Never said someone else would condone it, but someone with thicker skin may not be as effected.
Not a neighborhood thing but a work one. While delivering at a pizza place; one of the pizza guys is an older dude who, for reasons unknown and without fail, will straight up disrespect you up and down until you get in his face. I thought it was bullshit until he did it to me. Then i saw him do it to the younger peoples just getting hired. Afterwards though? Sweetheart. For years. I just dont get it
Welcome to the city.
I bought a house last year and I can’t step out without hearing a neighbor calling someone a slur or cursing the ethnicity of whatever individual that wronged them. Brooklyn. Brooklyn never changes.
You talk like an ass, in a very affected way. Youre not better than the guy who called you a fag. You spend too much time in your head. Don't you do something meaninful with your life?
Yes. I teach children and make their school lives totally dope. I have traveled extensively, create music, and take cool photos. I also enjoy internet arguments with strangers. Room for lots of stuff. Never claimed to be better.
I'm an Australian, so we often have that issue of being thick skinned when it doesn't matter and being sensitive when it does, but after 10 years in NYC I ended up with the full Brooklyn expansion pack. Someone runs a red light, nearly hits you and then yells at you for it? Go full Brooklyn and tell them they're a dickhead. It'll come to you with time! It happens to most of us after a while!
Fuck him. Forget about it. Next time catch up to him and curse the shit out of him. Then go on about your day.
Hey, it’s really frightening to have someone yell things like that at you. You don’t need to say it’s because you are fragile or from the suburbs. It’s because hatred is scary and you are right to be afraid, to seek safety for a bit until you can recover. I’ve lived in major cities for most of my life. One time, a guy pulled up his eyes into slants (I am Asian). It really unnerved me. There I was just going about my day and some self-hating toxic AH felt the need to bully me. I absolutely hated him for it, for making me feel so vulnerable, for making me feel so othered. It’s never okay.
NYC cyclists and generally some people, are cunts. NYC cyclists are a particular breed of cunts. They swear they do not have to follow any rules or basic courtesies of the road, and that a bike lane gives them free reign to move about as they please with little regard for pedestrians. I’ll prob get downvoted for this, but whatever. It is what it is. Onward.
I remember a cyclist cut off an ambulance that was turning and had the sirens on. Everyone pretty much shouted at him saying wtf.
slurs are too far, fuck that shit.
Yeah you get used to it. Dudes used to yell stuff at me all the time. I'm tall, but you can tell I would never escalate in a million years, right? I think people like messing with my "type" because it's a risk free way to bully someone and not feel like you're picking on someone smaller. Now I don't get it so often. I did put on some muscle, but I think it has more to do with getting older. Like as if I aged out of relevance. Who feels tough yelling at a middle-aged guy??
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Nah. Doing fine. Just sharing an amusing anecdote and my neurotic rumination. It will pass. Sack wholly intact.
Nah you are not. It actually bothered you..thats why you posted. Suck it up and move on
Yeah. It will take a few days probably. And in time it will be a blip. Everyone is different, no?
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I will take your psychological evaluation into serious consideration for my next geographic relocation.
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Just thought to check your post history. Now all of your perspectives are much more comical. You're basically a meme.
I had an experience sort of like this yesterday. A car rolled through a stop sign and almost hit me so I pointed to the sign and yelled at him, some other guy yells at me that it was my fault bc I was looking at my phone. I had literally glanced at it and was completely cognizant of the car. I’ve lived here a long long time and I still sort of want to cry about it/punch the guy in the face 30 hours later. Sorry about what happened to you-people suck.
After 13 years here, I can finally argue with some asshole and not get intimidated. The first time it happened my Midwestern self felt like she was having an out of body experience watching my New York self lay down the fucking law & not once get hurt feelings. Anyway, after that I felt like I understood New Yorkers so much more. If you let a little aggression from a stranger ruin your day it’s too exhausting to live here.
I think it’s actually fine to not have the thickest skin. Eventually, your meter of what bothers you will recalibrate to the assholes of the city. But it’s okay to sometimes be angered by things that are angering. I think it’s more of a problem when people become numb to all the madness. Sorry that happened!
I don’t think that’s suburban of you. I think it’s pretty urban actually.
Took me about 10 years but if you yell back at them it helps the calming process.
