This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 30 the best ways to spend New Year's Eve in New York City.
Welcome to the All Ears English podcast where you'll finally get real native English conversation and fluency for business and life.
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Now here are your hosts Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Boston and New York City, USA.
Hey.
There's no place like New York City on New Year's Eve.
Today, get three things you can do in New York to ring in the new year and get insight from two former New Yorkers.
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Hey, Aubrey, how are you doing today?
Hi, Lindsay.
I'm great.
How are you?
It's a beautiful day.
Oh, it's a beautiful day here in Denver.
I'm excited to be here.
Well, Aubrey, you know, we have you on this episode.
You are a member of our team at All Ears English and this may be the first time some of our listeners have heard your voice.
We're excited that you're here.
Yes.
Hi, everyone.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Aubrey.
And this is a perfect episode for me to be here because we're talking about New York City.
And I lived there for a couple of years and I love it.
I still miss it.
Like my foot was cut off.
Don't you miss it?
There really is nothing in the world like living in New York City.
It's one of the most unique experiences you could have in life, I think.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
I didn't want to leave.
We were kind of forced to leave because there was a hiring freeze. for teachers there.
And my husband wanted to teach, so he couldn't be hired.
They could only hire teachers that were tenured.
I see.
So we moved back to Arizona, but we didn't want to leave.
We loved it.
It was difficult living there.
It was hard. kids, but there was so much that made up for that.
The culture, so many amazing things to go and do.
I loved it so much.
That's awesome.
Imagine how your life could have been different if you would have or could have.
Not necessarily better or worse, but just different if you had stayed, if your husband had gotten that job and you had stayed long term.
But I have this theory that when people move to New York...
It's hard to leave.
They have a hard time leaving, right?
They think New York is the center of the world.
In some ways, it is.
Some ways, it's not.
But today, Aubrey, we are talking about New Year's Eve in New York, another unique experience.
I want to know a little bit about what we can do.
Our listeners may want to know, if they're spending New Year's Eve in New York City, what they could do.
That would be uniquely New York.
Right, Aubrey?
And that is the it's there's no experience like that.
Right.
It's so packed with people.
Yes.
Wall to wall.
And you you're not going to be able to go to the bathroom.
That's one thing that comes to my mind.
Yes.
Because once you're in there, there's security everywhere and they can't. let you leave.
You can't get out.
So there's that.
And also it's so cold.
It's so cold in New York City on New Year's Eve, guaranteed.
You have to prepare, dress warmly.
Absolutely.
Did you ever do this?
Did you ever go directly to Times Square and stand in that crowd?
No way.
Okay.
Yeah.
I have so many friends who did, though.
You did?
That lived in New York or were tourists?
Yes.
Yes.
No, that lived in New York.
Both.
Both.
I've had friends who were tourists and who went, and also locals who lived in New York and would still go, but one time
And then they're like, I've experienced that.
I don't need to do that again.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When I was a kid, I grew up in New Hampshire, so small town girl.
I always envisioned I wanted so badly to go to New York to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
I wanted it more than anything.
But by the time I lived there, I said, oh, no, clearly that's something that tourists do.
And going back to the fact that there are no bathrooms, I mean, that sounds awful.
You're there for 12 hours.
Yeah.
Yes.
Right.
It's a lot of like teenagers.
Right.
So my friends who had teenagers, or you know, I don't know from about teen until 2025, they're up for it.
They could do it any older than that.
And I think we decide that it's not worth the hassle.
We raise our standards a little bit bit right, but it is one of those places in the world.
You might want to be right.
I guess there are a few places in the world.
For some reason sydney australia, comes to mind.
In the center of town in sydney, i think, would be really cool too.
So that's one option aubrey, and what would be another?
What was more, something that you used to do as a local in new york, So we would go up on a roof.
There are very tall buildings in New York City.
And on the rooftop, you could see the fireworks so well.
And it was fun.
You'd get together with friends.
People would have like a house party.
But we would almost always go a couple hours before the ball dropped, before the fireworks, and hang out up on the roof.
Even though it was chilly, we'd have our coats.
People would be drinking maybe wine or some other drink, lots of snacks.
And it was fun just to hang out, play some games, and then see those fireworks.
Yes.
Yeah, there is a big rooftop culture in New York.
I think it's just because it's the obvious reason.
There's just no space.
People don't really have yards.
