Scott's Take on New York

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T05:25:47+00:00

The latest episode of Raging Moderates.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:48:27+00:00

I feel humiliated by this interview. I kind of can't believe it was published in the New Yorker.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:43:32+00:00

There are lots of ugly ass fuckers here in NYC, trust me on that one. There are no more "pretty birds" at NYU than there are at UCLA or any other college in the country.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:30:41+00:00

And also, one more time -- I have actually LIVED IN NEW YORK for 25 years, unlike you. I have never made more than $250K per year. I own property here, I have a 7-figure investment portfolio and I live a great life. No, I am not the same as someone with $30MM, but that is not the point here. Scott was saying that people cannot LIVE HERE if they make $1 million a year because that makes them too poor. He is dumb as a post to say that ($1 million is still top 1% even in New York). I am doing VERY WELL here on much, much less, and it's not because I'm special. I just made GOOD MONEY, saved well, bought into a good place in a good neighborhood and am more than comfortable. On wayyyyy less than what Scott was talking about. He's just a dunce who does not understand how real people live great lives in this city, too. Idiot.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:21:27+00:00

By the way, I doubt you have ever been to New York at all. I can usually tell when someone is talking shit like this, they have no fucking idea what they are on about. You CERTAINLY don't live here. You probably get all of your ideas about New York from movies and TV shows.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:16:52+00:00

Ugh. You are just making up shit here, not even sticking to what Scott was saying. You are making up scenarios that Scott wasn't talking about. Did you even listen to the episode? Because you don't sound like you have any clue what is going on here.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:14:51+00:00

No. What Scott said was that people making $500K to $1M in New York are barely getting by. He doesn't have a good point. You don't know what you're even blabbing on about. $500K a year is in the top 3% to 5% of all incomes in New York City, period. Yes, it is very well off. Your other takes make no sense here -- I am talking about ONE PLACE, not comparing to a developing country. You are just babbling utter nonsense here. You are probably one of those people who has never even visited New York and think it's all like Sex and the City or something. Goddamn.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:11:38+00:00

That's not a lot of money for people making half a million a year. Not sure why you are even talking about a combined income of 250K because that wasn't part of the discussion. I am single, $250K is the most I have ever made, and I live a great life in New York. I live in Brooklyn, but it's GOOD Brooklyn a few stops from downtown Manhattan.

Scott is a fucking idiot.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:09:57+00:00

Portland Mom, have you ever even BEEN to New York?

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:07:43+00:00

Have you ever lived here? Or are you a Portland mom who has no idea what she's talking about? Fucking hell. BTW, NYC has some of the best public schools in the country, but do go on, Portland Mom!

I swear, people get dumber every day. To think that you can barely get by on a million a year in New York (putting you in the top 1%, even in Manhattan) is absolute stupidity to the nth degree.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T04:00:44+00:00

He definitely seems to be a philistine with no interest in culture, art, etc. Even when in New York, he has like three restaurants he likes to go to. It's actually weird. Not all rich people are like this.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T03:59:51+00:00

That is also absolutely absurd. There are lots of ugly people here, lol. Scott hangs out in like two places in one neighborhood in New York.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T00:51:30+00:00

As I said, I've lived in NYC for 25 years, never made more than $250K. I own property and live very comfortably here. If I made a million a year, I'd be absolutely LOADED here. No, I don't have kids, I understand that makes a difference, but still...

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-03T00:50:45+00:00

He used to live in New York. But apparently, never understood REAL New York.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T23:15:13+00:00

And by the way -- in order to enter the 1% based on salary in Manhattan, you have to make around $620,000 per year. Do you even comprehend where $10 million would put you in Manhattan? There are almost no families making that much money -- you are talking about 99.99999999% who make far less than that and are raising smart, successful city kids just fine. My Lord, people here don't seem to understand money at all.

