u/Kindly_Salamander541

I know Newark is literally its own city and Harlem obviously isn't, but I'm talking more about the actual feel of the place.

Harlem has such a strong history, culture and identity that sometimes it almost feels separate from the rest of Manhattan. Newark is an actual city with its own downtown, neighborhoods, institutions, etc., but it's also so tied into the NYC metro area that I wonder how people who live there see it.

For people familiar with both, which one feels more like its own distinct city/community rather than just another part of the NYC area?

Random thought I had today. I feel like Rex Grossman has basically become the poster child for a QB getting carried to a Super Bowl. Whenever people talk about that 2006 Bears team, it's always the defense and special teams, with Grossman treated like the guy they won in spite of.

But I don't really hear Jimmy G talked about the same way with the 2019 49ers.

That team had an elite defense and one of the best rushing attacks in football. Jimmy threw 8 passes in the NFC Championship Game and they still won 37-20. He was definitely better statistically than Grossman over the full season, but it's not like the 49ers needed him putting the offense on his back during that playoff run either.

Is the difference simply that Jimmy G was a better QB than Grossman or has Grossman's reputation gotten worse with time?

Hi I’m pretty new to live poker so please roast me if this is obvious.

Playing $1/$2 NL at my local casino. I have about $360 and villain has me covered.

I’m in the BB with A♠ Q♠.

UTG raises to $10, two people call, I just call because I didn’t really want to play a huge pot out of position.

Flop comes Q♦ 8♣ 4♥.

I check, UTG bets $25, one caller, I call.

Turn is 2♠.

I check again, UTG bets $70, the other dude folds. At this point I’m thinking he probably has KK/AA or maybe AQ/KQ, but I also thought he could just be barreling AK or JJ or something idk

I call

River is 7♣.

I check and he jams for my remaining ~$255.

Here’s where my newbie logic completely took over. I basically thought “if he actually had AA or KK, why would he shove this much and risk me folding?” So I convinced myself the huge bet actually made him less likely to have a big hand.

I called.

He turns over AA.

Is the river call as horrendous as it feels now? I think I basically talked myself into calling because “the bet looked too strong to actually be strong,” which sounds incredibly stupid typing it out.

I keep seeing Ben Simmons’ name pop up around the Knicks and I don’t understand why this needs to be a thing.

Please. No.

I don’t care if he’s cheap. I don’t care if it’s a “low-risk” move. I don’t care about the theoretical defense/playmaking upside if he’s healthy and engaged.

Why are we even entertaining a guy who has barely been a reliable NBA player the last few years? We don’t have any weaknesses that this bonafide scrub can fill.

And I already know someone’s gonna say “well if he’s the 14th man who cares?” I care because I’d rather that roster spot go to literally anyone who can stay on the floor, shoot the basketball, and not become a whole storyline.

Maybe 2019 Ben Simmons would’ve been interesting. That’s a big maybe. It’s 2026.

Keep this man away from the Knicks.

The more I learn about starting a small business, the more I think people seriously underestimate how big of an advantage it is to already have money.

It's not even just having more money to invest in the business. You can afford to make alot more mistakes.

You can sign a lease and survive a few slow months. You can hire someone instead of doing everything yourself. You can spend $5k testing marketing and not panic if it doesn't work. You can buy better equipment, hire an accountant, build a decent website, carry more inventory, etc.

Most importantly, you can give the business time.

Someone without much money could have a better idea and work harder, but if they need the business to start paying their bills within six months, they're under completely different pressure than someone who can burn money for two years figuring things out.

Obviously having money doesn't automatically make you a good business owner. You can still blow through all of it.

But it seems like the ability to survive being wrong for a while is one of the biggest advantages you can possibly have in small business and it doesn't get talked about enough. Am I wrong here?

Maybe this is obvious, but I feel like people seriously downplay how much easier entrepreneurship is when you already have money or come from a wealthy family.

If you have money, you can afford to fail. You can dump $20k into an idea and move on if it doesn't work. You can hire developers, designers, marketers, lawyers, whatever. You can spend on ads. You can quit your job and work on the business full time without worrying about rent next month.

Meanwhile someone without money might have an equally good idea, but they're building it after work, doing everything themselves, obsessing over every $500 expense, and knowing that one bad decision actually hurts.

And the biggest advantage might just be runway. A mediocre business with enough money behind it can survive long enough to figure things out. A potentially great business can die because the founder runs out of money before it gets traction.

Obviously money doesn't guarantee success. Rich people start terrible businesses all the time. But I think "anyone can start a business" gets thrown around without acknowledging that some people are playing the game with way more lives than everyone else.

How big of an advantage do you think starting with money actually is?

I’ve been trying to be a little smarter about where I grocery shop instead of just going to one store for everything.

For people who regularly shop at Whole Foods, Aldi, and/or Trader Joe’s around Bergen County, what foods do you think are noticeably better or more worth buying at each one?

Like are there certain things you always get at Aldi because they’re way cheaper, but other things where Whole Foods is actually worth paying more for? And where does Trader Joe’s fit in?

Mostly talking about quality/value rather than just which store is cheapest. Thanks!

People are spending four years getting CS degrees, grinding LeetCode, doing internships, learning system design, and competing for SWE jobs.

Meanwhile, with Claude/ChatGPT/Cursor, it feels like some random person with very limited coding knowledge could theoretically come up with a genuinely good app idea, vibe code the whole thing, launch it, have it go viral, and potentially make more money than they ever would working as an SWE.

Obviously “just make a good app and go viral” is carrying a ridiculous amount of weight here, I get that.