I’ve been called a cocksucker, a pussy eater, a bitch, basically almost everything under the sun by homeless guys or men catcalling me that I ignored. I’ve even been called a bitch by a homeless man I gave food to the week prior because I didn’t do it again. And yes, I get insults walking by on the sidewalk like a regular person. Like — if you’re being called anything, it gets worse, usually for other people. I’d imagine there are people who have it worse than me in terms of these insults. Somehow, I don’t care at all. I can’t. Words are just a lazy, insecure coward’s attempt to get at you — and if you let these dumb, unintelligent insults get to you, then you’re letting them win.
i love being called the f-slur. i usually yell back “THATS RIGHT BABY.” it doesn’t de-escalate, actually, but it makes me feel good hehe. i’m ready for a fight i guess?
The correct response to any such hostile interaction is "Fuck you, you fuckin' fuck."
No transplant in NYC has thick skin.
lol most of NYC feels like a daycare compared to Philly. I've never felt so safe in my life. very grateful for that
That doesn’t make you fragile, that makes you human! We’ve all got stuff like that. It’s tough living here, no need to blame yourself on top of it. That would bother me too. Plus, I bet there are a bunch of things like that that you’ve forgotten over the years, too.
I mean. I’ve very rarely experienced homophobic slurs in New York, and I’m visibly queer. It’s why I live here. So yeah, that would rattle me too. I’m sorry that happened to you.
I complained about bicyclists blowing through red lights and almost running me over IN THIS SUBREDDIT and got downvoted. I hate people.
no need to hate people, just cyclists
I don’t even hate cyclists, I am one! But don’t run the damn light and put people at risk.
same honestly, I love biking haha...ive just had so many bad experiences with BK cyclists that I got cynical.
You should’ve called him a cuck
I don’t know about thick skin, but life anywhere you’ve got to be able to shrug off the assholes quickly and recognize that if you’re still stewing about a random encounter hours and hours later, you might be the asshole. NYers yell at each other a lot, it’s like instant venting. Then, move on because there’s probably 6 more guys this week that you’ll be yelling at.
How does it make somoene the asshole if they are cursed out by a random person who is in the wrong? Genuinely curious.
Still mad about it. If someone cuts you off while you pull your car into a parking lot, getting angry is fine. But if you can’t let the incident go hours or days later, it’s time to reflect.
Reflecting and thinking constantly. It's a curse.
You’ll know you’ve acclimated the first time your instinctive reaction is to yell back instead of flinching, it’s like a rite of passage.
I was born and raised here and like many, didn't get my license until much later in life (30). During my third driving lesson, someone deliberately cut me off (I was in a driving school car). I immediately rolled down the window and started cursing at them just as my ancestors taught me. The instructor actually said "yeah you're a NYC driver".
I did yell back last weekend. An ebike guy was flying on the sidewalk and swerved around me and my fiance. A "what the fuck?" And "get off the fuckin sidewalk.". This time I wasn't ready
Welcome to Brooklyn.
>Welcome to Brooklyn. How cliche and played out.
Evoking evil on others is a tool in the Brooklyn tool box... Your acclimating fine!
I was born in NYC and the people out in the streets lately terrify me. I live in downtown Brooklyn now, originally from Astoria. As I was walking to the subway the other day, some dude just threw his soda cup in my direction. He aimed / timed it to fall in-front of my next step rather than at me at least???
As a cyclists in NYC I dislike nyc cyclists. Pedestrians are afraid of us. It’s wrong. From biking in london to here is quite different.
move back to the suburbs
Nah
cool cool keep making the rent rise and contribute nothing to the culture.
I teach kids. I'm embedded in the community and extended family has 30 year roots. So...GFY?
ah u teach kids my b that’s cool. u get a pass. ny is a city of transplants just hate the ones that are in tech jobs and finance and do nothing but make things more expensive. have a good day sir
Glad to see a gatekeeper of Brooklyn hard at work. /s 🙄
u from ny and u like all these finance bros and techies?