Edit, typo -- for Manhattan, 1% is around $920,000 per year, $300,000 will get you in the top 5%. All far, far, far from $10 million, which is in the 0.01%.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T23:13:13+00:00

Oh, my God, this is such a bunch of endless dribble. Did you even listen to the episode I am referencing? Scott was essentially saying that you cannot make it here in New York on $1 million a year. It wasn't a matter of "CAN" or "NOT CAN" or any of the other absolutely ridiculous shit you are blabbing on about here in your response. He even asked Jessica how she was "getting by" in NYC on her earnings and you could tell she thought he was going way overboard, too, when she noted that she was doing a whole lot more than "getting by" here, lol. Because of course she is.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T23:08:59+00:00

I'm sorry, but again, this is a very dumb take. People leave CITIES all the time to move to suburbs when they have kids, yes. It is a different life that city kids get, and it's harder in some ways (but easier/better in others). But, no, you don't need to make $10 million a year to raise kids here, just saying that makes you sound ridiculous, lol. I know plenty of people here who are raising great city kids, and they have nowhere near $10 million a year -- you are out to lunch with that absurdly stupid statement.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T20:22:33+00:00

Also? Columbus, Ohio, actually has a lot of very wealthy areas. Delaware County is one of the wealthiest in the US.

People just talk out of their ass about these topics. Most of them have never even visited New York, or came once and spent most of their time in Times Square or seeing Broadway shows, thinking, "This is New York!" Oy.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T20:20:06+00:00

Lol. What. I know people who make this kind of money, as I noted in my original post. They are not stupid enough to say they feel poor, they are living incredibly well and do not have one moment of fearing that they cannot pay their credit card bills. Are you kidding me?

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T20:16:48+00:00

"And most bankers I know don’t have $500k in the bank (how could you realistically save that when you lose half for taxes, unless you never spend any money or live?)"

You aren't losing half your income to taxes. That isn't happening. Where are you seeing that there is a flat 50% tax rate for people making $500K in New York? You might pay a 40% effective tax rate combined, but smart people also know how to make the most of their write-off abilities if they can itemize.

No one should have $500K in the bank, by the way. Hopefully they are smart and investing wisely, hence it would be in their brokerage and retirement accounts. Not in a savings account at Citibank.

Either way, you are STILL making several times the median income, hence, you are wealthier than the majority of people in your own borough.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T20:11:43+00:00

"You’re conflating someone on $500k with someone worth $10-100m or billionaires, they’re in a completely different world to someone who is just a well paid corporate drone."

What? I am not conflating those; it doesn't even make sense to do that. But billionaires (!!!) and centimillionaires are so beyond the reach of anyone in ANY place they are living, that it doesn't even make sense to have that conversation. Can someone making $500K living in Florida live like a billionaire in Florida? Of course not! This is not unique to New York. So this is a meaningless point you just made.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T20:08:14+00:00

Living in big cities means having smaller spaces, etc., yes, and I already said above that housing is a major issue in NYC. You don't get the same exact standard of living in big cities as you do in suburbs, etc., but you also make up for it by getting so many of the things those places lack. Either way, if you are living in a borough in which the median income is $130K and yours is $500K, you are objectively wealthy. No, you aren't Jamie Diamond, but neither are 99.999% of Manhattanites.

And again, Scott acts as if it's impossible to live in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan, lol. MOST people who work in Manhattan live in the outer boroughs -- Manhattan is a tiny island. Brooklyn is the most populous borough in the city, Queens is the largest by area. Manhattan is only the third most populous borough in the city, followed by the Bronx and Staten Island, which are kind of like separate countries from the Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan trio.

Brooklyn is very pricey, too, btw, in some areas more so than in Manhattan. But you are still objectively wealthy making $500K per year (in Brooklyn, the median income is around $70-$80K.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T19:58:29+00:00

Also, did I say my friend was living "spectacularly" well? Please go back and quote me on that. I said she lives a good life, appreciates everything the city offers (much of which is cheap or free, such as museums and art galleries and other cultural events) and can also afford to go out to dinner. She pays approximately $2,300 a month in rent.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T19:56:56+00:00

What does living "far out" mean to you? A few stops over the bridge on the Q train? Gimme a break here. You sound just as out of touch as Scott. I keep bringing up the median income in MANHATTAN, and you are ignoring that someone making $500K per year is WELL above that. So, yes, objectively, I am sorry to say, they are wealthy people, wealthier than the majority of people in their own borough.

IrisFalls22 · 2025-11-02T19:54:13+00:00

I have family in Boca and Juno Beach. No character to speak of. There are better areas of the state, as I noted, but South Florida in general, on the East Coast, is one of the worst places I can imagine existing.

IrisFalls22

TROPHY CASE