Why I’m Leaving New York City
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares their decision to leave New York City after 20 years, citing issues like high taxes, public safety concerns, and inefficient use of taxpayer money. They discuss incidents of rising crime, particularly around the subway, and frustrations with the city's costly and delayed infrastructure projects. The speaker, though pro-tax and pro-immigration, criticizes how funds are mismanaged, resulting in poor services, such as failed pre-K programs. Now living in New Jersey, they express relief, noting improved quality of life and better value for their money.
Takeaways
- 🏙️ The speaker lived in Manhattan, New York City for 20 years but has decided to move due to various concerns.
- 💰 High living costs: A small studio in Manhattan costs $3,900 per month, compared to much larger homes in other areas for the same price.
- 💸 Taxes are a major concern: The speaker paid over 50% of their income in taxes between city, state, and federal levels.
- 🚨 Public safety has deteriorated: The speaker had several unsettling encounters with aggressive individuals on the streets of New York City, making it feel unsafe to raise a family.
- 🚇 The subway system is both unsafe and inefficient, with rising costs and poor infrastructure, despite major investments.
- 👷♂️ The New York City government is criticized for mismanaging taxpayer money, particularly in projects like the subway and public safety initiatives.
- 👶 The 3K (free pre-K) program, intended to provide free daycare for 3-year-olds, is failing due to mismanagement and the influx of migrants.
- 👥 The speaker supports immigration but is concerned that New York City is attracting migrants through extensive free housing and benefits, while failing to address its homelessness and mental illness crisis.
- 🌳 Neighborhoods and parks are affected by long, disruptive construction projects, further decreasing the city's quality of life.
- 🚶 The speaker has moved to New Jersey, where they feel safer, experience better quality of life, and believe the government is more effective in managing resources.
Q & A
Why did the speaker decide to leave New York City after living there for 20 years?
-The speaker decided to leave New York City due to rising safety concerns, frustration with how tax money was being spent, and a declining quality of life, especially for families with young children.
What specific safety concerns does the speaker mention in the video?
-The speaker mentions multiple safety incidents, such as encountering violent or unstable individuals in broad daylight, being almost assaulted in a park, and the general increase in crime and unsafe conditions in New York City.
What are the speaker's complaints about New York City's tax system?
-The speaker is frustrated with the high taxes in New York City, stating that over 50% of their income goes to taxes, including city, state, and federal taxes. Despite this, they feel the return on public services, like safety and infrastructure, is inadequate.
How does the speaker compare living costs between Manhattan, New York, and Manhattan, Kansas?
-The speaker compares the cost of living by stating that a small studio in Manhattan, New York, costs $3,900 per month, while the same amount could buy a large 8-bedroom home in Manhattan, Kansas.
What does the speaker say about the condition of the New York City subway system?
-The speaker criticizes the New York City subway for being dirty, frequently smelling like excrement, and being unsafe due to encounters with mentally ill or unstable individuals. They also mention how the subway system has become an international embarrassment.
What are the speaker's views on New York City's public spending and infrastructure projects?
-The speaker feels that New York City's public spending is inefficient, citing the example of an 11 billion-dollar subway station project and long, expensive construction delays. They compare this unfavorably to infrastructure projects in other cities like Paris and Shanghai.
How does the speaker feel about immigration in New York City?
-The speaker is generally pro-immigration, recognizing it as a key factor in New York City's success. However, they are critical of how the city has been spending taxpayer money to offer free housing and other benefits to migrants, leading to challenges with access to services like daycare.
What frustrations does the speaker have with New York City's '3K' program for free daycare?
-The speaker is frustrated that despite the promise of free daycare for all 3-year-olds in New York City, it has been difficult to secure a spot for their child. They feel this failure is a result of mismanagement and an influx of migrants taking available spots.
What is the speaker’s opinion on the homeless and mentally ill crisis in New York City?
-The speaker believes that the homeless and mentally ill crisis is a major issue that should be addressed with the city's tax dollars, instead of spending on free housing for migrants.
How has moving to New Jersey impacted the speaker's quality of life?
-After moving to New Jersey, the speaker expresses happiness, noting a higher quality of life, better management, and more value for their money compared to New York City.
