Things that I didn't know were "a thing" in NYC:
Fume stacks out of the sewers/subways. Basically a 10ft tall traffic cone cut open at the top.
Umbrella culture is strong here. Businesses have little machines for wrapping them in plastic similar to surgeons with shoes and gloves. There's umbrella rental machines dotted about.
Another one is tiny dogs, both in frequency and in size. Some of the smallest dogs I've seen! It makes sense when I think about it, those dogs would have a tough time in MN.
The biggest minute-to-minute concern is "being in the way". Every street corner, restaurant door, subway stop you have to reconfigure. Escalator rules change from standing room both sides to standing on the right after the first floor.
@sethmlarson I think the rule for escalators is basically always "stand on the right, walk on the left", but they exhibit phase change behavior at high densities.
At some point, someone stops on the left for some reason or just goes slower than the walking traffic behind them, and then walking traffic is forced to stop behind them, and eventually both sides are full of standing people. There's no easy way to get that line moving again once it spans the whole escalator, so you have a "stand on both sides" escalator until it clears out again.
@sethmlarson Also, you never realize how much you've internalized not being in other peoples' way until you have kids, who have no notion of inconveniencing other people and are dubious about transitions like doorways, stairs and elevators.
My youngest son loves walking up and down ramps, so he'll gleefully just walk back and forth on the slight incline at the entrance to a store or restaurant and scream if I make him stop. 😅