What is the coolest keepsake to buy while in new york city (not someting really really expensive)

A little Statue of Liberty.

Go to Union Square Greenmarket/Artist Market and look at some of the artwork and souvenir type things they have there. There are a lot of things that are cooler than your typical stuff. If you really want something that screams NYC, go for things like keychains and postcards with your favorite images of the city. I also keep record of the things I do while I’m visiting a place; ticket stubs, small memorabilia from the museums and such that I visit, even flowers or something that I find there. Get creative!

This is interesting because as a New Yorker I find that most of the souvenirs are kind of silly. I would say that an item from a gift shop such as the Metropolitan or Museum of Modern Art that represented something significant. Maybe a depiction of Central Park in the winter or a work of art that is housed in one of the museums. But by all means avoid the Statue of Liberty(no offense @Mr M) or I love NY t-shirts. You want to be edgy here’s NYC-Welcome to NY,

Or they had another great one based on the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign.
It was- Don’t Fuck with New York

I always lol4rl at people wearing “I <3 NY” shirts in New York. Why not just wear a giant target that says “HI, I’M A TOURIST! PLEASE SCAM THE FUCK OUT OF ME!” ?

@TitsMcGhee
Ya, but I just don’t think one can express our particular level of cynicism effectively to an outsider.It’s like jaded x 100

@SeventhSense: Hah, good point. Sometimes I just want to punch tourists in the face (usually when they are in my way), and sometimes they make me go “aww, how cute” when they can’t figure out if 34th Street is down or up, and I just want to point them in the right direction, tie their shoes, straighten their baseball cap, and give them a pb&j in a brown paper bag. Sometimes they’re just so friggin’ naive that it’s silly and cute.

Hahaha You are cold
But seriously that’s why I’ve got to get out of here. I miss innocence

@SeventhSense: Aww, I love it here! What area do you live in? I’m in the East Village, so we don’t have that many tourist types scurrying around. I could never live somewhere like Times Square or Museum Row or Battery Park. They’d be everywhere!

I’m not in the city. I was living in Staten Island but I’ve moved out to the
Long one..I just need some space and warm weather. Maybe head West somewhere between Jersey and the Pacific.

Haha, I love that illustration. I’m from Missouri originally, so I’ve had to brave the roughs of that silly West stuff.

Well my family was from Brooklyn since way back and half of ‘em went West or South. We all romanticize NY though way out of proportion. When I’m away, I’ll see a Woody Allen flick and I’m like, yes that’s it! But then I remember that it’s just a fantasy like Hollywood. But it does lend itself to some amazing energy and fantasy. There is nowhere on earth that offers everything that NY does. And I still find I have to defend her like an older brother. It’s the manic materialism I can do without at this stage. A one bedroom apartment should not cost 750,000 dollars, I don’t care what anyone says. And if you are a multimillionare and have the penthouse or prewar Brownstone and house in Southhampton? Well my God, you’ve got it all, but for the rest of us slobs, like me, it can just become drudgery. I want some peace and natural beauty again. There’s something about it that just gets in your blood-good and bad. The pace is pretty unnecessary outside of the Tri state and if you can slooow down, maybe northern CA mountains or Phoenix, AZ, it’s not half bad to breathe and get stupid. :)

@TitsMcGhee
Even funnier is the Arab post 9/11 NewYorkistan with places like Botoxia, Gaymenistan Youdontunderstandistan and Psychobabylon.

@SeventhSense: I always feel like I have to defend NYC too! And I do – to the best of my abilities. And lurve for the other New Yorker cover… I live in Artsifartsis!

A crack habit.

$20 gets you started

Bad Crack

@Blondesjon: LOL4RL.

A snow globe!

Actually, get yourself a subway map. never know when you might need a sandwich? ;)