Tag Archives: New York City

New York Ticker Tape Parade

Nationality: Irish

Occupation: Financial Engineering

Residence: New York, NY

Text: 

“After the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2008, they did the traditional victory parade through New York. The parade goes along a narrow section of Broadway in lower Manhattan called the ‘Canyon of Heroes’, where all of the employees of the banks watch the parade from their office windows. When I worked at BGC my office was along this section of Broadway, and that morning someone had left out boxes full of thin strips of paper. As the parade went by everyone threw the paper out of the window like it was confetti. Workers used to throw ticker tape, hence the name, but ticker tape was obsolete by 2008 so we just used paper.”

Context:

New York City has been doing ticker tape parades since long before my father moved to America in the early 90s. Historically the parades were done to honor anyone considered worthy, including returning soldiers, astronauts, and politicians. However in the time my dad has lived in New York, they have only been done for championship winning sports teams, and he only worked in an office on Broadway for one of them. Historically, these parades featured employees at financial firms throwing ticker tape; ticker tape is a thin strip of paper which was used to receive live stock market updates through telegraphs. The employees would throw the tape out of the window in celebration, and it would fall down like confetti. After the internet rendered ticker tape obsolete, employees began throwing slits of paper out of the window instead.

Analysis:

Both the use of ticker tape (and the paper that replaced it) and the parade going down the “Canyon of Heroes” are ways that New York differentiates itself from other cities when conducting championship parades. First, there is the deliberate choice to use paper that replicates ticker tape instead of using normal confetti (like any other city would). Ticker tape symbolizes Wall Street and the stock market, which are major parts of the fabric of New York City. Additionally, the parade route going through the financial district to have employees watch from windows is very different from other parades. Most parades go through areas with areas for spectators, but in New York the parade is meant to be watched from an office window. This is a reflection of the work culture of New York, especially in the financial industry. At businesses where employees often work 60+ hours a week, nobody would have time to leave the office to watch a parade, so instead the parade follows a route allowing it to be watched from the office. Ticker tape parades turn generic championship parades into unique celebrations that reflect New York City.

The George Santos Curse

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Residence: San Diego, CA

Text:

In March of 2023, just before opening day, Congressman George Santos published a video on Twitter wearing a Mets jersey where he incorrectly chanted “Let’s go Mets”. This video was posted while he was enveloped in an enormous fraud scandal, which would ultimately lead to him being expelled from Congress and sentenced to seven years in prison. The moment that the video was released, my friend was convinced that George Santos had just cursed the Mets for the 2023 season. Despite starting the year as World Series favorites, the Mets went on to win less than half of their games and miss the playoffs. In 2024 after George Santos was expelled from Congress, the Mets unexpectedly made a playoff run which was proof to my friend that Santos cursed the Mets and the curse was lifted when he was gone.

Context:
My friend lives in New York’s third congressional district, which is the district Santos represented and where the Mets play home games. He was not old enough to vote when Santos was elected, but he hated him and wanted him to be removed from office. After Santos posted the cringeworthy video on Twitter, jokes appeared online that he had just cursed the Mets and that the Mets could never win with him in office. My friend latched onto this idea, and throughout the season whenever the Mets lost he would text me about how the George Santos curse is killing the Mets.

Analysis:

This belief is a clear example of Frazer’s idea of the Law of Similarity in magic. The Law of Similarity states that a magician will produce a desired effect by mimicking it. In this case George Santos was (unintentionally) the magician, and he transferred the negativity surrounding himself onto the Mets by wearing their jersey. Following this idea, it makes sense that the curse would be lifted after Santos was expelled. Prior to being expelled from office Santos was hated for being a fraudster, but after he was expelled people began to find him amusing. This changing energy surrounding Santos was reflected in the Mets turnaround, where they unexpectedly had a great season in 2024.

The Mole Socities of New York City

Age: 20

Text: According to this subject, in New York, there’s an urban legend about a secret underground society of homeless people who live within tunnels that spread all over the city. Apparently, as this subject has noted that she’s heard versions of this story from multiple sources, this legend is widespread throughout the city, with some people even claiming that they’ve seen people slip out of “abandoned” subway stations at night, or even from out under sewer grates. Allegedly, these “mole people” as they’ve become known live in pretty complex societies and communities – with some people going so far as to suggest that they have access to every major building in New York. 

Context: Ever since moving to New York for college, this subject has occasionally found herself regaled by tales from classmates and coworkers alike who are native to New York about the urban legends of the secret network of tunnels that run under NYC. She believes that these stories probably came about just as a result of subway stations closing or not getting finished, and she isn’t completely sold on the idea of people living in societies completely underground in the city. 

