New Yorkers bond over new city logo: They hate it

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

In the 1970s, graphic designer Milton Glaser brought a New York State tourism advertising campaign to life with his I ❤ NY logo, changing souvenir shops forever. About 50 years later, a new ad campaign is trying to leverage some of its magic, with a few changes — and it’s rubbing New Yorkers the wrong way.

“It’s not just a slogan,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the crowd at the campaign’s Times Square press conference introducing “We ❤ NYC” to the public with a big We ❤ NYC sticker on her lapel. “It’s a spirit.”

According to the slogan’s website, “‘We ❤️NYC’ is a 21st Century version of the 70’s campaign” and will include advertisements (naturally), a city clean-up drive, volunteer opportunities, an Earth Day celebration, an Instagram account, a competition for musicians to play in subway station “and much more.”

But what people seem to be bonding over the most is their disdain for the aesthetic. “Corny” and “inexcusably bad in so many ways,” one Twitter user wrote. Another called it an “affront to this great city.” New York Magazine proclaimed “NYC’s New Promotional Logo Kinda Sucks.”

[bucolic_frolic]

1. I find the slogan has internal conflicts

No longer "I" but "We", so it's moved from personal to community? Sorts fits.

But the red heart is too big, and has other connotations. Like heart beats, heart attack.

If it is intended to have touristy aspects, it's a fail. There's a whole lot of the country that doesn't agree.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. I know people who couldn't be dragged into NYC

Many of whom don’t even know why they hate it so much, but their fear is palpable. Yet laughable. As I stood in line a couple of years ago at the WTC Memorial, following a serpentine path that allowed me to survey my fellow visitors from all over the world, this occurred to me in the moment: New York City is beloved among citizens of the world, yet reviled as a portal to hell among troglodytes right here in the good ol’ US of A. How can someone claim pride as an American while harboring such fear and hatred for arguably a premier seat of our culture and representation to the world (another seat being Hollywood, which MAGAts despise with equal ferocity)?

[hlthe2b]

5. My sister is like that and has never even been to NY much less NYC.

While she's no Red State Conservative, the anti-North sentiment and antagonism toward NYC, or LA, Chicago runs deep in the South and she's lived in Atlanta for a long time. No, this isn't a slam on the South, but a noted common attitude, just as indefensible as the stereotypes some have towards the South.

It is pretty infuriating to me who has gladly traveled whenever possible and worked overseas for years to see that kind of animosity toward the less familiar extend to other areas. Like many in her area, she claims not to understand the English spoken by many Brits, East Indians, and others--nor is really willing to try). Very insular attitudes frustrate me to no end.

[Scrivener7]

8. We don't mind. Our notoriety keeps a certain element out. And we like it like that.

[EYESORE 9001]

17. Are you saying there's no room for a boot-scooting' venue?

[Scrivener7]

18. Boot scoot away, if that's your fancy. Just be a good citizen of our godless gomorrah

while you're doing it. That means, if a drag queen should happen to get next to you in the line, you smile and tip your hat and say, "Howdy, ma'am!"

[EYESORE 9001]

20. 👍🏽

Recognize that you’re not at home, so pretend to be respectful to others who don’t conform to your insular views. If you can’t keep your judgment or scorn to yourself, just stay TF away. You’ll probably be miserable anyway…unless misery is your thing.

[Scrivener7]

22. OR, toss the judgment entirely and let yourself truly enjoy the differences.

But remember that guy in the Bat Man suit in the coffee line doesn't like to be stared at.

[Beetwasher.]

26. Our Drag Queens Kick Their Asses!

n/t

[Scrivener7]

27. Yes, they do!!!

[MaryMagdaline]

3. I remember when they hated the I ❤️ NY slogan in the 70s.

New Yorkers

[SYFROYH]

14. And they hated the twin towers.

New Yorkers don’t know what they like.

[Scrivener7]

19. Can you name three New Yorkers of your acquaintance who hated the Twin Towers?

And who would lead you to make such a ridiculous statement as, "New Yorkers don't know what they like?"

Thanks so much.

[EYESORE 9001]

21. ...

[Scrivener7]

23. Lol! I love the country. And the crickets. But the "no one can hear you scream" element

makes me feel very edgy. It's always the house in the woods in the horror movies.

