<p>Well I grew up in Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) and I can't understand the appeal of my neighborhood to any outsider. Its a hour ride out of lower Manhatten, its unattracive, one of the few spots where its still dangerous at night and no one here speaks English.</p>
<p>But like it or not Brooklyn is New York, Queens and the Bronx is New York. Most of the places in Manhattan where students hang out are more comparable to Vegas or say West Hollywood...a glossed over product of what New York used to be.</p>
<p>Giulliani has sucessfully turned this city into an extension of Boston. Now people from Minnesota and Idaho come to NYU, camp out there for 4 years, and go home with their stories of "life in the big city." They got the Sex and the City version of New York, but never got the true New York experience. Its pathetic.</p>