City Traffic

Nighmare, period. Not worth the parking hassle. Why do they allow cars on the Island of Manhattan anyway? Noise and screeching and honking and polluition significantly lower my quality of life.

Pedestrians own the streets anyway. Europeans have remarked on my habit of getting right into the middle of the street to check for oncoming traffic. In Europe they actually all wait at the curb, every one of them, until the light turns green before crossing the street. And they stand there waiting for the light even if there's no traffic at all. Can you imagine that in New York? I've been yelled at in Europe several times for my aggressive NY pedestrian behavior.

It is actually safer to stay at the curb. I remember one guy doing what you do. There was no traffic coming. He thought it was safe. He began crossing the street, even though the light was against him. He got 1/4 through when this car darted out from a parking spot and nearly hit him. He had to dodge back to the curb to avoid being hit. I yelled at him and told him to stay put. But he thought he knew it all. I told him one day he will be struck and killed by a car. Hopefully that does not happen.

You had better be careful my friend, so you don't become the next victim.

I hate seeing cars in the city. There really is no need for them. There is public transportation. So why have cars?

I agree its quite easy to survive in NYC without a car.. with services like Zip Car, Mint and Hertz Connect you have as they say 'wheels when you want them' without the hassle of parking charges and all the other head aches like alternate side parking (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/scrintro.shtml) when you have to rush out and move your car to avoid getting a ticket because a particular street is being cleaned.

@uraniumfish it seems like the only people who don't participate in aggressive street crossing behavior are tourists and those New Yorkers who've actually been hit by cars. It's a more common occurrence than one would think, though all the stories I've heard involve only minor injuries and in most cases people just continued on to wherever they were going.

I live in Brooklyn and I and many of my neighbors own cars. I wouldn't give it up for anything - it's definitely the best way to get around the boroughs without having to first go into the city. Parking can be a bit of a pain sometimes, especially in crowded neighborhoods like Williamsburg, but I'm lucky in that there is always parking on my street.

That being said, it's rare that I actually drive into the city - I hate it and actually prefer taking the train. I also take cabs out at night, so I mostly reserve my car use for day trips outside of the city.

Yeah, BroadwayBK, my car aversion holds only for the island of Manhattan. It's probably quite wonderful to have a car in the other boroughs.

Oh, and I've witnessed pedestrians or bicyclists being hit by cars in Manhattan several times too. Scary how fast they drive, and yet another argument for the banishment of cars on the island altogether.

Yeah, I wonder when people will get the fact that getting hit by a car is not good. It can result in many injuries and death. What is it going to take for people to stop tempting fate and just wait till the walk sign turns in their favor.

Probably nothing, hhusted. New Yorkers are impatient and this is the only city where people have the nerve to walk out to the middle of an intersection on a red light. But I actually enjoy that about the city and find fault with the drivers every time.

Well, if the so-called impatient pedestrians want to risk getting killed that is their problem. I'm going to play it safe.

As a driver I can attest that if you are going to walk out in front of a car, it's unlikely that they will actually hit you - drivers expect you to do that here, or should.

You'd have to be pretty murderous driving any more than 30 MPH on streets as narrow and packed as Manhattan's anyway.

The speed limit is 25mph (residential) or 30mph (if not posted), so you'd also being breaking the law to go faster than that....

True. But you know what, I have seen cab drivers go as fast as 40 on 3rd Ave, especially at night. Not a great idea. You never know who is lurking around any any hour of the night and just may decide to walk across the street against the light.

Yeah I've often seen cars going waaaay faster than the speed limit--

Without a doubt people speed around the city, which is something I've noticed as a driver here. New Yorkers are typically in a big hurry, so it's not especially surprising....

Yeah, perhaps if people would slow down, they could enjoy life a little more instead of being stressed out all the time.