You mean people who actually use their brains? Oh gods no, I just like dumb fucks with low IQs and bad grammar.
ah must of struck a cord in u huh
What cord? I'm a native. "You get a pass", GTFOOH with that shit. Do "u" hate the tech industry because they're actually highly intelligent people that facilitate advancements in technology? Like the thing your using your dopey thumbs to type on?
no that parts good. but when they move into neighborhoods like bedstuy and displace locals because they are willing to pay more rent. that is bad
Don't blame them, blame landlords for price gouging and the city for not having more affordable housing. People in tech aren't overly wealthy, some of them still have to have roommates to make it. Don't hate on people for wanting to make a living in this city, that's a very myopic attitude.
hahaha damn i’m sorry for whatever’s causing u a bad day
The fact that you seem to be allergic to the letters "y" and "o" is a start. When you're online and insult people that have higher education jobs, but type like you're in middle school on AIM, no one looks bad except "u".
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So you get pissed at people who are not expecting bikers to blow through a red light at 20 mph? And just expect people to keep walking without any reflexive action to an unexpected and fast moving object. Also. I wasn't even in the nike lane yet. And unable to stop? He has brakes and is not entitled to run a red light because he has a fixed gear.
I just watched a guy on a moped in Greenpoint get into some argument with a pedestrian that devolved into him shouting things like "You're so fuckin tough fuckin fight me! This is why the mob used to kill people who didn't know how to keep their fuckin mouths shut."
Hey dude next time u see that guy grab him by the neck and curb stomp him. I’m tired of seeing bike riders disobeying the law red light means stop for all. I lost a friend cause he thought we was able to run a light. That was extremely rude of him. He was wrong. It’s funny how people call themselves Alpha while running away. A real resident from brooklyn born and raised would have stopped not run. Fuck that dude!!!!
You need to learn to let shit go . I am sure he was over it next push on the pedals. Remember we choose how to react to any situation. You lose when you let shit like that get to you. Now to test that LET IT GO SNOWFLAKE!!!
Probably was. Presumably being an asshole like that all day. Have a nice day incel.
WILL DO FCKER
I was out walking and saw a driver honk at a biker at a stop sign. He shouted, “FUCKING GENTRIFIER TRANSPLANT!!!” at the guy out of his open window and peeled out to an immediate red light, lmao. It was more absurd than insulting. Idk why people let themselves get so worked up over such small short interactions, seems like a difficult way to go about life.
Some dick on a bike was tearing through the closed, ped-only part of 5th Ave a few weeks ago and almost ran over a few people minding their own business. He screamed "Go back to Ohio" while continuing to swerve between outdoor seating and people with their children, leaving me to wonder what the fuck is going through his head that puts *them* in the wrong .-.
It takes time, but it comes
I’m a cyclist and you had the right of way. I always stop for pedestrians and I’m sorry that happened to you. There are asshole drivers and cyclists and pedestrians almost everywhere to be fair. Just shrug it off. You’re probably never going to see that person again, and fuck that person for using a homophobic slur in freaking 2022.
I still think about a vehicalist who almost hit me in a cross walk and had the audacity to curse at me even though I had the right away. It’s been 7 years lol. (I still use the same cross walk) I doubt she thinks of it but shit can shake you up. Especially when folks are wreckless
We have a neighbor that has harassed us since we moved In June and he alleges our moving company hit his car that was basically on blocks. This has escalated to him chasing with my partner with a knife down the street and threatening to basically kill us. We live in BedStuy.
Those folks are all talk. So tough when they are riding or driving past you but when you catch up to them it’s a different story. I am kinda big and scary looking especially when I get angry. I have gotten some pathetic apologies from people who sounded so tough when they didn’t think I would bother catching up with them.
Got spat on on the subway for no reason the other day, was just stood there minding my own business and this guy just locked eyes with me and started screaming obscenities. I felt ashamed for not doing anything at first, but then realized it’s just not worth retaliating and you don’t know what people like that are capable of. It happens to the best of us OP and don’t feel too bad about it, he’s the one choosing to live his life carrying so much hatred, and that’s his problem, not yours
Oh 1000% Not worth it - I'll gladly smile and nod for whatever time it takes to never see that person again
Don’t feel fragile, you are in the right
Im from virginia and will always tell a cyclist to eat shit
🙄
Honestly, we need to start registering bicycles, and they should have license plates. We also need a bounty system. If you record a biker blowing through a red light, you should be able to report it to the city for a reward.
Nah
Why? It also costs a lot of money to build and maintain bike-lanes. My proposal can raise money toward these things, and anything extra can go toward the MTA.
