Guy: Yeah, well, he’s a big fan of the cadaver tissue.
–Washington Heights
Lady on cell: My god he killed everyone last night. He first sat on her then started to beat on her. Then she got up and started beating on him.
–West Broadway & Chambers
Fat Hispanic woman: I don’t know, I just haven’t been using my gun lately.
–Fort Greene
Cop on megaphone: Hand over your license and your registration. Now everyone in the Heights knows what I am waiting for.
–138th St & Amsterdam Ave.
Overheard by: tony l.
Hobo: I’m just black. I’m not a criminal.
–Outside MSG
Overheard by: Barry P.
Female cop, screaming out the window of her police car: Stop yelling on the street!
–Greenwich Ave & W 13th St
Overheard by: Pierce
White teen boy: You see, you can only mess with white people and Asian people because the worst thing they’ll do is call the cops. Anybody else–no one will ever hear from you again.
–1 train, southbound
Overheard by: Stephanie Shestakow
Hobo: Stand clear of the closing doors. You cannot block the doors. Keep your belongings with you at all times. If you see a suspicious package or activity, tell a police officer or MTA employee or me. My wife died and I want you to know that I’m single. I may not have any money, but I got plenty of honey. I want all the ladies to know that I’m single. Not the men, though. I’m not gay. I’m a lesbian. I like women.
–Downtown 5 train
Cop car, driving in bike lane, on loudspeaker: Move right. Move right! Your other right, idiot!
–8th Ave & 28th St
Overheard by: Rich Mintz
Thug: I hate white people. They’re always talking to the cops.
–1st Ave & 89thSt
Very young child: Yo estoy borracha. Yo estoy borracha. Yo estoy borracha…
–35th St & 36th Ave, Astoria
Overheard by: Michelle M.
Drunk guy: You know, I get very annoyed when I’m really drunk and you’re not.
–W 103rd St
Girl on cell: Are you drunk? Are you drunk? Are you drunk? Are you drunk? Are! You! Drunk!? Are you drunk?…Cause I am!
–Bandshell, Prospect Park
Overheard by: Patrick Di Justo
Guy on cell: Well, you can just watch me drink then!
–33rd & 7th
Smart teen: Wait, you’re gonna use your fake ID to buy alcohol with a credit card? Haha, I’ll just wait outside.
–34th & 7th
Cinephile: I need to get hammered like Mel Gibson tonight!
–70th & Park
Boy genius: That’s one word to describe my brother: drunk and psychotic.
–Montgoris Dining Hall, St. John’s University
Overheard by: Someone who can count
Man on cell: I have two phobias. The post office and the library. And you want me to go to the post office for you?
–University & 10th
College girl #1: What do you think is the saddest emotion or feeling?
College girl #2: I’m not sure, maybe fear.
College girl #1: Yeah, that’s a good one. Ya know, if we lived in Ethiopia you would have said hunger.
–71st between 2nd & 3rd
Overheard by: Lizz Tooher
Girl: Yeah, I always wear black…I’m, like, scared of colors.
–Elevator, Parsons School of Design
Guy: Yo, that Hamburgler’s a scary motherfucker, ’cause you never know what that nigga be sayin’. He be all “robble robble robble robble” and shit!
–23rd & 6th
Overheard by: Tacologic
Woman: Holy crap, you scared the hell out of me. What are you supposed to be anyway, Hercules?
Man: I’m Thor. Mighty son of Odin.
–N train
Man: But they’ll talk to us! That’s the problem with calling people — they talk to you!
–Union Square Park
Chick: For one thing, this guy sounds totally sick and perverted; and, for another, what’s his number?
–Party, 140th & Broadway
Overheard by: Mr. P.
Girl on cell: He was like, ‘Thanks for doing that in a text,’ and I was like, ‘Thanks for saying that in an IM.’
–Park Ave & Union Square North
Collegiate on cell: Dude, why the hell are you calling me? I told you, just use MySpace.
