Recently, New York City has officially legalized jaywalking.
Netizens: What? You guys look at traffic lights when crossing the street in NYC?!
Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress from "Sex and the City," says she has been “proudly jaywalking through the neighborhoods” since moving to NYC in the late 1970s.
She even passed on her wisdom to her daughter: "Don't play on your phone when crossing diagonally."
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New Yorkers are notorious for being in a hurry, and hundreds get fined for jaywalking every year.
New Yorkers crossing the street in LA be like: The queen has arrived—everyone move out of the way.
Swift strides with an attitude, Mean Girl mode activated.
After all, in New York, only tourists walk slow 😅
That's why the NYC City Council recently passed a bill allowing pedestrians to jaywalk, cross against the light, or cross outside crosswalks, and many are overjoyed.
Netizen: "Now I can legally do City Walk."
The bill's sponsor, NYC Council Member Narcisse, said: “Let’s be real, every New Yorker jaywalks. They are just getting to where they need to go.”
NYC has banned jaywalking since 1958, with violators facing fines up to $300. But Council Member Narcisse found that this rule appears to be racially biased.
Records show that of the 463 people ticketed last year for crossing against the light, about 92% were Black or Latino. Thus, the bill's passage is more of a racial justice measure.
The bill was supported by the Legal Aid Society, which represents low-income New Yorkers.
Sponsor Narcisse believes police shouldn't waste time on jaywalkers: “By eliminating these penalties, we can allow our officers to focus on issues that really matter.”
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Netizen: “The police once threatened to ticket me; now I can dance circles around them 💃”
Although jaywalking is commonplace in New York, opinions are divided on whether it should be legalized.
24-year-old filmmaker Josh Leong welcomes the new rule, saying: “At least in New York, it’s a culturally accepted thing.”
86-year-old Bonnie Josephs, a lawyer living on the Upper East Side, disagrees: “It’s smart to wait for the light; I don’t want to get hit by a car.”
Netizen: “Jaywalking on empty streets is fine, but doing it on roads that are already congested as hell is hard to justify.”
The new rule comes as NYC streets are in a period of traffic chaos, with traffic fatalities rising. Over the past five years, about 200 people have died while crossing mid-block or against the light, accounting for approximately 34% of all pedestrian deaths.
The law will take effect in 120 days. Mayoral spokesperson Garcia said in a statement that New Yorkers should still exercise caution when crossing the street.
Although it's said that abroad cars yield to pedestrians, let's not gamble with our lives, okay.
NYC Local Specialties
Besides crossing streets without looking at traffic lights, New York has many other unique characteristics.
When you come to New York, go to JellyCat to buy a hamburger plushie—it's an emotional value overload.
An extrovert's paradise—without Broadway-level acting skills, it's hard to perform the act of packing a plush burger at Shake Shack.
Don't be surprised by anything you see in New York—it's the uniquely New Yorker's exquisite sense of nonchalance.
The New York subway may be infested with rats, but it's still the New Yorker vibe.
Every day is Halloween—you'll see all kinds of ghouls and monsters, and maybe even bump into a superhero.
You'll see abstract performances by street artists 👇
You'll also witness creative solutions like taking dogs on the subway 👇
It's all about abstraction, with a mental state that's far ahead of its time.
On a New York City Walk, you can stroll from Fifth Avenue to Central Park, from MoMA to Rockefeller Center, from Hudson Yards to SoHo, from NYU to Brooklyn.
Cherry blossoms in spring, water lilies in summer, red leaves in autumn, and the Christmas season in winter—shuttling between modern metropolis and historical civilization, there's no better place than New York for a City Walk.
You might run into a celebrity on the Upper East Side, or be classmates with Trump's son at NYU.
You might run into a celebrity on the Upper East Side, or be classmates with Trump's son at NYU.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Times Square New Year's Eve countdown are New York traditions.
It is a hub for finance, law, art, fashion, media, sports, technology, real estate, and education—embracing all.
New York is home to one of the big four fashion weeks and boasts top art schools like Parsons and Pratt.
New York gathers top teams from the four major professional leagues: baseball's Yankees (MLB), basketball's Nets (NBA).
New York has the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the country, as well as food trucks on every corner.
New York has the highest rents and home prices in the U.S., featuring sky-high penthouses like in "Million Dollar Listing New York."
Doormen at luxury apartments, dog walkers in Central Park, and endless scaffolding are the city's signature traits.
With daily gridlock, it's the city in America where you need a car the least, boasting the most taxis and a subway system people love to hate.
New York is a favorite of old money, linked to families like the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Morgans.
At the same time, it's one of America's most diverse cities, with nearly 40% immigrants, where people of all colors and cultural backgrounds converge. Graffiti art and street culture are everywhere in Brooklyn.
Switching between the streetwise and the elegant, blending modern chic with historical depth, this is what makes New York unique.
You never know who you'll meet or what will happen next. Everyone here is in a rush, seemingly always on the move, just like the infinite possibilities of life.
Maybe this is why Venom wanted to travel across half of America to see the Statue of Liberty in NYC with Eddie.
Even though they curse it every day, many New Yorkers end up missing life in NYC after they leave. That's the unique charm of New York.
Welcome to New York, let's embrace the New York culture together.
