New York Today: Super New Yorkers

I can recognize tourists at two hundred paces, and know what country they're from ... Oh, and I can speak their language --- then become invisible.

My super power? When I see couples on the street, I like to guess how long they've been dating. Not sure how accurate I am, so I'm not sure this is a super power, but I like to think I'm accurate!

I won the HAMILTON lottery on my first try. (And that was in April, when the craze was in full swing!)

I always tell everyone I send a story to, "make sure you read the comments. They're the best!"

I remember everyone's birthday. Even if I barely know you, if you tell me your birthday I will never forget it. This makes many people believe I care deeply (Aw, you remembered my birthday!) when in fact it is a weird super power and has nothing to do with caring.

My super power is being able to run and ride my scooter on a crowded sidewalk without hitting anyone.

I have the ability to turn completely invisible. But for some reason it only works when I'm trying to cross the street.

uncanny ability to live in a closet

I have an uncanny ability to have my flight called every time I decide to go to the bathroom. When I get tired of waiting around the airport for the flight to begin boarding, I use it to my advantage, simply wandering off to the ladies' room and then...hey presto, airline announcement! Works like a charm.

I remember runs of numbers- telephone numbers, membership numbers. When I was a kid, my little brother did license plate numbers. The telephone numbers thing unnerves people. The ability is called eidetic memory (I think) and it's kind of fun when it's not unnerving people.

The $50,000 rent is probably for a business, either a store that is bigger than needed or a startup that is stopping.

I used to have an uncanny ability to summon a subway train by starting to eat something while waiting on the platform. For the past few years, however, I have had a bus commute, and city buses follow no known laws of man or beast.

My superpowers as a New Yorker are the following:
1.)the ability to tolerate rats in the subway without running away.
2.) uncanny ability of " zoning", I can read a book standing up in a crowded subway train under the armpit of a sweaty tourist.
3.)my ability to find out where the free concerts are and get the best seat.
4.) I am capable of crossing the street in the last one second on the clock without being run in by a citibike.
5) I know where the 99 cents pizza are bought.
6) I have the ability to read people, I mean figure out who is a native New yorker vs a tourist or a newbie New Yorker vs a real hipster.
7) I have the ability to turn on my power of "selective deafness, "I can avoid eaves dropping a person's stories sitting near me in a crowded restaurant.

I remember birthdays; in fact, I am more likely to remember the day you were born than your name.

As a New Yorker, I have a Spidey sense about recognizing celebrities, even if they've disguised themselves or are otherwise hiding. (And I never attempt to invade their privacy.) I once was in a restaurant and spotted Madonna's nostril across the room. (She had her hair covering all but the middle of her face.) My table mates laughed, but then sent me a link to a mention of Madonna and the restaurant the next day on Page Six.

An uncanny ability to buy real estate at high price and to sell at low price. This has been going on for 30 years. I am now renting.

My mother had the uncanny knack of finding the best parking spaces even during the worst possible odds. Her first claim to fame was THE prime parking spot/Christmas Eve/5pm/at the mall (not Handicapped). Her legacy continues on with family and friends, who when chanting "Nettie! Nettie!" are likely to score a space for themselves. You are free to borrow this chant for your next parking adventure.

As a rational, reasonable moderate I have the amazing superpower of tolerating a city full of whiny, closed minded, hypocritical, self-assured, smug bedwetting delusional liberals day in and day out.

Believe me, it's not easy.

Re LGBT attitudes towards police:

"It is a population troubled by high levels of homelessness, poverty and violence, and one that remains suspicious of the authorities."

The LGBT people who come to New York City as teenagers in order to escape their abusive families, intolerant schools, and close-minded communities might indeed have troubles. Without resources, or unable to access the resources that are available, they may turn to drugs, prostitution, and violence -- just as other groups do.

Those who engage in such activities will be "suspicious of" the police in a way that other citizens are not.

For others of the LGBT community who experienced organized discrimination long years ago or whose experiences are more recent, but altogether milder, and whose ability to function in society is not hampered by their sexual orientation, they might appreciate a police presence. If they ride subways, stroll city streets and parks, or do anything requiring them to mix in the world, and do so safely and get home in one piece, then there is much thanks due to the NYPD.

No doubt there are bad apples among the cops, just as there are among physicians, teachers, newspapermen, and politicians -- to name just a few professions. But does want to tar an entire population because of the actions of a few? Gay people wouldn't like that; nor would black people. Nor, for that matter, can we judge all whites by the trash that shoot up churches and elementary schools.

