I was on the subway, or the ‘T’ as we Bostonians like to call it, this morning. The train was unusually packed and was at the point that if people didn’t get off at a stop, passengers on the platform couldn’t get on. At one stop, this young lady boarded and I guess she knew another young lady who was standing near the door. The one who just boarded started going off on how Boston doesn’t know how to get onto subway cars, and NY is better at boarding trains, and this and that, and NY has a better subway system, and New Yorkers know how to ride trains better, except for Tokyo of course, and blah blah blah.
Keep in mind the train in the mornings is usually very quiet. People who know each other usually don’t talk much because, well, frankly, most of the people are on their way to work and that is not a cause for joyous celebration. So this young lady could be heard by a lot of people.
So after listening to this idiot talk very loudly how bad Boston is and how great NY is, I had a sudden moment of terror. I thought to myself “Holy Crap! Is that how I sound when talking about NY”?
The best way to find out of course would be to ask people I talk to a lot. But fearing an honest answer, I decided to just analyze the things that most people discuss when comparing cities and go from there. My reasoning is that if I clearly think through my thoughts on NY/Boston comparisons, then I will know if I am being obnoxious when discussing these topics. So here goes.
<b>Public Transportation</b>: Despite what the girl on the subway said, I think the Boston subway and bus system is pretty good. I’ve never taken the NY subway system on a regular basis, but it would be pretty hard to beat a color coded subway system like Boston. Especially when there are only 4 colors. And each line is defined by the last stop on each end of the route. The bus system is not unusually hard to figure out, the facilities are kept pretty clean and it’s efficient. The only problem I found, and it’s probably because I am fairly dim witted, is what direction ‘Outbound’ and ‘Inbound’ is. But I finally have it down. An inbound track is where to get the train heading to ‘Park Street’ stop, the central crossing for the subway system. The outbound track heads away from this place. Pretty simple. Edge, Boston.
<b>Food</b>: Ok, here is where I might get obnoxious. To start, I have yet to find consistently good pizza. In fact, 95% of the pizza in and around Boston is only marginally better than cardboard with ketchup and Velveeta. It’s awful. Bagels could be better. Heroes, or as we Bostonians like to call them, subs, are also pretty week. But the major items, like Italian food, Chinese, Greek, Indian, etc, are fine. I wasn’t a patron of high end restaurants in NY, and am not in Boston, so I can’t speak for fine dining. But grabbing a burger at a local pub is pretty good. Edge, NY because of the pizza thing.
<b>Sports</b>: Here is another area that I think I get a bad rap. I think Boston, as a city, is a great sports town. In fact, I would be hard pressed to think of a better sports city than Boston. Because NY has major finance, fashion, celebrities, and is so big, sports do not take center stage. But in Boston, sports rule the roost. It’s great. Fans are rabid, fickle and opinionated. The press is unforgiving. But when it comes to individual sports team, notably baseball, there is no argument. The Yankees, in every aspect of the game, are by far above and beyond the Red Sox. I am not going to get into details, that is a topic for another column, but the Red Sox are the little brother to the much better looking, athletic and successful older brother Yankees. It is taking all of my strength not to get into details, but trust me, the Yankees beat the Sox in every way. The Bruins and Celtics have been better than the Knicks and Rangers, so I have no argument there. The Mets, Nets and Islanders don’t really count as rivals, so no argument there. I kind of like some of the sports writers in NY, but Boston writers are just as sarcastic, witty and detailed. Edge, NY because of the Yankees, Boston for overall dedication to sports.
<b>The City</b>: Here is another area I think Boston has the edge. Boston just seems like a much more manageable city. Of course, it’s much smaller than NY, but it’s also cleaner, has much more historical relevance, has many of the things NY is known for (theater, China Town, Little Italy), and the people are pretty friendly. NY has nice people as well, it just seems a little more overwhelming than Boston. I can drive anywhere in Boston and the surrounding communities and know where I am. If you asked me to drive from a street in the Bronx to a street in Brooklyn, I would have to head to AAA for a map first. Edge, draw.
<b>Driving</b>: This is a total draw. Boston traffic, and the drivers, suck. Plain and simple. They suck. Always traffic, consistently bad drivers. NY has aggressive, predicable but aggressive, drivers. NY has bad traffic. Not sure what is worse though. Both are just bad.
<b>All in all</b>, I like living in Boston. I root for NY sports teams. I am always looking for good pizza. I miss Jones Beach. But other than our family and friends in NY, there is not much else I really miss. Except for other Yankee fans.
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