I’m a non-US citizen living outside of the US and since I was a teenager, NYC was really popular, like anyone wanted to go there on vacation. Now, I barely hear anything about the city, besides Sex and the City new series and news about floodings.
Do you know if this is generalized worldwide? Why did this happen?
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No idea if its worldwide, but for me its oversaturation. Media companies being based in LA and NYC seem to mean that those are the only two cities that exist. Gets pretty old to only have two cities exist.
It’s still the very most visited place in the US – by both domestic and international visitors.
It’s still popular and the safest large city in the US.
There’s just lots of pretty cool places to go and with the internet you get to see them all.
It’s still very popular. Foreigners just tend to believe everything they see on tv as fact: bad news= America is burning rn, continuous tv shows that take place in NYC= hot spot… and the opposite.
The truth is that it’s still VERY popular, you’re just paying attention to only what you see on tv more ya know. It’s just what you’re being exposed to imo.
I think what you’re describing was just a specific moment where NYC was in the spotlight for tourism. Like you know how maybe 2-5 years ago Dubai was really popular to visit (idk if it still is)? If what your describing is a real thing I’d think that’s why.
It’s as popular as ever in real life. It’s just not like the 90s/2000s when seemingly every sitcom was about people in NYC (e.g., Seinfeld [the best], Friends, Caroline in the City, Just Shoot Me, Mad About You, King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, etc.)
Literally sitting at MoMA as I type this – NYC is popular for visitors that have a tourist mindset. It will always be. I used to live here in the 90s – saw it go from ugly to beautiful – it is again on the downward spiral toward ugly. It’ll be back – always is
I think you’re really asking why there’s fewer TV shows set there right now.
I haven’t thought about that, but I when I lived there in the early 2000’s, NYC was known as being very movie and film production friendly. Maybe that’s changed, I have no idea.
You’re not basing this assessment off of any objective metric that is in any way observable or universal. Somebody could just as easily say, why is NYC so much more popular now than it was in the early 2000s? All I saw back then was 9/11 stuff but now I see spider man, the NY giants, ball drop in Times Square, Jon bellion songs, etc.
Your assessment is based on your own subjective perspective and not on any tangible factors.
You also never defined exactly what you meant by “popular”
NYC’s cultural prestige, population, and GDP for example, have only grown since then.
New York City has been a very popular place to live and visit for the existence of New York City.
There was a period of time (70s/80s) where it was not as popular or a tourist destination, but by the mid 90s that changed and it continued to increase in popularity.
That does not mean it’s a destination goal for everyone.
Easily still one of the most popular tourist destinations domestically and internationally by any measure. NYC certainly took a big hit during Covid (airborne pandemics are antithetical to the NYC lifestyle), which is likely why you have this impression, but it has recovered more than other major cities. Housing prices are much higher than the early 2000s (even adjusted for inflation) because the residential population has boomed since then.
It’s very popular still everybody seems to hate NYC but as soon they put a step in there you see the typical pic on instagram with the caption “NYC my favorite city in the WORLD #citylife #NYC #Oklahoma”
It goes in cycles. In the early 90’s NYC wasn’t viewed well because of their high crime rate. Now it’s the cost of living. Eventually people will leave, prices will come down and it will become popular again.
I loved NYC
Stayed at the Benjamin and Kimberly Hotels
Wandered around for two weeks looking at history stuff
Just fascinating stuff there
But you cannot shove 8 million people onto a land smaller than my neighbor’s farm and expect it to be clean and pretty
And it’s not
Still very cool though
Several of my neighbors in Brooklyn were either artists or locals in the 00’s. We all got priced out. Queens & Brooklyn had the highest rate of Forclosuers in the country during the Great Recession. It was like goddamn Dodgers Stadium leaving.
But for awhile it was this magical time where neighborhoods which were “ghost towns” after dark growing up were both safe & affordable. Then HBO towed my car to film my stoop & the block got gentrified.
There are less small venues, restaurants fail more often, production companies are stingier with their crews & writers & talent.
It all adds up.
Yeah, NYC is still “popular”. But it isn’t producing quite as much “culture” as it was 20 years ago. The world isn’t quite as enthralled. This will change again, it always does.
Also, for christ sakes, covid. There were Hospital Ships parked in the Harbor & everyone moved away. That…just ended. It distrupted a lot of things.
I believe this actually has to do with cities and states offering bonuses and other kickbacks for filming in the city/state in the hopes of drawing more people to them. NYC was doing this to rehabilitate it’s image from the “crime ridden city” of the previous decade. Florida used to do this for a while as well, with many movies and shows taking place there, “Bad Boys”, “Burn Notice”, “Miami Vice” remake to name a few. Once the cities are over used the studios move on to a new city to focus on. So you’re probably seeing less of a media focus on New York City lately since movies and shows have focused elsewhere currently.
I think two things are happening right now, and ironically they kinda opposites of each other.
1. I think the tech boom has sapped a lot of financial energy from New York City. For the last decade or so if you wanted to leave your nowhere small town to make it rich, you would go to New York or San Francisco and a lot of people with good math/tech skills and the desire to make it rich went to San Francisco.
2. I think New York City is really struggling more then most with the surge in work from home that started after COVID.
That being said, it’s still New York City. They’re still the Beatles/Led Zeppelin of American cities, and you would have to be really contrarian and/or anti-city to put them outside the top 3.
9/11
trends change. NYC will be backmin content soon enough, but I feel like LA has been more dominant in the past few years… this is, of course, subjective to the shows I watch. and I am watching at least one set in NYC right now, so it’s not gone… trends tend to move in waves, ebbing and flowing
>early 2000’s
You know, something happened in New York City in the early 2000s that made much of the country appreciate the city and want to visit and help it. Maybe that’s the feeling you’re missing.
At the moment we are still seeing the aftershocks of COVID. There is still a large number of people who are feeling the city for various reasons. Some medical, some are leaving for more space, some are simply being priced out, some political. But the city itself is still a major economic and culture center in the US.
Democrats who run the city let the criminals run wild and don’t prosecute anymore.
Guliani did some border line unconstitutional things but he cleaned things up for awhile.
I think a lot of people are getting defensive about this post and it’s unnecessary. Like it’s been stated before, a lot of shows were based in NYC in the past two decades. Lately there seems to be interest in seeing other types of lifestyles (i.e. the west (Yellowstone), small towns (Stranger Things) other big cities (Chicago Fire). It’s not that NYC has lost popularity but from a media standpoint people are also interested in other parts of the United States (and world) as well.
Hey i still want to see NYC as a tourist, hopefully soon lol
It has become much more generic with chain retailers taking over and all of the mom and pop shops being pushed out with rising rents. I loved there for 10 years back in the 90s
Last time I went to NYC was about 2 years ago. Just about all the good mom and pop shops shut down and were taken over by corporate franchises. Times square is expanding and turning everything into a giant shopping mall where every 10 doors is a store selling the exact same garbage as the store 10 doors ago and so on.