Now, is that in Brooklyn or Manhattan where you would tend to go on the rooftops?
It was in Manhattan.
I live just north of Harlem near Washington Heights.
Okay.
And yeah, we would go up on our roof.
And the fireworks are so cool because they reflect on the river.
The Hudson River was right next to where we lived.
So that was amazing to see the fireworks reflecting on the water.
It was beautiful.
And you're exactly right.
That's why we'd go on the rooftop is everyone was in like a one bedroom.
There's not enough space to have a big get together unless you go up on the roof.
I mean, there are no lawns in Manhattan really, unless it's between four buildings, right in the back courtyard or something like that.
I suppose some really nice buildings have that.
Yeah, I did a lot of rooftop hangouts too when I lived in New York, more so in Brooklyn.
I remember watching fireworks on the 4th of July in Brooklyn from a rooftop.
So there's definitely a rooftop fireworks culture in New York City.
So guys, check it out.
See if you can get an invite to a house party.
Make friends.
I think New Yorkers are friendly.
I really do think that.
Definitely.
I certainly had a few experiences where someone would be a little less friendly if they were a little grumpy for some reason.
But in general, I agree.
Almost all of my experiences, people were super friendly, very social.
So yeah, you know, chat with people.
There is just the tiniest chance you'll have a negative interaction.
That's how it is in any big city.
But for the most part, anyone you chat with is going to be friendly and kind to you.
100%.
And Aubrey for the last one.
I mean, what do you think about doing the whole fixed price menu meal at a restaurant?
Are you on board with that or not so much?
I am.
I think it's fun, right?
I actually did this more when I lived in Paris.
I did a few prefix meal, right?
In New York City.
We didn't do it because we were starving students.
You know, we were like just starving artists.
And it's still very expensive.
Like it might be a fixed price but it's, you know, alcohol and an appetizer and entree and dessert and is still going to be quite pricey.
So you have to be prepared for it to be a little bit expensive, but it is a really nice way to do something.
That's special occasion with friends.
Yes.
Yeah, I agree.
I don't think I, you know, I really enjoyed restaurant week in New York.
I got to go to Bobby Flay's restaurant.
And that is the time to really go all out when it comes to food in New York, right?
If you're not necessarily a millionaire.
You know it's going to be hard to go out and eat a good meal every night in New York to look for restaurant week.
Look for other ways to get that good food.
But I personally would rather do the fixed price menu in Paris, like you said, Aubrey.
Yes, exactly.
I went to this amazing tapas restaurant in New York City.
It was called Alta.
And that was so fun to be able to taste all these different amazing foods.
But yeah, it was restaurant week when we went.
So it was more affordable.
So fun.
If you guys are traveling to New York, that might be worth looking up.
When is restaurant week and trying to be there to experience that.
A hundred percent.
I mean, so those are the three things that New Yorkers do do, guys.
I mean, some people go watch the ball drop in Times Square.
Some people go to a house party and then some people do go out for that traditional meal.
Maybe it's with a date or maybe it's just with a group of friends.
I love it.
I love it.
Any final tips on how to enjoy New Year's Eve for our listeners, Aubrey?
I think the main thing is make sure you're with people you love, right?
Family, friends.
You want to be around the people you're closest to on New Year's.
And sometimes that's hard if you're having to choose one group over another.
But yeah, just make sure to spend it with the people you care about.
I love it.
I love it.
And I want to let our listeners know that you spent a lot of time over on our other podcast, Aubrey IELTS Energy.
Can you tell us a little bit about that show before we finish up?
Yes, it's an amazing show for anyone who is preparing to take the IELTS exam.
We have three episodes every week.
Jessica and I, she's a former examiner.
She was an IELTS examiner for 14 years and she has passed all her knowledge to me.
So we're able to provide all of these insider tips and strategies to make sure that you can get the scores you need on the IELTS exam.
And it's very motivating, very engaging.
Gives you lots of tips to, yeah, to make your study fun.
And so, yeah, come check it out.
It's called IELTS Energy.
I love it.
So good.
And guys, make sure you follow this show right here to get all of these awesome episodes we publish for you four days a week on this show.
And in the next episode here we're going to give you a little vocabulary to talk to native speakers about New Year's Eve.
So we're coming back to the theme of New Year's Eve.
Can't wait to get on the next episode here, Aubrey.
Thanks for hanging out.
Yes, you too.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
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