Have you seen them? The Europeans? They’re everywhere! In our fancy bistros, on line at the Apple store, spending their fancy-pantzy valuable Euros while we suffer through this intolerable non-recession. The patriots at the New York Times finally sounded the warning call over this European “invasion” that’s transforming New York into the “Walmart of hip.”
Their party is raging just as the hangover has started to set in for Americans. Frictions do arise — especially in a summer of looming recession, where many locals do not feel rich enough or secure enough to travel abroad themselves. (And let’s not even get into their weeks of summer vacation).
The Times goes on to tell the pitiful stories of average Americans jealous of newly-wealthy Europeans: Steven, a 45-year-old investment manager who worries native New Yorkers are becoming an “endangered species” (quick, call the EPA!); Randi, a 30-year-old Upper West Side ad gal who can’t afford Prada bags; and Polly, a magazine editor turned blogger who hates the chic-bistro “turf war” that pits us against our cultural brethren.
Get this: Polly went to Bergman to buy her fiance shoes to match his wedding tux, and she had to wait for FIVE MINUTES behind Europeans who were wearing sneakers and bike shorts. The horror!
These aren’t the landed aristocratic Europeans whose visits we can deign to accept. Ugh, no, these are those disgustingly common commoners who shouldn’t be able to afford our enviable lifestyle.
These are “people with more modest incomes, who wouldn’t just walk up and say, ‘Hey, let me get a table’ if they’re back home in London, where it’s too expensive to go to Boujis,” Mr. Thomas said, referring to a popular club in that city’s Kensington district. “But in New York, they can get away with it.”
So this is what the British felt like for the past sixty years. Please Ben Bernanke, put our financial house in order so we can reclaim the mantle of shameless consumerism for ourselves.
They’ll Take Manhattan, in Cash [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)
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@PsychicPsycho3: I wasn’t intending to violate the comment code at all, nor was I making the comment to be snarky.
I was asking an honest question. This article to me does not seem to have much to it nor be particularly relevant to any consumer issues (unless of course you live in New York) and I figured there were better things to post on.
I don’t think it’s against the comment code to question the validity of a post.
We need to get some Parisian consultants to teach New Yorkers how to properly treat (like assholes) and deal (f* off) with tourists. Then we can truely return the favor.
Chances are, the people quoted in the article aren’t even from New York originally. It’s been my experience that the native New Yorkers are more down-to-earth, where the yuppie poseur imports are the ones with the attitudes.
Go back to Ohio/Maine/Maryland/New Mexico, Steven, Randi and Polly.
@Angryrider: I gotta say, at least they’re making the neighborhoods more livable.
(Let me preface this by saying I live in Belgium, so I feel somewhat qualified to comment as I mix with “euros” every day.) The post itself is a bit misleading, imo. It makes European travellers out to be reckless spenders.
A good number of Europeans spend their euros, pounds and kroner at hostels in “not-Manhattan”, or couchsurf for free; they take the subway everywhere, or do the old fashioned thing – they’ll walk to the next destination if they can get there in under an hour; forget dining in fancy places, that’s usually a “crown jewel” in their stay, along with an I <3 NY shirt.
A lot of European travellers do as they would travelling around Europe, and eat at cheap places where the food isn’t great, but keeps you full for a few hours, or they hit up a supermarket and pack a lunch. They limit themselves to one or two tourist attractions per day, and stay as long as is humanly possible. When you see them forking out $20 bills, you can be sure that that purchase was planned several months in advance.
Obviously $1 is less than €1, but it’s still possible for American travellers to do the same.
Snobby. stuck-up, elitist bastards. Don’t worry NY, your border and customs clowns at JFK make it a shitty enough experience to come there (I’ve been twice) so soon enough we Europeans will visit somewhere who welcomes visitors and can see how tourism is helping their shaky economy. Hello Canada…
well, sorry for pumping money into your crappy economy
Bunch of euro-haters. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
@humphrmi: “2. Let ‘em take over New York”
Yes, please. European riff-raff is definitely better than the New York riff-raff.
I live in New York. I speak from experience.
People are just haters in general; the grass is always greener on the other side and all that. There’s a similar issue with Swedes over here in Santa Monica.
The perception (or reality) is that we got it rough and they have it easy. Oh well, people get jealous, you just gotta deal with it.
For those unfamiliar with the tax revenue dispersal, read your budget. Here in Pennsyltucky the local yokels weep copious tears over the taxes they ‘send’ to Philly. Oh, the PA budget clearly shows that Philly loses money on the deal. For every $7.00 in Philly tax, $6.00 goes to the hinterlands. For every $1.00 of rural tax, nearly $8.00 comes back (feds are involved too). If Philly (or NYC) left, the hillcretins wouldn’t cover their own expenses for the year.
It’s just such a loverly fantasy that all the ills of the world stem from the evilbig city.
@DoctorMD: I’ve found Parisians to be quite nice, actually. You simply need to make some effort into being a good guest and doors (and smiles) open. Same as New Yorkers: the ones that complain about rude Parisians (or Manhattanites) probably need to look in the mirror for the cause. (shrug)
One Time, at band camp…….
@TechnoDestructo: Wrong.
@Trai_Dep: I remember being in the (shitty) Paris Metro, and there were these guys who jumped over a barrier and unlocked it from the other side, and ushered people in! That was hilarious!