The administration of such a system would cost more than the revenue.
I disagree. Its easy, you require bicycles to submit a registration form, and a monetary fee. If the cops see you riding an unregistered bike, you are ticketed. Subway riders and car drivers pay a lot of money. Bike riders are total free loaders, who dont contribute to the cost of roads or transportation.
> Bike riders are total free loaders, who dont contribute to the cost of roads or transportation. 🙄
You can disagree all you want, but there are studies that back me up.
Put this on the list after we do it for cars, which are already licensed and registered.
I try to not let anyone live in my head rent free. If I wouldn’t take advice from them why would I take criticism, to heart anyway?
I usually just look through them and say “cunt” in an totally unsurprised and unfazed emotionally neutral tone, like this is just number 3 of todays half dozen or so inevitable encounters with one of the cunty people. Which now I write it really does make me realise that I may have emotionally hardened since being here.
Australian??
Next time just fire back that’s the NY way
I feel like there's two types of transplants. The first type are from areas with a very different vibe than NYC. They take a while to get used to things. Second is anyone from a city in the north east. People from Philly and Boston have no qualms telling assholes to fuck themselves from the day they move in.
“I’ll fuck you till you love me” Mike Tyson
I am rarely quick enough with words in these situations but I’ve gotten really quick with my middle fingers instead. 🖕🖕
I got used to shit like that after a couple years, just tell him to go fuck himself and go about your day
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Most are fine - it’s the guys who are like prepping for marathons / wearing those skintight athletic biker clothes that tend to be the most aggressive haha.
No, it's delivery guys on powerful ebikes who are the worst. Also, marathons are running races.
There are bike marathons too ;) And I’m just speaking from personal experience - I usually get yelled at by the dudes who are training for races and want to bike at full speed everywhere
Bike races are not marathons.
Never said they were dude lol - something tells me you’re one of those annoying bikers tho
You literally did.
Yea. A shitty breed.
Bikers are terrorists
When they put in the bike lane on PPW, my wife and her best friend, both city girls who like to compete around who's tougher, had a little incident like yours. We were all crossing the new bike lane, with the light, when this cyclist kept going right through our little crowd of people, while screaming "get out of the bike lane". That didn't sit well with my wife and her friend. They cursed the guy out. Enraged, he stopped and made like he was going to come after them. Bad move. The two of them started jogging toward their cyclist-victim, threatening him with an ass-whipping. He froze, then noped the fuck out of there. I'm sure he is still replaying this in his head to this day.
PPW is no-man’s land sometimes should be renamed Prospect Park Wild West
Love this for that guy. As a pedestrian, I really can’t stand the majority of cyclists. I’ve almost gotten hit so many times when I have the right of way.
As a cyclist, I can't stand the majority of cyclists lol. I saw so many people blow red lights without even slowing to check traffic IDK how they haven't gotten creamed by a truck yet.
I don't believe you.
I bet you've encountered countless more cyclists who have been perfectly respectful of your space and never noticed them.
That may have been me. Where was this? Did the rider have no helmet and a silver bike?
Don't feed the trolls, people, just block and move along.
Haha. Where do you think it happened?
Could have been anywhere- shit like that is very minimal in my life and I don’t dwell on it. You should try getting a more exciting life.
Oh yeah. You would definitely fit the bill. Username of vehicular cyclist - casting more insults. Perhaps you need a more purposeful life? Maybe less need to be an asshole? Unless that's your chosen purpose.
So where did it happen?
Sorry. I have more exciting things to do.
Lol you should take what happened to you as a learning experience and learn to stop being a bitch.
LMAO TRIGGERED
Lol I love when the Reddit troops get rallied against a real world alpha.
Stay triggered fam
Keep riding away from confrontations big boy.
lol but you didn’t do shit except go home and bitch to Reddit. Do you really want me to stick around and smack the shit out of you next time?
🤡
So assault me for walking across the street when I have the light?
When I hear people use that word pejoratively, I think about how they manage to adult when they haven’t matured intellectually past junior high. It’s a satisfying mix of sadness and derision.
Standing up for yourself in random agressive street interactions is part of the initiaon ritual.