[EYESORE 9001]

24. I've lived in a variety of locations over the years

Urban, rural, suburban. I have a theory that madness flourishes in remote locales. I use Ted Kaczynski as an example. Sure, Jeffrey Dahmer lived in Milwaukee, but he also get caught when people started paying attention to the weirdo in their midst - weirder even than usual, that is. In a city, people do keep an eye on one another, whether they admit it to themselves or not. If somebody is getting TOO strange, they’ll get called on it. In remote areas, aberrant behavior can go unchallenged for much longer.

[Scrivener7]

25. I also love the fact that, if something goes wrong, my lovely neighbor is just on

the other side of my wall. During hurricanes and things like that, my neighbors all band together. It's a nice support group.

[SYFROYH]

28. You most likely weren't around in the 1970s, but they were derided

Some called them filing cabinets and others called them boxes for the Empire States and Chrysler buildings. I was a kid back then in the NYC area and there was no love for them. They were just so different from the classic art deco masterpieces of the city. People came around eventually. Apparently the King Kong movie helped.

In terms of personal acquaintances, yes.

Nor was the project received with much warmth by contemporary critics. Lewis Mumford compared the towers to a gigantic pair of filing cabinets, while others said they looked like the boxes that the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building came in. Broadcasters raised concerns that the towers would interfere with television reception, while the bird lobby even protested that the buildings posed a grave hazard to migrating fowl.

The architectural community had hesitations about Yamasaki, too, many seeing his soft-edged modernism as too mannered and prissy. “He has developed a curiously unsettled style,” wrote New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable, “which involves decorative traceries of exotic extraction applied over structure or worked into it. His choice of delicate detail on massive construction as a means of reconciling modern structural scale to the human scale of the viewer is often more disturbing than reassuring”.

Huxtable took particular offence to the way his soaring metal columns branched into two to form gothic arches at the base of the towers: “Here we have the world’s daintiest architecture for the world’s biggest buildings,” she concluded.

Those who worked inside the towers didn’t really take to them either, with many complaining about the narrow windows. Often attributed to the need for all those denselypacked structural tubes of steel, their narrow width was also partly down to the fact that Yamasaki himself was afraid of heights, so didn’t like expansive panoramic windows at such altitude. He preferred the psychological sense of security provided by windows that were narrower than his own shoulder span, so he reduced their width even further than the structure demanded. Frustrating for the occupant, perhaps, but from the street, such narrow spacing of these great columns gave the towers the striking appearance of seamless blocks of solid metal.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/20/world-trade-center-twin-towers-new-york-911-history-cities-day-40

[Scrivener7]

29. I have been there since before they went up.

And so on the basis of that article you are willing to go on record as saying, "New Yorkers don't know what they like."

Again, what a ridiculous statement.

[Croney]

4. So now they love just the city, and not the whole state.

Yes, I know the original was also about the city, but it wasn't so blatantly exclusive.

[Blues Heron]

6. We love using a drivers license for anything but driving?

What does that mean? We`ll card you eight ways to Sunday?

[hlthe2b]

7. Yeah.. That sort of defines the term, "innane"...

[Scrivener7]

9. I don't get that either.

Maybe a green thing meaning leave your car at home?

[Blues Heron]

11. thats gotta be it - but they dont card you on the subway do they?

Its been a while since I bit the big apple (to quote Mick Jagger)

[Scrivener7]

13. No. They don't really card you anywhere unless you're 14 and buying liquor.

I live 20 minutes north of the city and am going in today to see Hamilton at long last. Had tickets that were cancelled 3 times during the pandemic, so we're finally going.

If they indict today, that would be icing on a really big cake.

[Blues Heron]

15. Cool. Enjoy the show! Maybe we will get that indictment too!

[C_U_L8R]

10. It will make an awful jingle.

Replacing Milton Glaser greatness with emoji art. Shameful.

[msfiddlestix]

12. Isn't New York City a Mecca for Artists?

Seems like they should have hired one.

That photo of NYC is anything but "inspiring" IMHO.

And the others above that one seems rather lame.

which is also odd they were selected.

[brush]

16. It's not an improvement over the original. In fact, it's just a spin off...

of the original idea. IMO if ya gonna change it, come up with something original. This new one is not.

They paid some agency six or seven figures to not come up with their own original idea. The city should've rejected that and demanded a new concept.