Why do people complain about NYC being dirty?
We've all heard it before: âNew York is so dirty.â âNew York is such a filthy city.â âNew York smells like a festering swamp of warmed-over trash thatâs been peed on.â Well, you know what? It could be a lot worse. (And itâs not like you didnât know this going in.)
RECOMMENDED: See more New York rants
This city is so large that even those of us who live here often struggle to comprehend it. In fact, the Big Apple isnât just bigâitâs gargantuan. And just as the city harbors 8 million people with 8 million stories, it also holds 8 million generators of trashâplus another 1.5 million bridge-and-tunnel commuters and tourists. Considering its size, the city does a pretty good job of keeping itself clean.
Sure, the midtown trash cans overflow after thousands of people stuff them with crippled umbrellas and crushed Starbucks cups. But how often would these receptacles need to be emptied before naysayers would consider Eighth Avenue to be truly âcleanâ? In 1893 (before yellow cabs and Lyfts), 2.5 million pounds of horse manure filled the streets of this city every single day. But no, please, tell me more about how you just had to step over a Styrofoam cup on 6th Street.
Maybe you should move somewhere that prides itself on cleanliness, like the spotless twin cities of Minneapols-St. Paul. Just think, if you get really lucky, you may never even have to leave your car and venture out onto a sidewalk at all! Itâs not like New York was ever trying to trick you into thinking it was some