A Foreigner Takes on the Streets of Manhattan 🇺🇸

The last city of the trip, and Harry uses it to close the argument he’s been running since Hawaii. He arrived in the United States expecting arrogant, loud, annoying Americans and finishes saying he was wrong — and then goes further, offering a theory about why: Americans back each other, where Britain has what he calls tall poppy syndrome and cuts people down for getting ahead.

The rest is New York as a short list. Katz’s for pastrami, the Equinox hotel booked through credit-card perks, a run along the Chelsea waterfront, and a haircut.

Key moments

• [00:00] First time in New York, and the last city of the tour.
• [00:32] The revision, stated properly: Americans are very friendly, strangers strike up conversations with strangers, and it took him a while to notice. Less so in New York than elsewhere.
• [01:04] The theory he builds on it — Americans support people who are doing well, where Britain has tall poppy syndrome and pulls them back down. He flags it as his opinion.
• [01:04] National Guard in the subway, which he notes is not an everyday sight.
• [02:09] Katz’s Delicatessen, founded in 1888.
• [02:09] You take a ticket to eat. Queues can run an hour, and at Christmas he’s told two hours outside plus an hour in.
• [02:40] 7,000 kg of pastrami a week, and 2,000–3,000 people a day — on what the counter staff call a quiet day.
• [03:10] He’s handed a free taste of the beef across the counter while ordering.
• [05:53] The When Harry Met Sally scene was filmed here, and he attempts a recreation nobody in the room reacts to.
• [07:02] His verdict: possibly the best sandwich he has ever eaten.
• [07:38] The bill: $36.
• [07:38] The Equinox Hotel — Equinox is a gym brand and this is their first hotel, rated the best in New York and top 50 in the world.
• [08:12] How he got it: booked through an Amex Platinum, which brings a $100 credit, free breakfast, early check-in, late checkout and a free upgrade.
• [09:56] The upgrade doesn’t come through, because he booked the same day and the hotel is full. His own lesson: book ahead if you want the perk to land.
• [10:28] The room, which he notes is small — space in New York is the constraint — with a minibar of creatine, vitamin C, sleep masks and CBD oil rather than snacks.
• [12:32] A hard bed, which surprises him after praising American beds all trip.
• [13:39] Chelsea, and the waterfront walkway built over an old railway line. His read: the city is working hard at being liveable and it’s simply expensive.
• [14:10] Will’s ranking — New York first for energy, Vegas last for feeling fake. Harry’s own: Miami first.
• [14:42] The gym, which is open to the public as well as guests, runs the height of the building, and lists everything in pounds.
• [15:43] Indoor and outdoor pools, hot tub, cold plunge, sauna and steam rooms. A pool at all is rare in New York.
• [17:26] It’s busy enough that he can’t get space in the pool.
• [17:56] A working lunch on YouTube advice: not all views are equal, and you need a unique selling point like any other business.
• [18:17] A New York haircut, and the same head-massage machine he met in India turning up here.
• [19:01] The barber on the city: it changed more after Covid than at any other time, and he declines to say whether for better or worse — only that it isn’t the same.
• [19:01] On the famous $5 two-slice pizza: he liked it when he was younger and doesn’t see it now. The story is that it’s the tap water.

Extracted pages

• Place: New York
• Country: United States
• Person: Will
• Tips: Use card perks at expensive hotels