Airing of Grievances

"I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you're gonna hear about it."

1. The terror. By far our biggest grievance is that people around here are terrified of our dog, Emma. This annoys us to no end. On any given day, we run into at least two people, generally of the orthodox religious variety, who will literally jump into traffic to avoid running into our "monster" dog. WTF, people? She's a golden retriever! And she's wearing a backpack! How harmful could she be?
2. The smells. Around here, it either smells like a combination of cigarettes and rotten curry in our apartment building or old fish outside of our apartment. And when it's hot, the stink simmers.
3. The looks. People in NY tend to stare at you as if they don't know that you can see that they are staring at you. And they're usually frowning/scowling. They have glower power, and it is mighty.
4. The subway etiquette. There's always some schmo that tries to get on the subway before everyone else has gotten off. Or, they stand in front of the door even if they're not getting on or off; they just stand there, being jerks. 
5. Abusing the emergency exit.  Every subway station is equipped with an emergency exit that emits a loud siren when someone goes through the door instead of the turnstile.  Judging by how often it's used, an emergency happens in a subway every four minutes.  Oddly enough, these "emergencies" involve able-bodied people who walk calmly and seem to be in no real danger--as if they were just too lazy to go through the turnstile like a normal person.  But that's preposterous.
6. The honking. Did the light just turn green? Honk. Is a pedestrian in your way? Honk. Is someone turning? Honk. Is the sun shining? Honk. 
7. The "handyman." Every time our handyman Clive "fixes" something, it inevitably breaks a few days later. Generally his method involves pounding on things or simply denying that something is broken. Example: When our downstairs neighbor's ceiling was leaking, Clive accused us of causing the leak by filling our tub so high that water would be spilling over the side and onto the floor. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that he had just "repaired" their apartment's ceiling a few weeks before. Nothing at all.
8. The noise. These same downstairs neighbors would often have parties (by themselves), playing the latest Bollywood hits, or would watch TV at volumes dwarfing our own TV's, regardless of the day or time (though I was once assured that it being "the weekend" was all the permission they needed).
9. The Target. On many occasions, we were cursed at or threatened at Target, of all places. Our transgressions against Brooklynites include wading through the crowds, backing in to a parking space, and leaving our cart next to an end cap.  The solutions: yelling that Wes is "unbelievable," asking if I think I'm special, and calling me the N-word/threatening to "slap the shit" out of Jess.
10. The difficulty. In NY, it's always something, no matter how simple the task. Whether it's wanting to get out of the city for the day, setting up our Internet connection in the living room, finding a parking space, putting up the blinds, buying tortillas, meeting friends for drinks, etc., NY will always find a way to stop you.

Not all of New York is bad, of course. We'll post some good moments before we leave, too.