I was just saying this today. For some reason, Central Park was flooded with French people today. Not that I mind one single bit. They’re polite and genial and I get to practice my French comprehension while eavesdropping. And they’re helping the local economy.
Oh, and it’s absolutely true about Parisians being perfectly nice. The trick is to not wear jeans and sneakers in Paris – dressing up a little is important. I think they have great contempt for the “ugly American” in jeans, T-shirt and honking white sneakers (I do too!).
And you must TRY to speak French. They will usually rescue you by responding in English, but if you rudely assume and start out speaking it, they will pretend not to know any.
Its funny, New Yorkers usually calling people from flyover country hicks. Now who is the hick? Where is that NYC cosmopolitan hospitality they always tout? The people in this article ought to get a clue.
@jisrael1: You mean with your own…? As for her fiance who is getting the shoes to go with the tux: “I pity the fool.”
@woot: Guaranteed weather in Orlando this time of year is thunderstorms most of the afternoon. Kind of reduces the value of your all-day park-hopper ticket when there’s 2-4 hours knocked out of the middle where the rides are all closed due to lightning.
@atypicalxian: Actually, the distinguishing characteristic of the people in the article seems to be over-privileged snobs who’ve never worked a day in their lives. There’s plenty of those in NY and the surrounding area (The Hamptons, say), as well as other parts of the country.
@sir_eccles: Even if they pay the duty and the VAT, it’s still cheap enough to fly over here and shop for a few big-ticket items. I’m sure customs authorities in their home countries are aware of the shopping sprees and making examples of periodically searching enough passengers to ensure that everyone else in line questions the odds of getting away with it.
@gqcarrick: That’s one of the most ignorant comments I’ve ever seen on Consumerist or anywhere really. Buffalo and most of upstate New York is a financial cess pool that’s only kept afloat by the billions and billions that NYC funnels upstate. The city sends Albany billions more in taxes than it gets back in services. You need to learn son.
they are having the opposite problem in europe. americans make up the biggest group of foreign tourists that visits europe, and we stay the longest and spend the most. and now thats dropping off because of high costs, so its rather poor news for their tourist industry. so its not all one sided.
A little nugget from todays Orlando Sentinel: “spending by international tourists [in Orlando] has ballooned 22 percent so far this year — to more than $57 billion.”
[www.orlandosentinel.com]
This city would be nothing without tourists, and we know it. As an example, last night I watched while 3 lanes of traffic gave way to a family on vacation who had been in a left turn lane, but then realized they needed to turn right instead. No honking of horns, no yelling, and no drama. Just a large dose of courtesy and empathy. This is one of the reasons I love Orlando. If you’re thinking of visiting, you’ll be more than welcome.
Don’t you mean “in queue ” at the apple store?
But its just so cheap comparitively in NY!!!
Oh and Bouji’s is absolutely terrible. much happier in Gilgamesh or Movida.
Since it’s been mentioned above that living in NYC warps your percieved reality (and it does, I’ve lived there), I will offer my home to the consumerist staff for a weekend fieldtrip to the country so that they can see how things are outside the concrete jungle.
Seriously. I take weekend trips to NYC, you guys are welcome to drive a couple hours down 95 and sit by the bay with me and drink some beers and see how it’s done on the farm.
And they stand around in MASSIVE groups, right in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking all pedestrian traffic while they take ages to decipher a map!
But yeah, even so… the tourists are fine!
The only thing that bugs me is the huge line around the Empire State building. Whenever I go into the Walgreen’s there, I’ve noticed that the tourists like to stand right in front the doors (worse when it’s the rotating door). Not fun.
I love the europeans. They like my tight pants and my arrogance as I skate down broadway… They like it when I wave at the red busses… If they feed me euros, they can take me home with them too. If only the women were hot….
NYC should be thankful for the money Europeans are still bringing in (I’m sure realtors are).
Let’s see how long that lasts, since the UK, Spain and other European countries are already facing economic slowdowns.
I see Europeans. They’re everywhere. They don’t even know they’re European.
Seriously, as someone said, having them come here is a good thing, as they come and spend their money here, which pumps up the economy a little more.
Cheers!
First of all, if you were a real New Yorker, you wouldn’t be in your UWS apartment in Manhattan; you’d be getting on the Jitney to the Hamptons. Stop bitching.
New York is still in America, right? And generally sweeping gun bans are still unconstitutional, right? Stop whining with a pen and do something about it.
In rabbit season, you can hunt rabbit; in duck season, you can hunt duck.
Summer in NY is tourist season. Get hunting.
@gqcarrick:
NYC tax revenue is subsidizing every school, road and person in your town. It would be a pit without it. What’s more, state laws are so screwed up that your backwoods politicians have a voice on everything from our parking rates to our bus routes. Believe me, you’re far better off for having NYC around than we are for having you here.
As far as the euro-tourists, I have no idea why busload after busload spends $68 to $115 each to ride around my neighborhood on a double decker bus. (Seriously, the buses I ride cost just $2 and they don’t have the annoying narration.) But if that’s how they want to spend their Euros, I’m fine with it.
@zgori: They’re shopping for apartments. The reason 2BRs are rare as hen’s teeth and 3BRs cost so damned much is simple supply-and-demand.
Landlords break them up into studios and 1BRs and sell them to Europeans who buy them as pied-a-terres.