But is there something technical I’m missing? If you can use AI to get a functional MVP out and people actually want the product, how much does not having a traditional CS/SWE background really hold you back?

It almost seems like identifying a problem people will pay to solve and figuring out distribution are becoming bigger barriers than actually building the software.

Been randomly thinking about all the random places around Bergen County that disappeared over the years and how weirdly nostalgic some of them make me

A few that immediately come to mind:

• The old Burger King on Lemoine Ave in Fort Lee. Now it's a revolving sushi bar. I randomly remembered this place recently and had to make sure I wasn't imagining it lol
• Fuddruckers in Paramus. As a kid that toppings bar felt like the greatest concept ever invented.
• Callahan's in Fort Lee. One of those places that just felt like it belonged there forever.
• The Fireplace in Paramus. This one still feels recent even though it's already been about 5 years since it closed.
• Kids Kingdom in Edgewater. If you grew up around here in the 90s/2000s, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

It's funny because it's not even necessarily that these places were amazing. Sometimes it's just remembering being a kid, going there with your parents and Bergen County feeling completely different than it does now.

What old Bergen County place brings back the strongest memories for you?

I’m 34 and have lived in NJ most of my life and I’ve been seriously thinking about making the move to LA.

I know people immediately hear NJ/NYC area and assume I’m used to the whole fast-paced East Coast lifestyle, but I actually grew up in the suburbs. Driving everywhere, quieter neighborhoods, slower pace, etc. I’ve spent plenty of time in NYC and lived there for a bit, but I wouldn’t really describe myself as someone who needs that constant NYC energy.

That’s part of why LA interests me. I like the idea of having more space, better weather, being able to drive places, and having access to a huge city without necessarily feeling like I’m in the city 24/7.

For people who moved from NJ or the Northeast to LA, how big was the culture shock actually? Not just weather or needing a car, but socially and day-to-day life. Did LA feel dramatically different or was the adjustment easier than you expected?

$2/$5 live cash, 8-handed. Effective stacks around $1,500.

Villain is a solid reg and definitely capable of bluffing. He hasn't been getting out of line much, but I've seen him make some pretty aggressive river plays.

I'm on the BTN with A♠ K♣.

Villain opens HJ to $20. I 3-bet to $85. Villain calls.

Flop ($177): A♥ 9♣ 7♣

Villain checks. I bet $60. Villain calls.

Turn ($297): 2♠

Villain checks. I check back.

River ($297): 6♦

Villain bets $500.

So he overbets almost 1.7x pot.

I tanked forever here. The 8T draw gets there, but the clubs miss. 98/87 can have some value, and sets obviously have me crushed. At the same time, checking back the turn probably makes my hand look exactly like what it is: one pair showdown value.

Having K♣ also seems relevant because I block some of the missed club draws he could be bluffing with, which actually made me like my hand less as a bluff catcher.

I ended up calling

Is this a reasonable hero call against a capable reg or is the river overbet at $2/$5 just way too underbluffed to justify it?

I see many posts here from people with budgets around $2,500-$3,000 who are dead set on Manhattan, even if it means settling for a tiny studio, old walk-up, or spending way more than they originally planned.

I get wanting the Manhattan experience, but I’m surprised Queens and even parts of North Jersey don’t come up more often. Both have some amazing, lovely neighborhoods, you can usually get more space for your money, and depending on where you work, the commute into Manhattan isn't even all that bad.

Is the Manhattan address really worth giving up that much? If you're getting family support then I mean it's a different story, enjoy Manhattan as you please, but if you're paying everything yourself, I don't really understand stretching your budget just to avoid living across a river or outside Manhattan.

I keep seeing new apartment projects going up around downtown Newark, but I wonder if the bigger problem is the actual experience when you arrive here.

Newark Penn is one of the busiest and most important transit hubs in the region, but it still feels pretty dated and underwhelming for what should basically be the front door to downtown.

If the station got a legit major renovation, better lighting, cleaner entrances, improved retail, nicer public spaces around it, etc., I feel like that could change people's perception of downtown more than adding another luxury apartment tower.

Would a completely revamped Newark Penn have a bigger impact on downtown than another big residential development?

I’m moving to NYC from Florida and apartment hunting in Manhattan right now, and this has probably been the biggest culture shock for me lol.

I know I’m gonna sound like an annoying transplant here, but a lot of the brokers I’ve dealt with have been shockingly unprofessional. In Florida, even if you’re just looking at a normal rental, agents generally show up looking put together, introduce themselves, know the property, and at least pretend they care about getting your business.

Manhattan has been a completely different experience. I’ve had brokers show up late in gym clothes, barely introduce themselves, give me one-word answers about the apartment, and basically stand there on their phone while I look around. One guy genuinely seemed annoyed that I was asking questions about the building.

And then I find out there’s a broker fee involved and I’m like wait, I’m paying thousands of dollars for THIS interaction?

Obviously I’m generalizing and I’ve met a couple who were great, but the difference has been noticeable enough that I’m wondering if this is just how the Manhattan rental market works. Like because apartments move so quickly, is there basically no incentive for brokers to actually sell you on anything or act particularly professional?

I expected NYC apartment hunting to be brutal. I didn’t expect the brokers themselves to be the part that annoyed me the most.

I've been apartment hunting in Manhattan over the past few weeks, mostly looking at studios around $2.5k to $2.8k.

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the buildings look pretty rough from the street. Then I open the listing and the apartment itself is fully renovated with a modern kitchen and bathroom.

Is there a reason landlords seem to renovate the units but not the exterior of the building? Is this just how the Manhattan rental market works?