Manhattan

Girl: The thing is, he’s too lazy to be a drug dealer.

–Bleecker & Mott

Guy leaving: See you tomorrow, I’m off to do some shoplifting!

–Smith & Union, Red Hook

Yuppie mom: Do you think my baby is old enough to do yoga?

–Union & Henry, Red Hook

Pregnant woman on cell: Mom, I gotta go. I can’t find Jason and I need to take him home before he plays Hide and Go Soil Yourself behind the stuffer machine.

–Build-A-Bear, 5th & 46th

Overheard by: Anna Lindgren

Mean old New York lady: The hostesses in this place are so rude!

–67th & CPW

Overheard by: a hostess standing next to her

College kid on cell: He used my razor to shave his balls….I didn’t know what to do, I just stood there.

–85th & 2nd

Overheard by: Omar

Prissy girl on cell phone: Do you think I should call him? I don’t think he’d talk to me after all of the shit I’ve pulled.

–79th between 2nd & 3rd

Overheard by: Phipmode

Guy on cell: I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry. I’m usually so fucked up I don’t know what’s going on, to be honest.

–NJ Transit bus pulling into Port Authority

Suit to other suit: They drive it through the city in milk trucks so that no one will know.

–6th between 55th & 56th

Overheard by: Ann M. Hetzel

Queer on cell: Sunday? Well, I hate to say this out loud on a cell phone where the authorities can hear, but. . . that’s Tonys night.

–Broadway & 33rd, Astoria

Overheard by: lily carver

Guy: I went to high school with you. I was a senior when you were a freshman. I used to look at your pantylines in gym class.

–Kevin St. James, 46th & 8th

Girl #1: Was he attractive at least?
Girl #2: I wouldn’t sleep with people who aren’t attractive.
Girl #1: Well, I’ve slept with people who weren’t attractive.
Girl #2: Yeah, me too.

–Dunkin’ Donuts, 140th & Broadway

Overheard by: djlindee

Guy at register: So, where do you go to college?
Girl checking out with mom: Erm, Wellesley.
Guy at register: Oh no way! I went to Wellesley! How is it these days?

–Columbia University

Very old lady to husband: You asshole! YOU ASSHOLE! I hate you.
Old husband: Wha?
Old lady: You didn’t wait for me, you fucking asshole.

–Clearview Cinemas, 62nd & 1st

Queer clerk: Am I sort of red here? [points at forehead] Chick clerk: Um, no. Well, actually, kinda.
Queer clerk: Yeah, I knew that when his thing hit me there last night, it was going to leave a mark.

–The Pleasure Chest, 7th Ave S

Overheard by: office peon does nyc

Eva Amurri to hipster companion: My father was telling me the dangers of aspartame — you know the stuff in Diet Coke? It’s like a sugar. It was once registered as a chemical weapon.
Hipster companion: Yeah?
Eva Amurri: If there is any way to become a superhero, it has to be by drinking Diet Coke.
[later] Eva Amurri to hipster companion: I can’t remember how it ends… If he dies in a war or if Gatsby gets in a car crash, but he loves Daisy.
[later still] Eva Amurri: Pasties are Band-Aids that only cover your nipples.

–Acela train leaving Penn Station

Overheard by: could you maybe namedrop your mom less, Miss Top-Volume-At-All-Times?