Before you head to New York, you should know that there are laws that are not the same as those back home, whether it’s regarding alcohol, tobacco, roads, tips, pharmacies… in short, yes, the United States has some differences compared to “old Europe”! 🙂 I will give you all the tips you need to adapt to daily life in New York 😉
Tobacco
You will see that there are fewer and fewer smokers in New York. They have decreased from 21.5% in 2002 to 13.9% in 2017. Why? Simply because the price of packs is exorbitant: about $14-15 for a pack of 20 Marlboro. Moreover, the law increasingly prohibits smoking in New York. Bill de Blasio, the city’s mayor, voted in 2017 for a series of very restrictive tobacco laws that make New York the most smoker-unfriendly city in America.
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Therefore, if you are a smoker of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or cigars, you will have: — The possibility to smoke on the street at least 4.5 m (15 feet) from a building entrance, bar, or restaurant … – possible to smoke in certain bars and restaurantsProhibition of smoking in other bars, restaurants, offices, train stations, urban parks, and beaches that specify it and have turned it into a marketing argument, but there are very few. These are: Karma, Sugar East, Nat Sherman, Club Macanudo, Lexington Bar and Books, Hudson Bar and Books. — . And many residential buildings also prohibit smoking.
Please note that the fine for violations is about $50. 🙁 To buy cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cigars in New York, you must be 21 years old. It is not illegal for minors under 21 to smoke cigarettes on the street, but it is true that it is not often seen.
Alcohol
Like tobacco, you must be 21 years old to buy and enter bars where they are sold. Know that the law in the United States is the law! Whether you are 20 years and 11 months old, sweet (or sweet), rich or not, bars always respect the law. This is the American mindset, and the managers of institutions fear too much the radical measures that will be taken if they are caught by the patrol. So, they will not make an exception if you do not meet the age requirement. If you are over 21, remember to always carry an ID with you. Because once again, considering that New Yorkers respect the law, they want to be sure of your age, even if you are 30, 40, or 50 years old. For the record, I even saw a bouncer in a bar ask a 74-year-old lady for her ID. That means! ! ! On the other hand, it is important to know that consuming alcohol on the roads is prohibited in the United States, especially in New York. In the United States, it is only allowed in Las Vegas!
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Identification
You do not need to carry your passport around for your entire stay. Personally, every time I go to New York, I take my ID and my passport. As soon as I arrive at the hotel, I put my passport in my suitcase and keep my ID in my wallet. Because the good plan is that the latter is also an ID that is smaller and especially if you lose it, you still have your passport to leave the United States. And for the more anxious or the more awaited (it depends on how you see things 🙂), scan your passport before departure and upload it to a cloud server (like Dropbox, Google Docs…). It’s a small tip that is easy to do and can be very useful for peace of mind.
Crosswalks
Know that drivers in the United States strictly adhere to traffic rules do not act like in Paris and force the passage as a pedestrian in New York, not like in our Latin countries! ! ! 🙂 Thus, you will never see a driver running a red light… unless taxis are a bit too rushed! Also note that you rarely see a pedestrian crossing a red pedestrian light. Therefore, . Because I can tell you that drivers, especially taxis, will honk at you with good heart. No, no, traffic lights really mean something in New York, so if it’s green for pedestrians, they can cross, and if it’s green for cars, pedestrians stop!
One last small thing to know, as there are always tourists who do not understand the first time: for pedestrians, the light turns green, allowing them to move forward, but after a few seconds, a countdown appears on some lights: “10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”. This obviously means that you have “that many” seconds left to cross the road, and not the other way around, as a friend recently did in Seattle (but it’s the same as in New York): she saw this countdown and waited for it to go to “0” before starting to cross. She quickly realized when she saw the cars starting and found herself in the middle of the road that she had made a mistake! ! !
😀 Pay attention to all these little tips if you are entering New York.
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Pharmacies
In the United States, if you have a minor issue like a cold, cough, sore throat, gastro… do not go to the doctor , because it is really expensive, unless you have insurance. On the other hand, you can go to a pharmacy , where there is a pharmacist who can advise you on various medications. In the United States, and especially in New York, pharmacies can be found in stores like CVS Pharmacy, Duane Read, or Rite Aid, they are called convenience stores. Medications are available freely and in the store itself, among all the other products. It is very convenient to use and not overpriced. So, here’s a good plan, for example, if you want to use the air conditioning on the plane 🙂. If you have something more serious, it’s better to go to the hospital, because doctors are very expensive. Now, you need to know that it is always very costly to use the hospital in the United States and especially in New York. You can easily end up paying $500 to $1000 for 3 visits. Read my article on travel insurance in New York, because I don’t think it should be taken lightly!
Tips
Tips are tips. In the United States, we must tip for every service provided (a server, a person carrying your luggage, a driver…). In France, we are not used to this, as for us, it is largely included in the overall price. But in the United States and in New York, you need to add it 9 times out of 10. In bars, restaurants, taxis, in hotels… it is essential to tip these people thanks to the tip. There are even restaurant servers who are only paid through tips. If they don’t receive any, they will have $0 at the end of the month!
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To know how much you should give, here are the figures: — In a bar and a restaurant, you should tip 15% if you are not satisfied with the service, 18% if the service was normal, or 20% if the service was perfect! — we usually leave 10% of the fare in a taxi or shuttleIn a hotel. — , we leave $1 or $2 for the bellhop and the maid.
Note that in bars or restaurants where you use the counter like McDonald’s, for example, no tip is required. Some tourist restaurants directly include the tip in the bill (it can be labeled “Tip” or “Gratuity”) and most restaurants also include tips if you want to eat with at least 6 people. So check your bill to see if you should tip 😉 or not.
If you have difficulty calculating tips, I have added a super easy-to-use calculator in my iOS and Android app (see the app “Good Tips New York” here) Regarding the servers, as I told you, they are mainly paid through tips. You will see that they do everything they can to meet your expectations: smiling, attentive, polite… in short, everything you expect from a worthy server.
Seller and Server
You will see that almost all sellers greet you with something like “Hi Guys” or “How are you?” If you have never set foot in North America before (because it’s the same in Canada), you will also see that the seller or server often gives you their first name. It’s their way of being with customers, which is ultimately very pleasant. So don’t be surprised, gentlemen, when the excellent saleswoman says, “How are you?” , then smiles at you, asks if she can help you, and finally tells you her name is “Brenda”! 😀 😀
Tourists
As you know, New York is a hyper-touristy city. The latest figures from 2018 show that it welcomed 65.1 million tourists, including 51.5 million domestic visitors (79% of tourists). So yes, with all the tourists, 8 out of 10 are still Americans! 🙂 It’s crazy when you think about it! At that time, among international tourists, there were 13.6 million in New York in 2018. Among them are the figures: — 1.2 million English — 1.1 million Chinese — 1 million Canadians — 906,000 Brazilians — 814,000 French! ! ! So the French-speaking count includes 228,000 people from Switzerland, and we don’t know about Belgium, but we probably know 100-150,000 Belgians.
Conclusion
There, I have given a little overview of the small things I should know before landing on New York soil. If you have any questions or if you think of a “thing to know” that is not on this list, feel free to 😉
Tag : The different prices and models of e-cigarettes