So I haven't been posting a lot, because I don't really have internet access at home (only wireless on Alan's computer). I also haven't seen a huge amount of New York, but that won't stop me from drawing some sweeping conclusions.
First, New York is a filthy city. If you want to throw out your trash, you just put it in a bag and throw it on the curb in front of your house and/or business. No trash cans, no dumpsters, just huge smelly piles of refuse. This is true in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. In contrast, in Chicago people generally put their trash into trash cans. These trash cans are placed in such a way that you can walk down the street without smelling the reek of rotting food.
New York is more segregated than I thought when I first came here. True, there don't seem to be any purely white/Asian areas, but it's easy to tell the difference between, say, Bushwick and Park Slope.
New York is less obviously gay than you might think from the outside. Of course, I'm sure it has its equivalent of Boystown, and I'm sure it's earned its reputation as the gay capital of New York State. Still, you never see any indication that New York is much gayer than anyplace else. Similarly, New York isn't nearly as vegetarian-friendly as I expected. In many ways it's old-fashioned and conservative in the sense of being traditional.
If the ads in the subway are any indication, New York is a city that is seriously obsessed with physical appearance, legal disputes, and learning to speak English. The ideal subway rider, in terms of targeting advertising, would be a litigous immigrant in search of smoother, healthier-looking skin.
