Journeyscape<\/a>, which analyzed Reddit posts, the number of visitors from overseas, LGBTQ+ equality and \u201chappiness\u201d scores from WalletHub.<\/p>\n\u201cI think New York is a better place to be,\u201d the native New Yorker added.<\/p>\n
Sorry, New Jersey, but according to many, New York is the friendlier of the two.<\/p>\n
Keith Toliver isn\u2019t sold on New York trailing New Jersey in the \u201cfriendliness\u201d rankings. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York gets a bad rap,\u201d said New Jersey commuter Michael Claps, 63, who previously lived in the Empire State. \u201cIt\u2019s really third? That\u2019s shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though he now lives across the river, he had no problem defending his former state of residence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think New York people are super friendly,\u201d he declared, adding with a laugh, \u201cthe ones I know, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Claps is a big supporter of his former home state.<\/p>\n
Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
However, Devika Kumar, who grew up in New Jersey but now lives in NYC, believes that her current stomping grounds are \u201cjust as nice\u201d as her home state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has a bad reputation, but people are really, really kind, you know?\u201d the 27-year-old told The Post. \u201cPeople are very welcoming and friendly. I mean, you talk to me, I\u2019m here, I\u2019ll give you directions. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can have an abrasive front, I think, and come across a little bit hard to approach, but we\u2019re actually nice people in the world,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n
As a former New Jersey gal, Devika Kumar still gave props to New York. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
Ex-New Yorker Dylan Layman, 31 \u2014 who was visiting from Montana \u2014 agreed, adding that both states have \u201chad a bad rep for decades\u201d and specifically believes it\u2019s \u201coutdated\u201d to think the Big Apple and its neighbor are rude. <\/p>\n
He added that the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple is key to its affability. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it helps that they see more people in a day,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe more people you see in a day, the more chances you have to be friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dylan Layman scoffs at the tired belief that the Big Apple is lacking in affection. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
Laura, a 60-year-old New Jersey native who preferred not to reveal her last name, agreed that New York is not that standoffish. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re walking down the street and you smile at someone, they\u2019re gonna smile back.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, after a pause, she noted that New York is \u201cprobably\u201d friendlier than its neighboring state.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think New York\u2019s probably a little tougher, maybe people aren\u2019t as friendly [as] they could be,\u201d she said. \u201cBut again, if you put a smile on your face and say, \u2018Hello,\u2019 they\u2019ll talk or they\u2019ll smile back.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re walking down the street and you smile at someone, they\u2019re gonna smile back,\u201d Laura told The Post with \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 a smile on her face.<\/p>\n
San Francisco resident Shafeeq Ibraheem, 29, was pleasantly surprised to find New Yorkers very friendly and helpful during his trip from the West Coast. He even revealed that people helped him carry his luggage through the subway and otherwise helped him get around. (To be honest, even we\u2019re a little shocked by that.)<\/p>\n
He did, however, offer one clarification.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia is nice but not kind,\u201d he said, \u201cand New York is kind but not nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shafeeq Ibraheem was the recipient of some generosity of spirit on his trip to NYC. Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be real. <\/p>\n
There are friendly and unfriendly people everywhere you go, according to Jersey guy Andrew Fernandez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been around in different parts of Jersey, and you\u2019re going to meet a lot of different people that are more friendly than they are in different areas,\u201d he summed things up for The Post, adding, \u201cAnd sometimes when you travel to different parts of New York, you\u2019ll meet some rude people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garden State resident Andre Fernandez was diplomatic Tamara Beckwith<\/p>\n
Here are the top 10 friendliest states to visit, according to Journeyscape:<\/p>\n
Hawaii<\/p>\n
New Jersey<\/p>\n
New York <\/p>\n
California<\/p>\n
Nevada <\/p>\n
Massachusetts <\/p>\n
Arizona <\/p>\n
Illinois<\/p>\n
Utah <\/p>\n
Virginia <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dukes up for a bridge-and-tunnel battle. Perhaps unsurprising to many, tropical paradise Hawaii has been crowned the friendliest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15744,15745,232,57,1066,9,24,55,54,56,956],"class_list":{"0":"post-24442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-happiness","9":"tag-hawaii","10":"tag-lifestyle","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-jersey","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-city-news","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}