Outlines
🏙️ Leaving New York After 20 Years
The speaker discusses their decision to leave New York City after living there for 20 of their 33 years. They clarify that this isn't about the high cost of living but rather issues like taxes and public safety. While acknowledging New York's status as a great city, they share their concerns about how over 50% of their income went to taxes, including federal, state, and city levels. Despite not being anti-tax, they believe the return in terms of public services, particularly safety, has been lacking. The speaker recounts personal experiences of street violence, unsafe encounters, and a deteriorating environment, which has made raising a family difficult and unsafe in New York.
🚇 The Failing New York Subway
The speaker criticizes the state of the New York City subway system, highlighting the National Guard's recent involvement to improve safety. They describe frequent encounters with mentally ill individuals on the subway and how these experiences create a sense of unease. The subway is also seen as dirty and dysfunctional, often mocked by other countries for its inefficiency. The speaker recalls making a viral video about the exorbitant costs associated with constructing subway stations in New York, comparing it unfavorably to much cheaper metro systems in places like China and Paris. The subway's high cost and poor performance are cited as examples of the city's mismanagement of taxpayer money.
🛑 Migrant Crisis and Public Spending Mismanagement
The speaker shifts to another major issue: the misallocation of funds in New York City, especially regarding the migrant crisis. While they express strong support for immigration, they criticize the city's lavish spending on free housing and resources for migrants, which they argue could be better spent on the homeless and mental health crises. The speaker points out that despite the promise of free pre-kindergarten for 3-year-olds, the system is failing, making it nearly impossible for their child to get a spot. This, coupled with massive public spending on inefficient services, leads the speaker to feel disillusioned with the city.
🏞️ Endless Construction and Decline in Quality of Life
The speaker describes how New York City's long, drawn-out construction projects have negatively impacted neighborhoods. A local park, for instance, has been under construction for five years, becoming a haven for drugs and crime. They also point out the explosion of illegal weed stores, a result of the city's failure to properly implement a licensing program. Overall, the speaker reflects on how New York has become an increasingly difficult place to live and raise a family, prompting them to relocate to New Jersey. They note the mass exodus from the city since 2020, as residents, like them, seek a better quality of life elsewhere.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Taxes
💡Public Safety
💡Subway System
💡Cost of Living
💡Family
💡Migration
💡Pre-K Program
💡Construction Projects
💡Homelessness and Mental Health Crisis
💡New Jersey
Highlights
After living 20 years in Manhattan, New York City, the speaker decided to leave and has already moved.
The speaker acknowledges New York City's high cost of living, stating that $3,900/month gets a small studio, whereas in Manhattan, Kansas, it buys a large 8-bedroom home.
The speaker paid over 50% of their income in taxes in New York City and questions the return on investment in terms of public safety and infrastructure.
New York City has separate personal and corporate taxes on top of state and federal taxes, creating a high tax burden.
Public safety is a major concern, with stories of aggressive encounters, such as having to avoid a half-naked man and a friend being sucker-punched.
The speaker no longer felt safe raising their family in New York, citing their wife’s refusal to go out alone with their son.
New York City's subway system is described as dirty, unsafe, and extremely expensive to maintain, with Governor Kathy Hochul deploying the National Guard to ensure subway safety.
The speaker contrasts New York’s subway costs with cities like Paris and Los Angeles, noting New York's astronomical infrastructure expenses.
Despite high taxes, the speaker questions where all the money is going, citing wasteful spending and inefficient public services in New York.
Sweden is mentioned as a country with higher taxes but efficient spending, offering services like free healthcare and university, which New York City does not provide.
New York City’s failed promise of free Pre-K (3K) is highlighted, with the speaker unable to secure a spot for their child despite the city’s earlier promises.
The recent surge of migrants in New York is blamed for taking public resources, such as spots in free daycare, while the speaker emphasizes being pro-immigration.
The speaker criticizes New York for spending millions on free housing and debit cards for migrants, arguing that these resources could be better used to address homelessness and mental health crises.
Neighborhoods have been disrupted by endless construction projects, with some parks becoming crime zones due to years of delays.
Illegal weed stores have proliferated in New York City due to the government’s failure to efficiently manage the legal licensing process.
