New Yorkers Live Longer

[jgmacg]

Counter-intuitively our rage, and our bagels, keep us alive longer than folks out there in the bosky heartland dell.

http://nymag.com/news/features/35815/?ftr-promo

 

[Chi City 81]

Maybe the Jersey pollution has given y'all a better immune system.

 

[spnited]

And if you elect me president, I will increase the national life expectancy as well. [/Rudy Giuliani]

 

[jgmacg]

We get our topflight immune systems from riding the subway. It's like a giant mobile Petri dish. Back above ground, breathing a healthy blend of formaldehyde, napthalene and roasted garlic probably helps preserve us.

 

[spnited]

Mostly the garlic, jg.

 

[Webster]

Without reading the article, I'd give four reasons:

1) you can walk everywhere and often you have to walk quickly

2) proximity to health care -- you can usually find a doctor withing a couple of blocks of work and/or home, so going to the doctor isn't as big of a deal.

3) tons of gyms within a few blocks of work or home.

4) easy to find healthy food at any hour.

 

[jgmacg]

All true, Webster.

But don't forget the therapeutic value of

5) the egg cream.

 

[Idaho]

I think it's a result of drinking unicorn blood.

But it's a life worse than death.

 

[jgmacg]

Not true. The last unicorn in New York was gunned down outside Umberto's Clam House in 1971.

A life worse than death? Only on the days Katz's runs out of brisket.

 

[spnited]

seriously, jg, when is the last time you had an egg cream?

 

[jgmacg]

I make 'em at home. So Saturday, I think.

 

[sportschick]

I think it's a result of drinking unicorn blood.

But it's a life worse than death.

:D

I thought it was the elixir they got from the stone they stole.

 

[JackS]

I was just joking about "walking speed" with one of our SportsJournalists.com NYC visitors a few weeks back.

See, you friggin' tourists? Speed up, dammit. ;)

 

[jgmacg]

This is our elixir right here.

And the recipe. Which reveals our secret local knowledge.

http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/a-new-york-egg-cream-primer/

 

[spnited]

But where are the eggs, jg? ;D


Do you actually use U-bet?

 

[jgmacg]

But where are the eggs, jg? ;D


Do you actually use U-bet?

You bet. At least most of the time. There's always some Hershey's in the house, too, since they make a couple of reduced-calorie versions. The secret revealed in the recipe above is to stock up on the Fox's U-Bet at Passover, when it's made with cane sugar. Which, to my shame, I do.

 

[Webster]

It's the Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda. That stuff is the fountain of youth.

 

[The Big Ragu]

And if you elect me president, I will increase the national life expectancy as well. [/Rudy Giuliani]

Did you read the story?

In 1990, a stunning 2,272 New Yorkers were murdered; in 2005, that number dropped to 579. Since a majority of those being killed were younger men, the reduced murder rate alone added tens of thousands of years to New York’s life-expectancy pool.

You were being facetious. But Giuliani surely played a role in the data they are seeing now.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Without reading the article, I'd give four reasons:

1) you can walk everywhere and often you have to walk quickly

This was a big part of the story. You nailed it -- without reading it. It cited research that not just walking a lot, but the speed at which you walk, contributes to longevity. All those SJ people who made fun of me in Canada? Suck on it!!!!! Next time I am powerwalking and stepping on you to get by you as you amble along a subway platform, I will just be demonstrating how much healthier I am than you.

I was just thinking about it. I run every morning--well, usually 5 or 6 days a week with other exercise the other days. Usually somewhere between 3 and 6 mile. Aside from the running, to get to place to place, I figured out that even on a day in which I don't go anywhere except to the office, I walk between 2 and 3 miles.

I also have said this before. There are fat people and smokers in NYC, but my perception has always been that you see fewer of them than you do in other places in the country.

 

[jgmacg]

I was just joking about "walking speed" with one of our SportsJournalists.com NYC visitors a few weeks back.

See, you friggin' tourists? Speed up, dammit. ;)

That's why I always carry a sock full of nickels when I go out walking. "Welcome to New York, slow-moving visitors! Now get out of my way!"