Interpretation: I believe that this urban legend of a “mole people” society that supposedly has connections within the entire city of New York is based on the fact that there probably are some homeless people who do take refuge in abandoned subway buildings for shelter. The idea about these “mole people” having widespread societies and access into buildings seems a little bit more paranoid, perhaps a byproduct of the story passing throughout the state by word of mouth – people could have added their own additions to this story as they pass them on to make it sound more interesting and wild.

New York was Purchased for $24

Text:

The island of Manhattan was purchased from the Native Americans who inhabited the land for twenty-four dollars worth of goods. When the Dutch came across the Atlantic and into the Americas, land was so cheap they were able to purchase the land in exchange for some goods. 

Context

The informant grew up in the city of Manhattan and remembers talking about this myth inside of their elementary school classroom. They talk of how everyone who tells this story chopped the low price to inflation. The informant believed that twenty-four dollars was a lot back then. He believed that the craziest part of the story is how crazy inflation is rather than the abuse of power that took place. I then pulled out an inflation calculator, and $24 dollars when the Dutch first landed in New York is worth about $2,000 now. Pennies in comparison to the vast amounts of wealth the Dutch had at the time. The informant now views this myth in a different light. Before, they saw the story had a connotation of “wow, the dollar used to go so far”. Now they see the story as exposing how “Native Americans were totally robbed”. 

Analysis

This myth is really interesting given how time can really affect the impact it will have on people who hear it. Because the informant heard this story as a child, it carried with it a sense of innocence. As he has gotten older and Americans have begun to recognize the brutality of colonization, the story very quickly changes tone. What was once a fun little tidbit about the city is now a scar that has been passed down generations. This is a story that could be about the abuse of power on the colonizers part, native Americans being gullible and stupid, or that both parties had the best intentions in mind and everyone was happy after the exchange. The implications of this founding myth can vary widely from person to person. This is also a wonderful example of how the lines between myth and legend are often blurred. Although this is a founding story for the island of Manhattan, it is likely untrue.

What, You’re Coming Empty Handed?

Nationality: American
Age: 77
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Delaware
Performance Date: 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Background:

The informant is my grandfather, who spent his teens living in a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. This joke was one he heard every now and then. He calls it New York Jew humor.

Context:

I heard this joke a few years ago while out to dinner with my grandfather and his brother. When they get together, they tell jokes for hours on end, like they used to growing up in New York.

Main Piece:

The woman says to her friend, “Rachel, is it true you just moved into a big, new apartment?”

Rachel says, “It’s true. Why don’t you come visit. It’s on 1584 8th st. What you’ll do is you’ll take the train down to 8th st and get out. You’ll walk up to the door, there’s a big double door, and open the door with your left elbow and then use your right elbow to prop the door open and walk in. There’s another door, so you have to go to the list of buzzers and with the left elbow, buzz apartment 680. It’ll ring me upstairs and I’ll buzz you in. Then you use the right elbow to press down on the handle of the inside door and push in. You’ll be in the lobby and you walk up to the elevator and with the left elbow you press ‘up.’ You’ll get into the elevator and with the right elbow press ‘six’ for the sixth floor. The elevator will take you to the sixth floor and then you’ll walk to the left down the hall to apartment 680. You’ll ring the doorbell with the right elbow, and you can give some knocks with the left elbow. I’ll come open the door and you’ll come in and I’ll show you around and we’ll have some coffee.

“Wait, Rachel! What kind of directions are these with all the ‘right elbow’ and ‘left elbow? What’s with all the elbows?’

She says, “What? You’re coming empty-handed?”

Thoughts:

Per my grandfather’s own words, this joke epitomizes Jewish humor, at least Jewish humor originating out of New York City. The joke distills the customs and character traits of New York’s Jewish population down to a joke. The meticulous nature of the idiosyncratic details that Rachel describes with all the elbows reminds me greatly of my aunts and uncles that still live in New York. It also conveys the expected hospitality and custom of bringing a gift when someone invites you over to their home. My grandfather also tells the joke with a voice, using a nasally, baritone voice when speaking Rachel’s part, making a mocking imitation of a middle-aged Jewish woman from New York. Much of this Jewish humor that my grandfather has described to me is somewhat masochistic and self-degrading. It makes sardonic, comic relief of shared experiences between New York Jews, such as the ones shared between my grandfather and his brother.