There are lots of things I wish I had known before I moved here. Here are some things that will make life less confusing for newcomers.

311 is run by the Dept. of Wrong Answers.

Michael Bloomberg hates middle class people.

Bloomberg is a major homophobe and racist, though he pretends otherwise.

Some women here love cutting in line.

Staten Island is bigger than Manhattan.

NY1 is as right-wing as it is bland.

From Bloomberg's perspective, recycling primarily serves as a pretext to fine people.

The New York Times doesn't bother with much local news coverage.

Corporations get more government support here than poor people.

New Yorkers are much nicer than they seem at first.

You see a lot more good looking people in Soho than in the Financial District.

There are lots of trees in NYC.

The overwhelming majority of people in NYC do not live in Manhattan. They live in one of the other four boroughs.

The buses in NYC are much more useful than in most places.

Many of the bicyclists are predatory in their behavior towards pedestrians. Watch out.

The state and local governments live up to the negative stereotypes of government far more than governments do in other parts of the country.

The City Council has far less power than city councils do in most places.

The state's supreme court is called the "Court of Appeals."

There are a bunch of "Supreme Courts" that are really district courts.

The boroughs have the same boundaries as counties in NYC, but the names aren't necessarily the same.

There are lots of Republicans in NYC, though not close to a majority. Most are either rich or live in Staten Island.

A major share of campaign money in NYC comes from rich Republicans. It influences local policies more than most people realize.

The MTA mismanages the most extensive public transportation system in the country.

Most politicians here are anti-union, though most pretend they are pro-union.