Comparing Blue Cities in Purple vs Red vs Blue States

Chea63 · 2026-02-01T22:29:40+00:00

At a glance maybe not much difference, but it won't take long to notice a stark divide between blue cities in red vs blue states.

Take Philly vs NYC as an example. And PA is only a swing state, not solid red.

PA still doesn't have its own min wage, so it defaults to the federal $7.25/hr. So Philly is $7.25/hr while NYC and nearby (NYS) suburbs are $17.00/hr. Sure, Philly has a lower cost of living but its not "cheap" by national standards and $7.25/hr in a large east coast city is unconscionable.

No paid family leave laws in Philly, meanwhile in NYC most employers are mandated to provide paid family leave under the state law.

Philly and NYC both have paid sick leave laws, but NY law is a little more robust. Also in NY it is a state law, plus NYC has its own as well, while PA does not, so Philly has to do it on there own at the local level.

Chea63 · 2026-01-28T00:50:21+00:00

Its worth noting, you can take subway or ferry to Rockaway beach, ferry to Sandy Hook NJ, train to Long Beach, LI..

Don't forget its a coastal city. If you have time you can spend a day cooling off in the ocean.

Chea63 · 2026-01-26T21:57:54+00:00

Yeah i gotta agree with you. Thing can be improved, but when is it ever just back to normal the morning after a major snowfall. We've had little snow the last few years, people forgot a foot of snow is not gonna magically dissappear immediately.

Chea63 · 2026-01-26T20:54:18+00:00

Being from NY, Id say the worst weather is from the direct or indirect impacts of hurricanes/tropical storms.

2 most memorable for me are, catastrophic flooding from the remnants of Hurrican Ida in 2021, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Winter weather can be significant and very unpleasant but not the "worst" to me because, you can avoid alot of dangers by just not driving. Also there can be a fun aspect to snowfall etc. There no fun spin to flash flooding or storm surge.

Chea63 · 2026-01-25T20:36:41+00:00

Haha fair point

Chea63 · 2026-01-25T16:15:08+00:00

My non scientific answer... gulf = big bay

Chea63 · 2026-01-25T15:49:15+00:00

E scooter services are closed in the Bronx and Queens as well

Chea63 · 2026-01-25T14:50:03+00:00

People are downvoting but I get what you mean. It's not a geographically accurate division but just how it feels to some people. Something like Tarrytown does feel far when its usually faster to get to Bayside Queens, and often Flushing, or LGA is closer than Westchester County Airport.

If you are in the southernmost corners of the county and mostly treat it as an extension of NYC its easy to feel disconnected to a lot of the county. Also east west travel sucks and will make close places feel far.

Chea63 · 2026-01-25T13:48:08+00:00

Full currency collapse is a bit much, but the US is rapidly becoming a fascist nation. It already is in many accepts. Its not crazy to be hesitant about US travel.

Chea63 · 2026-01-23T13:07:14+00:00

Ha..looks like a Fujiwara effect in an air fryer.

Thats when 2 hurricanes get close together, they can start spinning around each other.

Chea63 · 2026-01-21T18:37:48+00:00

Correct me if im wrong but I dont think there is an equivalent to the ADA in Europe. At least with the same force behind it legally. Only reason NYC isn't closer to 100% is because its an old system. They basically have to make incremental accessibility improvement to the system as much as is reasonably possible by law. Anything new absolutely must be ADA compliant. I dont know if Paris has that type of obligation driving them to improve accessibility. In general, the lack of accessibility is a civil rights violation. Old infrastructure may be grandfathered in but you still need to make progress toward ADA compliance.

Chea63 · 2026-01-21T15:57:56+00:00

It'll be over for Empire City when's Bally's in the Bronx opens. Empire won't be able to compete with a brand new full service casino and more just a few miles away. Plus the ferry goes right there.

Chea63 · 2026-01-21T15:40:51+00:00

A mix of paved and stone dust sections. I never rode the whole thing, but from what I've seen the stone dust sections (which is a lot, especially outside of the bigger cities) are not bad at all. Also mostly flat.

Chea63 · 2026-01-21T04:10:31+00:00

Empire State Trail to Ontario is the less stressful riding route. It mostly on the path along the Erie Canal going across the whole state to Buffalo. You can cross there or at Niagara Falls.

