David Simon rants about New York

[ikester123]

Ugh, I didn't expect to find Wire spoilers in the video, cool as it may be. ; (

[Cfidalgo090909]

I actually have a friends who moved to NYC a few years ago and he said something very similar to David. He said that everything is very proper, jaded, and just not as real as he thought it would be. He said it made him rather sad that after living there for a few months he realized that to find CULTURE and vulnerability he had to go "way far up or way far down" .... whatever that means! lol

[Truth4Power]

I understand Simon's sentiment, though it was badly said.

-NYC is like the guy who moved to the suburbs 30yrs ago, but still thinks he Mr. Street-Smart.

NYC is no longer the home of Nicky Barnes, John Gotti, open-air heroin markets, broad daylight violence, and waves of random muggers.

New York City is now the home of Wall Street and the American Oligarchy.

[zhanna717]

@Truth4Power you are right, but he is also. Although, isnt the fact that our crime rate is down (in NYC) a good thing???? smh

but I do agree that NY'ers think they are the bottom line to things, especially these days it makes no sense because so much of the "hip" NY'ers are not even from NYC.

[steampunk18]

And the rant continues in every single fucking episode of Treme!

[Savorist]

Fuck David Simon. Jealous bald fattie who values his own mouth too much. Money is culture, David. Get used to it. Why? Culture is the exchange of ideas, like money is a commercial exchange. What defines urbanity is not crime and drug use, my friend, but high rates of exchange. Fuckin' idiot.

[MachYew]

@Savorist "Money is culture" ???? seriously, whaaat the fuck are you talking about? the reason you gave, about them both being a form of exchange is one of the worst uses of a youtube comment i've seen in ages

[carrothaed4]

@MachYew Lol.

[lamosd]

Los Angeles is the cutting edge, the melting pot, the future

[ithacapimp]

New York<3

[cbizrap]

Chicago is the greatest city in the U.S.

[RatPfink66]

David has a good point and he's courageous making it. But he made a bad move, quoting the crime rate in Baltimore vs NY. It sounds like he's proud of it...

[tosupra]

@RatPfink66 He isn`t proud of the murder or crime rate. He is takling about Urban America and its problems. He is talking about the divide between Manhattan and Urban America, since Manhattan is filled with money and has a lower crime rate. That`s why he mentions Law and Order at the end.

[GWRevolution2008]

IS HE RELATED TO THE IRON CHEF?

[BahreNeGash]

Every human creed, from the Iceman's cave in freezing Siberia to a nomad in Sahara desert, feels "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME".

Therefore, it's only natural for New Yorkers to feel New York is the top of the universe.

Those who disagree with New Yorkers are either feeling inferior to New Yorkers or don't feel too good about thier own town, just like New Yorkers.

BTW: What matters the most is how you feel about yourself & your place on earth, than what others feel about you or your birth-place.

[districtlibertarian]

@ klined:

thanks for your service, USMC. my pops was a marine as well. could use more folks like you. hopefully your intelligence rubs off on those around you.

[districtlibertarian]

@nycgmr i know a lot. and i'm not hating. just look at the list of lisamax5's travels. Barcelona, Florence, Bilbao, Venice? = backpack tour. left nyc at 30 yrs of age? couldn't make it.

it's all simple stuff, nycgmr.

[klined]

@districtlibertarian

Born and raised in Jamaica queens, left NYC when I joined the marine corps. home of record has been san diego for 10 years, but I've traveled everywhere. NYC is great but quite overrated. "Making it" there is not tough. Just a myth nycers say to prop themselves up. If you have marketable skills, you can make it anywhere. Go visit Tokyo for a month, or Hong Kong. They make NYC feel rather small. Tokyo may be my next move.

[itsaquagmire]

sir, why are you trying to compare Baltimore to NYC?! this could only go poorly.

[adidonek]

LOL. Baltimore? Really? Hysterical. I have been ALL OVER the world but nothing is like my home New York. Read some historical books for a change. Very funny!

[musicalcharge]

@adidonek Uh...the show which, you know, he created...takes place in Baltimore. That's probably why.

[districtlibertarian]

@lisamax5: did mommy and daddy fund your subsistence in the village, and then spring for a post-post-college backpack tour through europe after your magazine career never took off? now you're a graphic designer/advert associate in a medium market living up your 30s?

