New York attitudes

The New York Times has an article about what it calls “New York attitude” among denizens of the White House. A sample:

“The Mooch is a New Yorker like me,” said Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor and an adviser to Mr. Trump who has yet to find his way to a White House job. “He’s a purebred New Yorker. He’s lit a firecracker in that place. What you’re seeing in Scaramucci is the president’s style.”

The Times reporter opines that even the New York transplants in Trump’s inner circle “sometimes behave as if they, and their boss, never left the five boroughs.”

What I notice every time I visit New York City is that most people go about the day with a thoughtful awareness of those around them. They hold doors. They say “Excuse me.” For every manspreader on the subway, there’s someone else offering a seat to someone who’s standing. I’ll quote from a 2010 post:

It is difficult to exaggerate the fellow-feeling of New Yorkers, evident in many small moments of care and tact. A woman on the subway lets go of her stroller for just a moment so that she can adjust her bag. Two people reach out to the stroller to steady it when the train begins to move. A man on the street asks a hot-dog vendor if it’s okay to put an empty soda can in his trash. Sure, go ahead.

I think that the Times should know better than to typecast residents of the five boroughs as crude vulgarians. Let’s not equate a New York City state of mind with the likes of Trump and Scaramucci.