How Has NEW YORK Changed?

What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the Hot Pot Boys. We've got a very special NYC based episode today. We are joined by the famous Kareem. That's it. That's me. Can you introduce yourself real quick? Hot Pot Boy number three. That's that's my introduction. Do they eat hot pot in Egypt? Is there a such thing? They have dishes inside of hot pots, but they wouldn't be traditional hot pots. All right. They're North African hot pots, AKA tagine. It's tagine, North African hot pots. All right. So we want to talk about your native New Yorker. Right. No, I'm from Minnesota. But I look like one. Yeah, that is what I ask. How long you been living in New York for? Twelve years. So officially I am a New Yorker. But you but you make a lot of New York content. You're well known for subway takes a bunch of other stuff. And we'll pop it up right down below in in in supers. But I guess we got to talk about how New York has changed even in the 12 years that you're here, because you're one of those transplants. And I feel like we may fall into it, but we haven't been here as long as you have that are like kind of dedicated to New York. We're like, oh, I like New York. I want to be here. I'm not just here for a couple of years. I'm like a lot of other people. My plan is to stay here. Let's talk about it. Yeah, I mean, I think the major difference and on a serious note is that some people come here and they contribute. They contribute to the culture. They contribute to the food. They contribute to the vibe. They contribute to the fun, like whatever they contribute. Other people come here and they exploit and they take, take, take, take. But they never give back. And I think that is the difference between a person who lives in New York and a person who is a New Yorker like I and I think you can contribute in any way, shape or form. But I guess it should be culturally in some capacity. You know what I mean? Like contributing funds. You're just rich. I mean, just spending money on expensive. It's still it's still I would say that's still a contribution, but on a low level. It's it's it's the it's like donating. It's the cheapest. Like paying taxes is a donation based kind of entry into New York because it's six percent on top of the temper. Well, I don't even know how much I get taxed anymore. They keep going up and I just keep paying. But yeah, no, I think that is what makes the difference between adding clay to the slip versus if the slip was made out of cookie dough. They're just come in and they're just eating it where you're like, yeah, I'm eating it, but I'm so I'm also adding to. So what does it mean? Because I heard this quote before is give more to New York than you take. Like, let's be let's let's just point out certain archetypes of people that we know now in New York. Right. We've got a lot of transplants. We've got a lot of software engineers coming for tech. Nothing wrong with that. Do your thing. They make good money. There are a lot of work from home. They live in nice apartments and stuff like that. But what what can we criticize them? Of course. Let's do it. I mean, their contribution is literally not their their contribution is turning New York City into whatever city they left. You know, it's like it's like the immigrants of the past were like, oh, I'm going to come to America and make it a better place and I'm going to be a better person and I'm going to have like some American dream. They're just like, oh, I work from home in Cincinnati. I would like to work in New York from New York or work from home in New York. Well, hence, I guess why there's so many like raising canes and everything that's open to what do you feel about that? These like because I feel like 50 50, I feel torn about it because I'm like I when I used to live in the suburbs in L.A. and a raising canes opened up in like Alhambra, California, I thought it was cool because I was like, all right, this is weird chain from Florida. I only saw it when I did college shows at Florida State or UF. You know what I mean? And then now I'm like, OK, that's like more, I guess, a hyper local thing from Florida spreading nationally. Yeah. When I see it in Manhattan or when I see it in New York, I kind of don't like it. So I think that with those regional change chains, I think with the read a little, I think with the regional chains, I kind of with regional chains, you know, raising canes. Yeah, like I kind of like because there was no raising canes in New York and now they have like a grand opening. There's like I don't know how many there are. Right. It seems like they're opening up. But you know, it's heavy, but they're contributing. Right. It's not like they're opening up more taco. Like how many Taco Bells are in Manhattan, by the way? Not not that many. Not enough. I'm legitimately serious. Are there too many stickies? I don't even know what that is. So this is the local chicken tender chain that was started by New York. Now, I'm not a New Yorker. I'm not a New