[nycgmr]

@districtlibertarian sound like u know the role pretty well man, hater.

[xanderlev1]

I recently hung out in Baltimore for the first time in my life, as a native NYC'er, just two weeks ago. It was an interesting place, and seems to have lots of potential. But like the old NYC, it felt like if I went just two blocks in a different direction, I'd have to check my wallet, keep my wits about me, and make sure I know how to get out of there real fast. I grew up in that situation, and don't think I want to return to it. I wonder if Simon has kids and if they live "in the city".

[FastCassius]

So NYC cuts crime, makes it an even better place for anyone, families, and whomever to live...in now it's not worthy of it's title??? Please...another angle for someone to complain about NYC...get over yourself.

[seringen]

@asarsfield and @gabepizza for him new york is not the ultimate expression of urbanism, nor is it particularly representative of what it is like to live in an urban environment. He obviously thinks new york is a great place, but a boring one, and a viewpoint which is self congratulatory and myopic, especially when it comes to the new york media machine. you might also know he is critical of LA, too. - love someone from Oakland

[drrob8091]

Possibly because you all personify New York. The rest of the world sees it, can't believe you don't.

[asarsfield]

why is he talking to New York like it is a person? he keeps saying "you" and "your" as if the city is a human people he is insulting. He seems like a pretentious upper west-sider to me. Also, "treme" is awful is that crap even still on? Where did he get people to do such terrible fake New Orleans Accents?

[gabepizza]

This guy is a scum bag. I know he does good things and knows what is going on but this proves what a scumbag he is. Fine saying New York is not that great and yes it does not have that many murders or crime but it shows that his work is exploitative. He seems to equivocate "greatness" and being "urban" with crime and murder. Yes, that might make the setting for your show real and "street" but that does not make a city great tuff guy.

[gabepizza]

So what makes a city great? Crime, intravenous drug use and poverty!

[idlewild]

News flash, Mr. Simon: a high crime rate does not a great city make.

New York is great because we have more to offer than any other major city in the areas of culture, nightlife, shopping, arts, theater, restaurants, museums, etc. **combined.** You'll note, sir, that I'm not stating that there are no other great cities of the world or that other cities don't beat us in any individual category - just that when taken collectively, we're the best in the world...

...despite our falling crime rate.

[voodoowiccan]

@idlewild, sure nyc may have lots of nightlife, as well as restaurants and museums and other things, but didn't Giuliani outlaw dancing in most of NYC's clubs?

I heard that Bloomberg still enforces that law. Is this really true? If so, it does not make NYC the best in the world in my book.

[masterhalco]

@idlewild Except maybe Paris.

Oh, and London.

Tokyo too.

Also Barcelona.

I forgot about Beijing and Shanghai.

And Mumbai, Chicago, LA, Rome, Buenos Aires, Rio, etc. etc. etc.

If your idea of best requires Ann Taylor, LED Bilboards, CATS, and elitist yuppies then New York may be the best city for you. The rest of us will be a little more humble and cosmopolitan.

[lisamax5]

Simon definitely has a point. I'm a New Yorker, born and bred, and I thought that NYC was the center of the universe all the way up to the age of 30. At 30, I left and explored the world beyond the Hudson River -- I saw Barcelona, Florence, Bilbao, Venice, Chicago, Key West to name a few. And now...I know that NY is great but it's not EVERYTHING, and sometimes it's not even that great. I still love it tho because it's my hometown!

[PurushaDesa]

@lisamax5

30? I'm not saying I've seen as many places as you have, but you don't think that's a little long to have your whole worldview confined to one city in one state in one country? Have you been to any of the other global cities - Tokyo, Paris or London?

[nilradem]

He is SO right about New Yorkers. And I have lived there.

Also, Omar's line "There must be something happening there, it's just too big a town" is from Steve Earle's song "NYC." Steve is the musician who plays Walon.

[klined]

@nilradem

He also sang season 5's cover of Down in a hole.

[MalNichtEgal]

Was sagt ihr zur Ruhr2010 in Germany ?

Grüße

Martin Radespiel

[Dracko55]

i plane nyc