This article is contributed by the irrepressible and ever curious Ms Cindy Su and is copyrighted to its owner OTA-Berlin GmbH. The blog assists visitors to Berlin enhance their understanding of events in the city and promotes the serviced apartments of OTA-Berlin as the best accomodation in Berlin.
Ms Cindy Su – OTA-Berlin Constituency Blog contributor.The illustrations added to the written article are from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of OTA-Berlin but of the contributor.
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Which is Better? Berlin versus New York City
Falling in love with a city is far more prudent than doing so with a person, for people lie, get fat, get depressed, throw tantrums or worst of all – drink the last of the milk you need for your cereal all while knowing you will suffer later for their self-indulgence. No, it’s not easy to love and keep loving a person, but a city is, very fortuitously, another issue. Cities tower above you and watch over you, surround you and invigorate you with their atmospheres, and they will never, ever leave you unless a nuclear bomb war strikes out.
Berlin and New York are both among the world’s most coveted and glorified metropolitan capitals, attracting travelers year round from across the globe. Having spent time living in both, I decided to compare some of the more seminal points regarding life in both, in order to be able to reach a satisfactory and naturally mathematical conclusion: which city is better? Read on to see.
FOOD
Everyone needs to eat sometime – whether anorexic or obese. Would you rather kebabs or KFC? Everywhere you turn in NYC there is food, food, and more food – there is too much food, showcasing American excess at its most basic level. Berlin has the dignity to have a variety of other establishments interspersed with restaurants and food stands. Despite the fact that the selection and sheer volume of eating areas in NYC is almost repulsive in its conspicuous enormity, one must confess, many of those eateries offer very, very delicious food that makes you just want to say, yummm. Indeed, NYC is heaven for a gourmand while Berlin is simply an average city with a lot of wurst.
WINNER: NYC
NIGHTLIFE
New York nightlife rose to fame in the era of Studio 54, when everybody who was somebody wanted to party to excess under strobe lights in the Big Apple. However, the days in which NYC offered the most authentic and debauched parties have long, long passed, and the title has been transferred to Berlin. In NYC clubs turn on the lights and shoo partiers out at the scandalously early hour of 4am – the time at which parties in Berlin are only beginning to peak. Just imagine – could a place as hedonistic as Berghain ever surface in NYC? Of course not, it would be shut down and the owners thrown in prison. Berlin’s nightlife is so much better than NYC’S that it’s almost a cruel comparison to make.
WINNER: Berlin
HOUSING
Berlin is a city built to accommodate over 5 million people, in which only 3.5 million reside. Renovated classical buildings flourish that offer affordable abodes, the best paragon of this being those of OTA Berlin. NYC offers astronomically expensive housing so that you can squeeze yourself into a tiny room and have the pleasure of allocating half your income for your closet-sized quarters. The buildings in NYC often lack the charm of Berlin’s rustic buildings, and do not come close to justifying their cost. This is once again, a comparison almost cruel in how obvious the winner will be.
WINNER: Berlin
PEOPLE
Many visitors to NYC report being charmed by its hurried citizens who chatter freely with strangers, lacking the restraint of their Berlin counterparts who consider eye contact far too much interaction and personally invasive. It is also true that Berlin’s citizens may not be the most outgoing, but despite that, they offer something many NYCers lack – genuineness, as opposed to a simple fluency in superficial conversations. If you prefer gregarious-greeters then you may prefer NYC, but if you don’t mind breaking through some ice, then Berlin. Generalizations about people are, in any case, a bit tricky and inaccurate and therefore this one must end in standstill.
WINNER: Tie
WEATHER
In Berlin winters, it’s entirely possible to forget the last time you saw sunlight. Was it one week ago or one month ago that a blessed ray peaked through the overarching gray cloud covering the city? Probably closer to a month. NYC might be slightly colder and receive more snow, but at least the sun shows its face. NYC summers can be hot and humid while Berlin summers tend to be far less of both. Berlin remains more temperate year round, while NYC is more subject to dips and rises. In conclusion – there is too much gray in Berlin during the cold months for it to win any kind of competition except for one searching for the lowest exposure level to Vitamin D.
WINNER: NYC
EDUCATION
Would you rather pay 50,000$ a year or 500 euros a year for the ability to display a university degree? I thought so. Not only does Berlin offer some of Germany’s most renowned universities such as the Technischer Universitaet, Frei Universitaet, Universitaet der Kunst and Humboldt Universitaet where Albert Einstein and Georg Hegel, among others, once taught, it also costs practically nothing to procure a degree there. NYC has of course prestigious universities like Colombia and NYU, but they offer little their German counterpoints do not, apart from a high price tag.
WINNER: Berlin
FINAL WINNER: Berlin
Cindy Su, December 23, 2010
Comparisons between the cities Berlin + New York are popular – Wikipedia even has a report filed on the issue; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin,_New_York - and this comes out in favour of ………..both.
Its a joke actually because they are refering to the town of ‘Berlin’ in New York state!
Cindy Su’s last blog article;http://www.ota-berlin.de/blog/berlin-general/2010/12/24/laws-in-berlin-%e2%80%93-am-i-allowed-to-do-that-asks-ms-cindy-su-%e2%80%93-ota-berlin-constituency-blog/
Berlin versus New York City – Which is Better?….asks Ms Cindy Su – ‘OTA-Berlin Constituency Blog’ contributor from OTA Berlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Germany License. If you use this article or parts of it, please refer to http://www.ota-berlin.de.
Tags: Berlin better than new york, berlin or new york, Berlin versus New York City, berlin vs new york, Ms Cindy Su, new york berlin, new york vs berlin
Sorry – but New York [New Dork?] loses on the weather front also.
While I agree with most of the comments and conclusions ….NYC weather is the worst/wurst…….along with Montreal/Toronto, Boston and Chicago …that whole eastern /central north eastern NA area is……….CRAP.
Berlin weather is not great ………………but not as bad as NYC.
Berlin has to win this too.
to bring it to the point: berlin only wins points when it’s about the money. housing…. ok, new york is more expensive. there is a reason behind: new york attracts a lot of people, and it’s by far the more diverse, more fascinating and the more creative city. it’s almost not comparable with berlin, it’s like comparing berlin to duisburg. but, of course, ny has it’s price, and i’m unfortunately not affording a comfortable life there anymore….
nightlife: depends on what you like, but ny nightlife is more diverse. berlin nightlife is cheaper
weather: i think henri likes grey sky. ny wins by far, if you can stand the heat in the summer.