Yorker. The raisin canes taste better than stickies. It does. But it's Popeye's from New York. No way. From Louisiana. Well, that's it. Hey, but there's every that's everywhere, too. Yeah. Not in Minnesota. All right. What does their cream? What does there need to be more of in New York now? Talk about more talk about what's it like to talk about cantinas? The ones that are the fancy ones. Those are the fancy. That's where I take people on my girlfriend on dates. They're going to Taco Bell canteen. Yeah. I'm like, hey, do you want to get Mexican food? You want to you want to try some nice, local text? Honestly, the Dairy Queen. Do you guys know? Yes. Yes. They don't have one. Oh, there's only one in New York, though. So we could use at least where is it? Pinkberry. Bring it back. Were you guys around for the pink? I think a lot of pink berries just went down, period. They're just gone. Yeah. Wendy's not enough. Wendy's CEO kind of case. You don't like somebody. I think Wendy's is mid. That's crazy. The never frozen patties. I haven't had it in a long time. I would I would try it. I'm a Wendy's fan. What is there not enough of in New York? I guess. How do you compare the the New York chains like a 7th Street burger versus an incoming Smash Burger chain from, let's say, where Smash Burgers were created? California 7th Street Burger is not a chain. That's the difference. But it's a chain in the sense that now that there are two locations. No, no, there's a lot. Oh, they're like they expanded. They're like Blank Street Coffee. Yeah. Like it's a local chain that it's like, oh, really? Oh, I thought there were only two locations. Several. So they're like they're literally the Blank Street Coffee of burgers. Yeah, but it is at the same time from the area. No, I don't mind that. I think that's fine. I think I with that. I would rather have 7th Street Burger than Smash Burger simply because it's more delicious. You mess with Blank Street Coffee. No, it's not good coffee, right? It's just whatever. Favorite coffee chains in New York that have chains will have multiple locations. I mean, that's what I like. Grumpy's. OK, yes. Cafe Grumpy with the smiley face and smiley face. Also, because it was in girls, the girls that show. OK. Ray Ray from girls work there. He's a fictional character. Right. In a real place. You know, that's interesting. I didn't even know that. Did you like Broad Street? What was that? Was that hyper local show? It was all about LES. Broad City. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good show. Zaza shops. What do you think about all the Zaza shops that obviously are there? Too many Zaza shops, Kareem. Yes, that is a resounding no, no, no. Not just Zaza shops. Exotic snack shops. Have you have you done a sketch about that yet? Because let's be honest with the look. You could if I go if I pop in the Zaza shop and I see well, there's some Kareem's in the shops. If I if I do a Zaza shops exotic sketch, which I will do, you will get credit because it is a really good idea. But Zaza was like a fun novelty. But like everything else, it became washed and played. Like I remember when there was one Zaza exotics. I was like, that's that's fun. That makes New York exotic snacks. I like like Cheeto, like the green Kit Kats from Japan. Fire. Where else am I going to get them? Zaza exotics. Now the snacks ain't even exotic. That's funny. No, no. Like what have you just you know, they just got like regular Kit Kat. They don't have the green one. Kareem, can I can I I'm I'm going to rock with you because the first time I walked into those exotic exotic snack shops, I saw some like Japanese Oreos and Japanese Kit Kats. I was like, OK, kind of exotic. I went to Asia, so I know this this stuff is not that crazy. But then I was asking the guys about snacks and I had no ideas what what these shops were at first. I was like, hey, so like, are you guys going to carry this snack? And they were like, I don't know. I don't know. And I just found out that they didn't know anything about the snack. I think exotic snacks is code word for marijuana. Right. So you went in there asking about literal exotic snacks and they were like, why is this freaky creep? Isn't Halloween, bro? This dude's they're probably like, bro, all the Asians don't even get it. They're coming in here asking for the Sakura special edition Tokyo Kit Kat. I don't know. He's out here trick or treating. Says, oh, do you have do you have the green Kit Kat? The weirdest shop is the weirdest shop. It's wide open and there's like not that many snacks. And I was like, why is the colors like this? This is so weird. This is the weirdest snack the whole time. We were unaware. And this was way early in the in the process that it was almost more like the bodega scene from White Girls when they're trying to get the ice cream. Wait, what's white girls? Marlon Wayans and the Wayans. Oh, that scene in New York where the bodega is getting delivered ice cream from the Russians. I got to be honest, I don't remember the