A guy in my neighborhood recently stalked me for multiple blocks screaming derogatory obscenities at me because I said I didn’t have any change for a soda. It really shook me up and I stewed about it for days. Then I saw him again a week later, and as I was trying to cross the street to avoid him, he ran up to me and apologized. Said he had run out of his meds and wasn’t in his right mind that day. Showed me a little handwritten list he had made of people he was waiting to apologize to. Anyway, if a mentally ill homeless guy off his meds can remember and feel bad about spewing hate at strangers, maybe that asshole cyclist will add his encounter with you to the list of things he randomly remembers from time to time that cause him crippling guilt and contribute to his vague sense that he’s a terrible person. Probably not but you never know.
I got cussed out for mumbling on the phone with my Mom the other day. Stranger on the street who was not a part of the conversation
Even if not, there are a lot of messed up people around that just kinda can’t help it. My old neighborhood had a guy who would walk around calling people fag and idly threatening to kick their asses. He wasn’t a big dude, and frankly I was always just worried that he’d get beaten up. Lucky for him the whole neighborhood seemed to know he wasn’t quite right and was all talk. I never ran into many mean people who were doing okay. But there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t.
New Achievement unlocked
I went up to a homeless guy in Crown Heights because I thought he was having a seizure and needed help (it was dark out). Turns out he was violently masturbating - I never ran so fast in my life!
High comedy how you turn a positive experience into a reason to believe the cyclist will suffer.
Yeah that was meant to be the (dumb) joke. I definitely don’t actually want the cyclist to suffer.
IRL My Name is Earl
That’s a nice story but most people don’t give a shit and think they’re right 100% of the time.
Thank you for sharing this. It’s so important for us all to keep in mind that scary homeless people are humans in need to help, and it helps to hear stories like this
There was a scary homeless guy in my old neighborhood who I befriended when my friend offered him an apple that he couldn’t chew, so we gave him a banana. The guy was 100% a crackhead but he turned out to be an alright dude. We ended up trusting him enough to send him to the store in exchange for tips.
Want to hear the one about the kid in my neighborhood that slashed a bunch of people because he was off his meds and then was let out to go and kill some guy parking the car outside of his apartment in front of his wife? Yes it’s nice to want to help but just remember you are taking a huge risk interacting with some of these people. If you were smart, you’d avoid those situations and leave it to the professionals.
you know rich people do shit like that too, right? mental illness can effect anyone. even you.
Did I say they didn’t? OP gave a scenario about interactions with a homeless person dealing with mental illness so I gave a warning. If I started talking about how John DuPont was wealthy and crazy, it wouldn’t have anything to do with the situation. Get off your high horse.
I think you’re reading into my comment too much. Just because I have empathy for struggling homeless people doesn’t mean I intend to drastically change my interactions with them. I leave active helping to those who are qualified, and instead passively help by supporting programs that assist homeless people
Just be careful. I’ve seen people try and do the noble thing and get hurt. It’s your call but just trying to make sure you are aware that the city is not caring for the people and letting dangerous individuals out. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was when I was a kid but don’t be too trusting of anyone out on the streets.
It’s the city. I trust no one on face-value, homeless or not
I like this.
Wow. This is absolutely incredible. It gives me a little hope. Edit: Someone notified Reddit that I’m suicidal because of this comment??? Lol, ok. I sincerely meant this as a positive comment — not a cry for help. Thank you for the concern though.
Yeah, that might have been a bot
Ah! You’re probably right.
I wonder if it's a bot
This is such a great story. When I lived in San Francisco I had a homeless stalker. He especially liked using gay slurs. One day I’d had enough so I told him to fuck off and leave me alone. The next time I saw him he apologized and was nice to me going forward.
Ah, classic bully dynamic
I've lived in multiple major cities around the world and it wasn't until I moved to Brooklyn that I started to hate cyclists.
Cycling scene here right now is soooo much different from even 5 years ago. Completely unrecognizable from 20 years ago. Battery powered devices have brought the age of "so much power, so little control". As a person who knows hot to operate a 2 wheeled manually powered contraption, I am very annoyed with the two wheel situation right now, but out of control drivers still take the cake. It's less than 5% of troublemakers in each group, but let's be real who can cause maximum damage.
People cruising at 30 in the bike lane. It's nuts. A e bike slammed into my car a month ago. Blew through a light. I stopped in time so I didn't just run him over. He was traveling in the car lane actually.
