Man: Do you think a minute is the same in Egypt as it is in New York?
Woman: I guess so, I don’t know.
Man: ‘Cause you know that song “In a New York Minute,” I think a minute is different here. It’s probably shorter.
–American Airlines terminal, JFK
Girl: Little Italy is changing so much. Look at this place, this doesn’t belong here…
Guy: Why not? It’s called “Casa Bella.” That means “beautiful house.”
Girl: “Bella” doesn’t mean “house.”
–Mulberry & Hester
Overheard by: Wow
Getting on the crowded E at rush hour, a couple from Long Island forces into the train as the doors are closing.
Long Island woman: Come on people, make some room. [To companion] Can you imagine what it’s like in that city in Asia, in China I think, what’s it called?
Long Island dude: Japan?
Long Island woman: Yeah, Japan, that’s the city! They push you into the cars there!
Random suit: You mean like you just pushed all of us?!
–5th Ave E station
Overheard by: Greg the E train rider
Kid : What kind of things do you make?
Balloon-twisting clown: Animals, minerals, vegetables. That kind of thing.
–Gramercy Street Fair, 3rd Ave
Girl #1: Uh, so what’s with these black lights in the tunnels? Are they doing construction? I feel like I’m in a club or something!
Girl #2: Sweetie, that’s daylight.
Girl #1: Oh. But the buildings are glowing!
–1 Train approaching 125th
Overheard by: Melissa Coppola
Girl #1: Where is SUNY Geneseo?
Girls #2 and #3: Geneseo.
Girl #1: Right, but where’s that?
Girl #2: New York, it’s a SUNY.
Girl #1: Wait, all SUNYs are in New York?
Girl #3: It stands for State University of New York! How could you not know this?
Girl #1: What?! This is just like that time you tried to convince me Spain wasn’t in South America.
–L train
Tween to her mom: Oh look, it’s those shoes you can eat! Wait, can you eat them? Oh, no, these aren’t the edible ones.
–Payless, Upper West Side
Overheard by: embarrassed to have been in payless
Girl #1: I heard Columbia Snacks is actually a pot service.
Girl #2: What, like they sell weed and stuff?
Girl #1: No, pots for dorm plants. Yeah, weed, girl. They just want to up the GPA here.
Girl #2: Huh?
Girl #1: Don’t you know weed boosts your smarts? It’s a proven fact that weed makes you dumber the day after. But it’s also proven that it makes you much much smarter the day after that.
–Columbia University
Asian guy: Teddy Roosevelt, there was a man. Out of the days when men could club women over the head and drag them off.
Asian chick: Hmm.
Asian guy: What I’m saying is — my thesis is — the position I’m taking is — the argument I’m making is — there’s never been a successful matriarchal society.
Asian chick: Hmm.
Asian guy: Byron “The Whizzer” White! He was a man. He could do it all. Feminism is bullshit. That’s what I love about you. I can’t talk like this around most girls.
Asian chick: Hmm.
–Tony’s Di Napoli, 84th & 2nd
Confused young man: So… this museum is mainly to do with art?
Bored guard: Yes.
Confused young man: Oh.
–Metropolitan Museum of Art, European Art Section