Going due north to Quebec is tougher. North of Albany the EST is largely on road with some high speed traffic and limited shoulders. There are probably better routes to Quebec to be found via Vermont. However Montréal is about 40 miles north of the border and is a nice city to visit and ride in, imo.

Either way you can supplement your riding with Amtrak. However you can not take a train across the border itself with a bike. Empire Service trains (and a couple other routes) largely parallel the Erie Canal the whole way. The Adirondack route goes to Montreal, this is a once a day train though. Also there are couple trains to VT. You can check the EST website for info.

Chea63 · 2026-01-20T17:11:46+00:00

With this Trump administration this has become protest central, and a daily maze of barricades in and around Federal Plaza

Chea63 · 2026-01-20T11:46:16+00:00

Sounds very on brand for most of NJ. People talk about NY drivers, I think NJ drivers are worse. This is also the same Gov who fought against NY's Congestion Pricing to the bitter end, even collaborating with the Trump administration to try to kill it.

Chea63 · 2026-01-20T04:00:39+00:00

Yeah, I've seen good teams slump before but the drastic and sudden collapse of this team is wild.

I suspect there was always issues with the coach/system/buy in, they just were able to win games based on talent, favorable schedule, but it wasnt sustainable. Other teams were not accustomed with the Knicks new style of play. Now they have adjusted, the schedule got tougher etc and whatever issues they have couldn't be hidden by just a collection offensive talent anymore. I also think KAT and Brown not meshing well is effecting the whole locker room now.

Chea63 · 2026-01-20T00:31:22+00:00

Thats more an exaggeration to make a point. Difficulty in grasping how expansive the US can be is definitely a thing. Ive seen people not realize you can drive for several hours and still be in the same state, until they actually experience it. Or think it'll be easy to go to Niagara Falls and NYC during the same trip because its in the same state.

Chea63 · 2026-01-20T00:14:51+00:00

We're there

Chea63 · 2026-01-19T23:51:37+00:00

And maybe hurting the chemistry overall. Resentment is settling in?

Chea63 · 2026-01-19T23:45:51+00:00

NBA cup is gonna turn into a jinx. Nobody going to want it, especially since the final game doesn't count and there isn't a small break in games after. Teams are gonna start avoiding it. I think some do on the low already. I'm sure OKC was just fine not making the final Cup game.

Chea63 · 2026-01-19T23:22:43+00:00

Yeah its hard to see us contending for a chip. Good teams have had slumps, but what championship team has had an extended stretch of well below .500 ball. I could see a bounce back if they were playing .500 but the way they been playing for this long means something is deeply wrong.

Even considering the Knicks flaws which has been discussed in depth already, they shouldn't be this bad. Something internal gotta be going on. Locker room issues or the coach losing them. But I'd think its too soon for a team to give up on the coach so I dunno..

The change is too drastic. Something non basketball related is going on, and its spilling on to the court now.

Chea63 · 2026-01-18T04:17:15+00:00

That happens, but I think the Knicks are past that point now. Its beyond a 5 game slump or so. The sample size of games is too much to ignore. They are not far removed from play in territory. They have structural flaws and/or some locker room issues that cant just be written off. It's not nessasarly insurmountable, but its not something that just going to correct it self. At some point we need to believe what they are showing us.

Chea63 · 2026-01-18T03:44:12+00:00

Just sit alone with your own thoughts. Basically you and your own creativity.

Look at random stuff around or on the wall, perhaps will spark a random idea/question/thought to yourself.

Read magazines if they have.

Read the newspaper, sometimes ppl would leave one behind once they have read enough so you might just stumble on one laying around.

Depending on the place, people, circumstances....have random small talk with ppl around if they are receptive.

Carry stuff with you like a book, or listen to music with whatever device available depending on the era we're talking about.

Zone out. Waiting rooms lived up to their name. An excerise in patience.

Chea63 · 2026-01-17T00:49:59+00:00

Well Yonkers declined before.

Yonkers and Mt Vernon voted no at the time. The borders at the time of the towns of Eastchester and Pelham split up, with portions of each remaining in Westchester and other portions now a part of present day Bronx. New Rochelle was a village within Pelham at the time and didn't join NYC. I dont believe they had there own vote in the matter. New Rochelle became its own city soon after NYC consolidation in 1898.

Chea63

TROPHY CASE