scene. OK, it's the first. OK, we'll pop it up. That's a crazy question to say. Keep it moving. Do you remember that scene? Do you think that the like the transplants, do they need to care about the preexisting old New York culture of like coffee and bagels? And, oh, you know, you get a slice in like maybe more newer hyperlocal New York culture, obviously from Harlem, you know, chopped cheeses and things like that. Is there any you know, you were talking about giving and taking. Do people at least need to know what a chopped cheese is or two? Yeah, I think so. You know, when you sign up for health insurance and you have to put down your preexisting conditions, I think that there should be a test for your transplants, that they know some of the preexisting conditions of the city. Bacon, egg and cheese. Stay or go. Chopped cheese. What state? Stay to go. Yeah. That you said is so fast. I almost slipped up. You almost caught me slipping, bro. Stay or go. Stay or go. Because I still get caught by that, but I always remember that's how they say it. What do you say? Oh, you know, something I could never get behind when you go to the pizza shop and you say, I'll have a plain slice instead of cheese. Oh, no, I didn't even catch that yet. No, they say they say plain. Like that's the slice. Like a cheese slice is a plain slice. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I didn't. I thought it was a cheese like where I come from. Cairo, Egypt. Just kidding. Where I come from in Minnesota. But it's OK. When you go to Minnesota, they call soda pop. I remember that. We grew up sometimes saying pop, which is crazy. I've never heard anyone. If you said, hey, can I get a pop at Raising Cane's? They were like, what the ****? Oh, yeah. From Minnesota. Can I get a fizzy pop? And then in the south, everything is called coke. Right. It's all just different types of coke. But it's all coke. Like you just say, can I get a coke? But it's like, which one? Seven up. Oh, right, right, right. No, that is interesting. Well, I think Coca-Cola is based in Atlanta, right? What did you think about how they kicked that dude out of the city for getting the scoop bagels? I couldn't tell if it was a ******* joke or not. You mean when they bought him the ticket out? No, when he actually did that thing. I was like, oh, this is a comedian. Turns out he's a real guy. Yeah, I thought he was a comedian, too, actually. I thought he was like the West Coast version of you. Oh, yeah. Like doing the super deep cut. Like a good deep bit. Kareem, I got a question. Do you think all the New York meme pages, what does it do for keeping and preserving New York culture and giving New Yorkers a platform to judge and like almost be accountable for other people? There's probably five really good meme pages. I like when they make fun of people who like I don't really know. I don't know how I feel about the transplant thing. I'm kind of just like people make mistakes. They're dumb. I mean, transplants have always been a part of New York. Yeah. And you like if you've been here for two years, like I was a ******* loser when I was here for like the first two years I was here. On one hand, I was like, this is the greatest city in the world. I love it. I want to eat everything. I want to do everything. I want to experience everything. On the other hand, my videos were so cringe and my content was so cringe because it was not in the know. So the meme pages that make fun of I think I think the meme pages that make fun of deep cut New Yorkers are more funny and interesting because they are literally like anthropologists. Right. Like I would rather study the culture than study the people new to the culture. And I think what the meme pages do is they're they're literally studying people who are into deep people who got lost in the sauce. Like like if you're standing in line at a million door and you live in New York, I'm like, bro, you're lost in the sauce, bro. Like we lost it. But if you were a tourist and you're standing in line at a million door, I'm just like, whatever. No, you're like, that's what you're supposed to. Yeah. But like the one standing in line that are just like standing in line, not even to shop. I'm like, bro, you're into like you're you're literally they got you. The most New York thing is still probably waiting for a supreme drop that you're going to flip right after you right after you cop. That's but that's also what I like about all of the different niches, because like you wouldn't be I wouldn't be caught dead doing that ever because I have a no interest in clothing, be you no interest in flipping anything and see no interest in standing in line. But like for a lot of people, it's a way of life. And that is another thing that's so nice is that there's so many micro communities in the city that you just you just plug yourself into the one that you affiliate with most. Right. You can be I mean, everyone knows you can be whatever you want. You know, you can make it as a tribe for every vibe. Yeah. Oh, is that is that an original? I mean, vibe and tribe of them. I think I saw it in a neon LED sign. But I really think it's like a one thing I've realized is true, because like I ride a lot of scooters right around the city and the gang. Yeah. And those are electric gang. We're electric gang. And there's a lot of different gangs for the scooters. You could be Dualtron. You could be Cabo Mantis. Like we're talking about like specific models. Do you guys have conversations about them? Like, do you ever stop a guy? I'm not part of those because I ride like the really ultra light joints. But I'm saying that I know people that are like I'm in a Dualtron gang and we're going to ride out. Yeah, they got their helmets. