Female NYU student: Like, my mom went to NYU. Like, when it was real.
Male student: Yeah, my dad went to NYU.
Female NYU student: Like, before Stern was called Stern, and it got shut down by the government because it was like, communist.
Female NYU student: I haven't showered in like, two days. I like, stink. I can smell myself.
–Cooper Square
Overheard by: saucy jade
Ghetto gay boy: So Sophia* got some video of her on the internet givin' head to her ex man.
Not so ghetto gay boy: Yeah? That sucks.
Ghetto gay boy: Yeah, I told her yo, you better not let your son see that shit.
–Norman Ave, Greenpoint
Overheard by: Why would he be looking?
Seven or eight-year-old boy: Daddy, who owns ESPN?
Dad: Disney.
Boy: The man or the place?
Dad: Well, actually, the corporation. They own lots of things. Like, they own the Disney Channel, and the History Channel, and Lifetime, and then they own Disneyworld, and the Disney movie studio, and…
Mom, with little sister in her lap: Oh, for crying out loud, enough.
Dad: . . .which makes The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, and The Lion King on Broadway, and they own ABC, too. And a bunch of publishing stuff.
Boy [after a beat]: What about ESPN2?
Dad: That, too.
Boy: All the ESPNs? All four?
Father: Yeah, now there’s some valuable intellectual property, huh?
–Fascati Pizza, Henry St., Brooklyn Heights
Girl #1: So yeah, he's been telling my mom every time I fuck up.
Girl #2: Ugh. How old is he, even?
Girl #1: Like 40, maybe 50-ish.
Girl #2: So why, like, do you just not tell him to fuck off?
Girl #1: I want to, but he's been acting all bad-ass since he got cancer.
–Greenpoint YMCA
Overheard by: Anwar
Mother to preschool-aged child: That's the New York Stock Exchange. That's where we lose all our money.
–Outside NYSE
Overheard by: Angel
Man to four-shoe-pair-buying wife: It's people like you who confuse the economists.
–Macy's
Toll booth operator to chick in car during rush hour: So, what's your take on the economy these days?
–Verrazano Bridge
Young dudes, watching suits take Queens train at 9 am: Oooh! They got fired.
–7 Train
Overheard by: Only in Brooklyn
Mom: You poor hungry boy… I’ll make dinner for you as soon as we get home.
Six-year-old son, sullenly: Okay.
Mom: Do you want macaroni and cheese? How about pasta? I can make you those little nuggets. [Son shakes his head.] Oh, is it the other kind of hunger? Do you have to poop? [Son nods.]
–Elevator, Washington Heights
Overheard by: Morgan
Sweet little boy: Look, mommy, that boy has a bike just like mine!!
Huge Jamaican mom: Get on the damn elevator and shut up! (pause) And just so you know, this is how hot it's gonna be when we go to the island, so you better get used to it now.
–D Train
Little boy: Mom, can I download you?
–Barnes & Noble, Astor Place
Friend #1: It smells like green beans on this train!
Friend #2: Your mom smells like green beans.
Friend #1: (pauses) I know.
–F Train