–Park Ave South & 19th St
Queer looking at ringing cell: Shit! [Answers phone in pleasant voice] Hi, Andrew!
–11th St & University
Overheard by: Colleen
Guy: Okay, here’s the plan: we paint your van, then you have sex with Susan, then I’ll have sex with…someone else. Then we both smoke a lot of weed…
–1st Ave
Overheard by: chris & daile
Teen boy: Yo, I just stopped smoking weed, cause, like, I heard it was bad for you. So I started smoking cigarettes again.
–G train
Queer on cell, taking deep drags of cigarette: No, I’m not! I told you I quit. [Exhales] Umm, that was just me blowing my bangs out of my eyes.
–Outside Bally Fitness, 50th St
Smoker: I read somewhere that if you quit smoking by the time you are middle aged your body can still recover, and I thought, “Great I still have a couple more years to quit.” Then I read what they define “middle aged” as. I’m fucked!
–Upper East Side gallery
Kid to another: Stephen king is the best autha, yo. But Danielle Steele is the best girl autha, yo.
–Barnes & Noble, Union Square
Overheard by: Joel
Teen to friend: Santa's a well-read dude, but they won't let him pee.
–5th Ave Barnes & Noble
Overheard by: Dude Santa
Ghetto chick: Yeah, maybe mama will actually buy a book…one day.
–Barnes & Noble, Union Square
Overheard by: Robert Gleyberman
Guy trying to push "free literature": This book is really important. It was the book that Gandhi followed. Do you know who Gandhi is? He's like the Indian Martin Luther King.
–L Train
Man reading Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day?: What? Poets do not write poetry all day! They work shitty jobs in design firms and sell things to assholes from San Diego! (turns page) And writers don't write all day! They pick up laundry for Park Slope bitches!
–Children's Section, Barnes & Noble, Court Street
Overheard by: Amused Bookseller
Hipster to friend having problems with ATM card: Maybe it's for normal people and you're just abnormally large.
–Village ATM
Overheard by: rafa
Overenthusiastic father of new skater: Oh, you know, it's her first time, so I wanted to make sure that I was there to help her through it so that it'd be extra-special for her.
–Wollman Rink, Central Park
Overweight woman: Where's Wang? Guys, where's Wang?
–Hard Rock Cafe
Tourist mom: It's not big enough to impress me.
–Grand Central
Overheard by: Not The Empire State, Surely
Loud woman: It was a three-legged pussy!
–Union Square Subway Station
Overheard by: Rachel K
Modern literature professor, after ending class early: Well, that's it, I've blown my load.
–Columbia University
Five-year-old girl to friend: Listen, Julia, this is probably going to sound really bitchy, but shove it.
–FAO Schwartz
40-ish man on cell: I bought this bitch sneakers and Tims, and I ain’t even seen no pussy!
–Forest Hills
Overheard by: Mary D
Old man: That’s when I knew that bitch was the bitch for me.
–84th & 1st
Overheard by: Mikey
Pretentious professor with ponytail: Bitch could convey everything with an ellipsis…
–69th & Columbus
Hobo: Get your snowball here! 20 bucks for a snowball! You won’t find another one of these for miles!
–43rd & Broadway
Trendy young woman: So, I went out to walk the dog this morning and was like, ‘What is this shit falling from the sky? First it was that funky smell from Jersey, now crap falling from the sky.’ Then I realized it was snowing.
–Midtown
Overheard by: Nic
Old lady to cat she’s pushing in stroller: It’s fucking cold out here!
–Stuyvesant Town, 18th & 1st
Overheard by: Caroline
Incredulous drunk guy with large snowball: Man, I wish this was cocaine.
–E 4th & Bowery
Flight attendant: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to JFK, New York. The local time is 1:30 in the morning, the weather is… really cold.
–United landing in New York early in the morning
Conductor: You know, the trick to dealing with this weather is mind over matter. If you don’t mind the snow, it doesn’t matter.
–Queens-bound 7 train