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because like if in a smaller town, you would be doing that alone. Yeah, because you can't find 30 people. You can't even find one. You can't even find one because no one's going to ride to the 7-11 like four miles away to get some Zaza's on their electric scooter when you have a car. And you know what I used to see more of was the EUCs, the unicycles. Like, I feel like those gang, those groups, those gangs. I mean, we have some friends that are deep in that world, but I feel like they I don't know if it peaked, but like that was hot two years ago and then like they've been replaced. Well, I definitely have been replaced by a different kind of one wheel, the electric. So all the unicyclers. This is a fact. All of the unicyclers in New York now have one wheels, the not not a literal one, the skateboard one wheel. Yeah, they all converted. Yeah, yeah. The one wheel, the one wheel is a different tribe. It was a little bit worse. But that's why the unicycles have gone extinct. You don't want the unicycles that were on the. That's a theory. You had like a tiny unicycle, like a guy riding a tiny unicycle and park electric unicycle. No, I'm saying that the tiny guy, the big guy riding the tiny unicycle in Prospect Park, he is now riding a one wheel. What do you think? How do you think this is? That is the modern day unicycle. That is true. That's true. How do you think the skateboarders perceive the electric skateboarders? They probably think that they're so lame. Yeah, no, I agree with that. I agree with that. Eric Adams, he's the mayor right now, and he's a particularly, I guess, like clippable mayor. Right. Like memeable. You know, there's mayors like I don't think Bloomberg outside of him taking the train every morning was that memeable. You know what I mean? There's a quote in Succession. Do you guys watch that? I know where Logan Roy says you are not serious people to his kids. That's what I think about Eric Adams. He's he is not serious people. He's literally having a good time. Yeah, he's doing the mayorship so he can have fun, which look, I guess if I was in his shoes, I would do it, too. It's lit. But I don't think he wants to be a mayor. He wants to be a celebrity. Like he would probably come on this podcast. We probably have a hell of a time, too. But yeah, you're right. We probably wouldn't be signing necessarily. Oh, he wouldn't be on here to be like, look, I'm proposing a new bill. He would be like, look, I got a plus two at zero bond tonight. Like, do you guys want to come? You know, he's he's trying to get his numbers up on Instagram. That's why he's like some crazy. He's not he's not trying to get reelected. He's trying to like literally take selfies with Ariana Grande. No, it's true. It's true. He got some funny quotes, though. But yeah, as far as policies and the execution on a bad man, it's really functional level. Bad mare. Good personality on social media. Right. And easy to make fun of, which is fun in a way. Very 2023. Yeah. Um, he's like the movie. He's he's he everything has become like the film idiocracy. I look at that. I use the word film instead of movie. Right. Which means that I'm an expert. Yo, that's funny. Honestly, you're right. And we haven't used that comparison in a while, but it feels like idiocracy more and more every day. Yeah. And now it's normal. Now it's like not even idiocracy. Nobody can even bring that up because everybody's accepted as the normal. Yeah. It's just like this is America. Um, what do you think about like your show on the train? Like, why is it become so successful? Like, why do people relate to it so much? Because obviously we're talking about hyper New York things, probably one of the most defining traits in New York. And yet, well, I think for one, everyone has an opinion. But when you go to share your opinion, you want to sound sophisticated and have an opinion about something important. I think Subway Tastes gives people an avenue to express some an opinion that doesn't matter. Like unimportant if it's made for. But but there's what's funny is it's an unimportant opinion to most people. But I think everyone's in on the joke of like making it serious. So when you say something like Jack Harlow should be able to say the N-word, which was a subway take, not mine, Asad's. He's