The speaker contrasts their move to New Jersey, where they find the quality of life higher, things better run, and more value for money, concluding that New York City is no longer suitable for raising a family.
Transcripts
so yes after having lived 20 of my 33
years in Manhattan New York City it is
true I have finally decided to leave um
in fact I've already moved New York City
is where I grew up it is uh still one of
the greatest cities in the world to be
clear this is not a video about how
expensive it is to live in New York City
yes it will cost you $3,900 per month
month to get a small studio in Manhattan
New York City whereas if you spend that
same $3,900 and you go to Manhattan
Kansas you can get a lovely massive
8-bedroom home that all is true but
that's also what you would expect when
you live in a city as crowded and
densely populated and full of job
opportunities and 8 million people all
also looking for apartments but my
complaints are actually a little bit
different last year I paid over 50% of
all of the money that I made to the
government and what I got in return for
spending that money in terms of Public
Safety infrastructure Etc is very
questionable so how is it possible that
living in the United States of America
you can pay over 50% in taxes New York
City taxes your income both at a
personal level of with a 4% income tax
but also New York City has a separate up
to 9% corporate tax and then plus you
have to pay New York state taxes and
then you also have to pay federal taxes
and it really gets complicated because
it does depend on your accounting and to
be fair I did make some accounting
mistakes but look I'm actually not anti
tax I just moved to New Jersey which in
case you're unaware is one of the
highest tax states in the entire country
so I'm not anti-tax right and I think
that businesses you know even small
businesses like mine should have to pay
their fair share in tax my particular
gripe is rather with how New York City
decides to spend my money and as a 50%
plus taxpayer in New York City I think
that I have some standing to complain
about this first of all let's talk about
Public Safety New York City has become
frankly a terrifying environment within
which to raise a family just a few weeks
ago I was pushing my 2-year-old son in a
stroller down the block of our downtown
New York City neighborhood and um there
was a half naked man on the Block ahead
of us screaming at at the top of his
lungs violently punching the air um in
broad daylight I had to push my son
across the street just in order to avoid
this person and I actually had to do
this about once a month one time just
walking down the street my friend was
sucker punched uh in broad daylight that
never happened to me personally but I
was almost assaulted one time in the
park some again half naked crazy person
comes up to me and gets really
aggressive in my face and say a what are
you doing starts screaming at me there
are even organizations in New York City
now that will offer to walk you home
from the subway stop if you don't feel
safe I actually don't want to
exaggerate how bad living in New York
City is because listen most of the time
frankly it's quite a pleasant and normal
place to live in you know even if it's
only 10% of the time or 1% of the time
crazy and dramatic things like this
happen if you're a young single guy you
might not particularly mind but if you
have young children or you're a woman
woman you know it's simply not
acceptable like stuff like that can
happen anytime my wife was not willing
to go out on the street with my son by
herself um she simply wasn't frankly
that just makes me feel ashamed of the
city where I grew up now speaking of
places unacceptable for women or young
children we come to the subway where
things have gotten so bad that Governor
Kathy hokel has recently deployed the
National Guard yes armed military
personnel to help ensure the safety of
the subway it's almost a meme in New
York how many crazy people you encounter
on the subway in absolute numbers the
risks of being violently assaulted on
the New York City subway are probably
pretty low although it does happen with
some terrifying incidents like you know
people getting randomly slashed by again
crazy people um who should not be on the
subway it's really more about the
feeling that you get when you come into
the subway and there's somebody who is
clearly unwell on that same subway car
again possibly screaming his head off
besides which the subway is also
extremely dirty and smells like
excrement much of the time the subway is
actually such an embarrassment that
people in other countries frequently
make fun of how bad the subway system of
our nation's biggest city is and I know
this because I actually made a video one
time in Chinese talking about my awful
experience on the subway that day when I
had to get to work and all my trains
were abruptly cancelled
[Music]
oh hi hey how's it going man man how are
you good thanks so they're doing this
really cool thing today where there's no
Subway again oh no Subway yeah I say
what you can do buy yourself a train buy
yourself a train exactly that's the only
thing you can do and it went viral on
the Chinese internet and Chinese people
couldn't believe the state of our subway
system and what especially surprised
them was the cost of our subway system
at the time I mentioned in the video the
$4.5 billion the New York government