It would have to be the naturally precise rhythm with which I have and continue to swipe my MetroCard since my youth and my ability to discern which incoming vehicles will or will not allow me to cross the street prior to the pedestrian signal coming on.

I can put on a full face of makeup (lipstick, blush, eyeliner, mascara) in one subway stop (while sitting). And I've learned to subway surf, not needing to hold on to a pole, when none is available.

I always get a parking spot right in front of wherever I'm at. I've pulled up to restaurants with no spot in sight only to have a car parked in front pull out leaving the spot for me. If I ever meet my Higher Power that's number one on my list to thank him/her for.

I have an uncanny ability to always hit the street corner when I have the pedestrian walk sign. I can time my cadence so that I never have to stand and wait

My NY Superpower is no secret to anyone walking behind me. I have the amazing ability, it might be a Sicilian "thing", to release huge amounts of flatulence at the perfect time. Insult me? Take that. You like Donald Trump. Huge dose of take that.

I know every thrift shop in Manhattan, and where to get the best for the least: cashmere sweaters for $8 or less, like new; IZOD, DKNY, Perry Ellis shirts for $3-5, Polo khakis, barely worn, for $4, etc. I can walk into Salvation Army, for instance, and know immediately whether and where there are any new cashmere sweaters, it's a 6th sense! They speak to me.

I am only ever charged half of what I owe on a bar tab.

I have an amazing ability that I am not going to mention because I don't want to jinx it.

My superpower is an internal map in my head. I have never been lost. I can visit a city I haven't been to in 30 years, and while the buildings have changed, the map is still in my head.

One I have seen the map, it is there forever, so who needs GPS.

I also have super "facial recognition" in my brain... Even to see a picture someone that I've seen months as an adult but if I'm shown that persons picture as a child in a group setting I am able to recognize him/her.
It's pretty amazing and pretty exhausting!

Mundane superpower? I can cause city buses to come to a stop so the door is right in front of me (either doors in caterpillar buses).

I just stand a few feet away from the crowd, I get in first, and I always get the best seat.

I suspect this also works on helicopters but I haven't put that to the test yet.

Re "Today's Metropolitan Diary: A $50,000 Rent Check"
I was fascinated by the Diary link about the lady overheard complaining that it makes her queasy to have to write out a $50,000 rent check: Maybe “complaining” about that rent is her clever New Yorker skill at indirectly letting people know how much she can afford to pay?

Tune of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”
- [imagining that lady who pays the $50,000 rent responds to that link]

A cool fifty grand gets us quite a nice rental
Still whining is this gal’s best friend
I do understand that it might drive some mental
To write such a check
But what the heck, it’s got a deck!
In New Yawk, when rich folk squawk
It is tough sometimes to comprehend.
But owners or renters
Though we’re one-percenters
Whining is this gal’s best friend

A rent that’s so grand may make some people surly
And whining is this gal’s best friend
It got out of hand and my straight hair went curly
When I saw the lease
But wonders cease, now I’ve made peace.
You say wow, but fifty thou
Isn’t much for addresses that trend
So listen now, honey
It’s worth that much money
Still whining is this gal’s best friend

I walk down a street/sidewalk and rarely if ever step on a crack. As kids we had that game "step on a crack, break your mothers back" and we would always step on an uncracked piece of road or sidewalk.

I am now 66 years old and do so almost unconsciously. I am unaware of looking at the sidewalk, ahead of time or while walking, but my wife and siblings all swear that I NEVER step on a crack, very subtlety stepping into empty patches and timing my stride to miss connections in sidewalks. I swear to you, my conscious being is totally unaware of this and would argue, but too many people with no dog in the fight have watched me over the years, and attest to it. Go figure?

It is clearly a superpower. My mothers back is in no danger whatsoever.

Giving out direction to tourists is my super power. No matter where I am I must have that 'I'm a New Yorker and I know where to go" face.

I have an uncanny sixth sense to find a way to get something cheaper, but somehow only after I’ve bought the thing at a higher price. Health club memberships available for $99? It of course means I’ve already just signed up for $199, so I resent that I overpaid and then hardly use it at all. This happens quite a bit with theater tickets and discounts, too. (This can be valuable when you have a low-price guarantee, though.)