a brilliant, funny comedian. Love the kid. Amazing. How viral did that go? It was. I mean, it doesn't even matter how viral it went. The comments debating this topic were so ******* funny and analysis and perspective about literally something that no one in the world has ever thought about except for Assad. Like, why was Assad thinking about that? Why was he said like, why is that his take? Yeah. Why did he come on the show with that opinion? And I think the reason that it's so successful is because it's engaging, because you are learning about the ways that people think. People are treating it like Ethnic Studies 103 at Wesleyan, right? Exactly. Again, it goes back to anthropology. Like Subway Tastes is a study of what New Yorkers are thinking about. While they're sitting on the train versus while they're sitting at work or where they're sitting at home, it's like when you sit on the train, like to me, the train is kind of like the shower. You're just standing there and like some great ideas come to you and you're like, well, I got to write this down. I got to record a voice. Not like I do that a lot of the train. Like I'll just be because you're standing there. I don't read. I'm anti book. So I sit there with my thoughts and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, that's a really good idea or that's a really funny thought. And I think that's where a lot of the best it's like being in the shower. Except there are 40 people coughing and sneezing around you and like some little kid in with a nose. Do you think that shower meditative, almost like third state where you're floating will go away once the trains have actually good Wi-Fi at all the stations? Because you know, it's only like very select, right? That's probably like 25 percent. That's a really good question. Like a lot of times, especially if you got a you got a boost mobile or something like that, you forget it. You are not getting signal in the train station. Yeah. But like, will that change once people are able to fire? That's an interesting question. I think what's happening more and more is that it become it's become a personal choice. Do you want to be on the Internet right now or do you not? So I have to think about that before I take my phone out. I'm like, do I want to use this moment to not be on the Internet? Because I'm on my screen times seven hours a day. That means that in my waking hours, which is probably how many hours? Fourteen. I don't know how long people stay awake. So half of my time is spent on the phone. The other half, I'm on my computer. So like, I don't know, bro, it's a choice. You got to be like, I'm not using my phone right now. Because they've added that recently. I want to say in the past three, four years, you can get cell service now. Yeah. So you have to make the decision. Do you want to be on your phone right now? I think I think we'll see a 50 50. I think a lot of kids, especially young people, as much as they are addicted to their phones, they're also a lot better at regulating and managing the screen time. But I think people are age. I don't know how old you guys are, but I would assume you're millennials and not Gen Z's. Are you? Millennials? Yeah. So millennials, I think, are more addicted to their phones than Gen Z's are. And I think Gen Z's have the ability to be like, I'm not going to use my phone today. And I think millennials don't have that ability or it's a struggle. That's interesting. Yeah. Because they were born within their hands. Is it kind of like how the boomers can't really regulate their like beef intake? You know what I mean? Like milk. Yeah. Oh, part of my life, man. How are you going to milk an oat? How are you going to milk an almond? What do they got next? Sunflower milk? I could see a boomer getting real upset about a new milk. New milk just dropped. I guess there's protests. Last question. Last topic. About New York, man, where do you see it changing? You know, a lot of people have talked about how the city is so rich now. The Dubai-ization, the London-ization. Obviously, New York, for a long time, was a place for local people. Then it sort of changed. And I want to say with the work from home advent and short term furnished rentals, people, so many people are in and out of the city. People are doing three month stints in Lisbon and everywhere. Tulum, Bangkok. New York is also one of those stops, as long as you have the means. Good, bad. I mean, people are like I know New Yorkers that are like moving to Guatemala for like two months and then coming right back. And I'm just like, what's going on? Is anybody even from anywhere anymore? If only we could be so lucky to have the London-ification or Dubai-ification of New York City, because right now we're getting the Cincinnati-ification and the Denver-ification of the city. Like everything that looks rich is a piece of ----. Like all these buildings in Williamsburg. Yeah, it's like it is rich for no reason. Or it's like some or it's like it looks rich, but it's actually made of ----. So is it just going to continue? Are we just going to have more skyscrapers? New York City is not becoming a grandiose, wonderful city. Like, look, I don't **** with Dubai, but at least it's actually well-built. I don't I mean, I guess I **** with London, but those cities are great. Like they're great cities that are being built. New York City is becoming mid because we're allowing developers to make it mid. Like we're not making it nice. We're not making it cool. We're not making it interesting. It's literally just shitty. And the problem is there's no housing. So people accept a shitty apartment that you pay $10,000 a month for, but it's not even ******* nice. It's actually just shitty. So that I think is the big challenge is that like they're shoving mediocre down our throats and making us pay top dollar. Like I would pay top dollar if it was a top dollar product, but it's simply not a top dollar product. You know what I mean? It's it's mid. And that is the I think that is the biggest threat is that New York becomes mid. Not like rich, you know, because it could be rich and fly. It could be. Yeah, it could. Like Dubai, as much as I don't want to live there or be there, I would visit. I have visited. And it's fun. Hong Kong, fun, rich, Tokyo, fun, rich. Like these are places that are cool. They maintain an aesthetic. They maintain a vibe. And that's because they're regulated in a way that like, oh, cool. Look at this building. We're going to make it like actually special. Whereas in New York, it's like, let's put up a building that looks like it should be in Santa Fe. Right. You know, like like it doesn't even belong in any city. It looks like it's like belongs next to a lake in Milwaukee. Right. I guess what building are you talking about? I'm talking about the general aesthetic of the new buildings being built. Yeah, no, it's true. It's like especially I think Williamsburg is the ugliest and probably the worst neighborhood in New York right now. Say it. Say it again. Can you say it again for the clip? I think Williamsburg is the ugliest and worst neighborhood in New York City. Whoa. Because you're saying what they all used to have the old Dutch architecture and then then it was then it was just all glass. It just used to be interesting. I'm not even saying aesthetically. Yeah. Aesthetically, it's not even it's like you've got the all glass and then you've got those weird, colorful joints that are like trying to be artistic that are like red and blue. You know, well, the developers like, well, you know, Williamsburg is an eclectic neighborhood. So we're going to add some color in the building, bro. It is so ugly. Like, give me brick. It reminds me of this. Give me some concrete. You ever been to Oakland? They have this Alameda School of Arts. It is so ugly. It's like an art school that I noticed to you guys. But like it just that's what it reminds me of. Yeah, it's like somebody's concept. An unartsy person's conception. Right. Exactly. And I think I'm convinced that they're not even doing it because they're artsy. I'm just convinced that like a piece of red plastic is less is cheaper than some concrete or some bricks. They're just like, oh, cool. We can buy this piece of plastic and put it on the side. They literally are just putting pieces of plastic on the side of a building rather than like putting up some concrete or some bricks. So I think I don't know. I think I think that place is so ugly. I used to live there. So I can say that. Yeah, it's like it's like I always thought that Williamsburg kind of gave me like Texas vibes, like it's all the hipsters from Texas. That's why there's so many like Southern. But it's the thing is, it's not even hipsters from Texas. It's people cosplaying as hipsters from Texas. Crazy. I know what you mean. It's like Inception. It's very meta. Yeah, it's like double actors acting. Kareem for mayor. Kareem, run for mayor, man. At least cultural mayor. I can't. Cultural. There needs to be another. I don't know if you guys are going to manage the NYP budget. Now that is an idea. You need to be head of New York media or you need to be one on the board. A New York head of Internet media. OK. Internet architect. Kareem for the New York City head of digital media. I mean, they have the Razzar. So that's a newly created position. So we need to start a more like street version of the Met Gala. You know how that was for like all the old money used to run, right? And still is to some extent the Met Gala. Oh, that's a good idea. Yeah. Like where would we where we where would we hold that? Oh, no. No, no. You'd call it the Met Gala like that. The Brooklyn Internet's Gala. Internet's. OK. So that Barclays, let's go. Aren't you guys hope you guys enjoyed that segment about what is changing and what is still the same about New York City? Everybody check out Kareem on social media and let us know what you guys think of our hot takes in the comments section below. All right, everybody. Thank you. So the sauce is good. The sauce is good. Peace.