spent to build something like three
stations this was back in 2016 and
Chinese people were completely shocked
by that number and since then it's
gotten even worse the New York
government recently completed
construction on an 11 billion project to
build one station this being the East
Side Access Project that may have
actually decreased Subway ridership and
I ask chat GPT how much of the Shanghai
Metro could get constructed with 11
billion and chat GPT said 50 to150 kilm
for that same 11 billion that it cost
New York to build just one station oh
well China's an authoritarian government
they can just do whatever they want
right well the thing is New York City's
subway system is many multiples more
expensive than any other city in the
entire world including every single
Western Democratic City Paris right now
is somehow building 120 mil of tracks
with 68 new stations for just $25
billion and on a per kilometer basis New
York probably costs 10 times that even
Los Angeles manages to build its Metro
lines for almost six times cheaper than
New York does so I'm looking at these
numbers and I'm looking at how New York
City is spending my tax dollars and I'm
just thinking where is all of this money
going you have these employees pulling
half a million dollar salaries when the
New York City trains do not even run on
time and the entire system frankly
smells like so it's hard to escape
the conclusion that the money is being
wasted New York is simply abusing
taxpayer money where is it going I mean
you have cities like Singapore that
manage to have Safe Streets and a
beautiful subway system while only
taxing its inhabitants at
20% and again to reiterate I'm not
particularly anti-tax here either it's
really about how the money is spent
there are other places in the world that
tax their inhabitants at greater than
50% tax rates like Sweden but Sweden
actually manages to use that money
efficiently and is able to offer its
citizens free Health Care Free
University guaranteed pre all of which
you have to pay out of pocket for in New
York City and here's another thing I
want to talk about prek so New York said
a few years ago we're going to take all
of this taxpayer money and convert it
into free daycare for every 3-year-old
in this city hey sounds like a great
idea right free prek for everybody well
guess what my child is going to turn
three this year and it turns out that
the 3K program is effectively dead the
government simply couldn't get it
together and it's extremely difficult as
a normal citizen of New York City to get
a spot again despite spending all of
this tax money which in theory should
ensure that you do have a spot in free
daycare for your child like Sweden which
does has managed to ensure free daycare
for all of its children or very lowcost
daycare this is also partially because
New York City has experienced a surge of
migrants recently who are taking many
spots in this publicly funded daycare
and I can't stress enough how generally
pro-immigrant I am I think our country
needs more immigration not less I think
that immigration is almost precisely the
thing that has made New York into one of
the greatest cities in the entire world
but the problem is that New York is
taking its tax dollars and lavishing it
on migrants actually attracted to this
tax money being given to them by the
government of New York you may be
familiar with this but New York offers
free housing to anybody who shows up
this includes free and until recently
effectively unlimited stays at $500 per
night hotels actually the mayor recently
received a lot of criticism for spending
$53 million on debit cards full of money
for uh the same migrant and I can't
stress this enough how much I love
immigration to New York but I just wish
that the migrants were being attracted
to New York City by some reason other
than free $500 a night hotel stays the
homeless and mentally ill crisis in New
York is such a big issue and such a
better place to use that money than to
spend it on unlimited free housing for
migrants it it just it just itet
completely boggles the mind and then
there's just general other sunry issues
with how the New York government
conducts its business I mean the endless
construction projects that seem to go on
and on and on multiple neighborhoods I
live in have been simply ruined a park
near where I used to live has been under
construction for 5 years now having
already been delayed multiple times
which by the way has helped turn this
park into a drug-infested murder Zone
another fun fact is that in New York
City there are now multiple illegal weed
stores on every single block this is
true just go to the city and check it
out yourself and all this is because the
New York City government could not get
its act together with the licensing
program and so it's managed to Grant
only dozens of licenses for legal weed
stores for a city of 8 million people so
yeah I've moved to New Jersey and
honestly I couldn't be happier about it
and by the way I'm not alone unlike
London whose population has been
dramatically increasing for years NYC
has lost half a million residents since
2020 the quality of life is way higher
here I get much more for my money and um
things actually seem somewhat better run
and it's kind of sad because you know
New York is and always will be my home
but um it's frankly no longer a city
where you can raise a family um and
that's really sad
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