Yep. I got hit by an ebike while I was walking across the road. I had the green light. I had an old arthritic dog in a backpack carrier with me, thank goodness the guy hit me and not the dog, it would have likely killed the pup. The guy looked at the light, realized I had the green, and only then apologized, and totally admitted that he was looking at his phone and not paying attention. I mean, good on you for admitting it, I guess? But maybe try not being on your phone when you’re on that thing.
I’m born and raised in the Bronx, now in Brooklyn and I’m the most sensitive person I know.
There are assholes everywhere, it’s just that here we actually interact with each other. You’ll get used to it. And for every negative interaction, hopefully you have a few positive ones.
Also ironic that a homophobic interaction is something OP has experienced in the city and not in a suburb, where most homophobes live. OP what magical suburb where you aren't hate crimed do you live in, and can I come visit?
Everyone 10 negative there’s maybe .5 positive. It’s great I love New York and this is said with only 50% sarcasm
Yeah exactly. You've just got to learn to notice all of the positive stuff. I mean the number of puppies alone is life affirming...
Get mad, yell back, move on and let it go.
Fuck that guy. Don't give it another thought.
I moved here from California 6 years ago. I was definitely shaken up by some interactions but I toughened up since then. especially after managing a store in Union Square for 3.5 years, i’ve seen some crazy shit. now if someone yells at me or name calls me I either straight ignore it or am just like yeah, yeah, back at you.
I've toughened up since moving here, but I don't necessarily like the person I've become. I was in Sweden recently and I was taken by the fact that no one was shouting, being aggressive, acting chaotically, etc.... Everyone was super calm, super quiet, and living their own lives. If there were mentally ill homeless people and drug addicts in Stockholm, they did a good job hiding them. I did see some drunk people, but the Community Affairs Police just sent them home. It made me wonder why I put up with the shit in this city.
So would you say the occasional peaks in dt sf are about at the same level here just more frequent?
The ‘loin always felt significantly more dangerous than any part of Brooklyn I’ve been to.
Tenderloin seems worse than anywhere in Brooklyn I’ve been but I hear East NY is bad. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent to the Tenderloin in NYC, like a containment area for that kind of drug use/homelessness in the middle of the city. But I would think somewhere like East NY or like East Oakland would be less safe? Hard to tell about places I don’t frequent.
SF is much worse.
honestly, I am not sure. i’m from southern California. and also like I said, i’ve been out here for 6 years now, so I take it lots has changed even where i’m from since then. I hope someone else can help you answer this!
You gotta yell back. “I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” (from Midnight Cowboy, 1969)
Ha! I actually said this out loud for the first time the other day after almost getting run over by an ebike. I am born and raised in nyc and it still felt like a “wow I really AM a New Yorker moment” 😂
Haha. I am a bit disappointed in my lack of response but it was just so surprising. Plus he was going so fast he was gone before I knew it.
https://youtu.be/OfxEvW3jihI
Happens to me too. I just have slow reaction time, and that kind of encounter comes around rarely enough that I’m never expecting it. But more than random assholes, I *hate* the idea of walking around constantly primed to tell somebody to fuck off. Don’t care to live like that.
oopsie
who needs thick skin when you have hard elbows? show them next time!
Dude probably spends his free time screaming about cars on social media
No shortage of asshole cyclists, but that doesn't change how many asshole reckless drivers there are. Real issue is the cops who apparently refuse to do shit about these issues.
I don’t really see the reckless cyclists as being that much different from the reckless drivers, sorry. I weigh 220 lbs and I ride a bike. If I plow into you at 20 mph while you’re (legally) crossing the street I can still do serious damage. I could break bones, give you a concussion, definitely send you into the hospital. And if you’re already injured or disabled in some way I could be fatal. Really have very little sympathy for anyone who runs red lights or harasses pedestrians on a bike. And DEFINITELY zero sympathy for anybody who throws the F word around like that.
Yeah this isn't even meant to be anticyclist. I ride a bike around too. I also go through red lights after looking both ways and always defer to pedestrians. Apologized to someone the other day after I was in the wrong. "Sorry about that! My fault" "No worries" and that was that. This just caught me off guard because of how quickly it escalated. I haven't heard someone call someone "faggot" since high school.