According to Oxford Economics’ 2026 Global Cities Index, New York is the world’s best city. Oxford Economics penned, “New York and London remain at the pinnacle of our Index, largely due to the size of their economies and the strength of their labor market.”
While New York received a perfect score for economics, it ranked 5th for human capital, 86th for quality of life (the 5th highest in North America), 262nd for environment, and 198th for governance. The report did note the city’s high housing costs and environmental risks as cons. The report analyzed 1,000 cities, and immediately after New York on the list are London, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, Dublin, Boston, San Jose, Tokyo, and Zurich (in that order). 78 of the 100 top spots went to European and North American countries.
Forbes noted that this is the third year in a row New York has received the highest overall score. The esteemed media outlet began its article, “In no surprise at all to New Yorkers, New York City was just ranked as the world’s best city.” However, social media users responding to posts from different sources did not all take the news as a natural claim…
While some online commenters quickly congratulated the city and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, others joked that Mamdani himself had funded the study, and laughing emojis abounded. One netizen suggested that the findings might hold true on Opposite Day. Another Instagrammer weighed in, “Best city to get stabbed.” Yet another wrote, “Oh stop… I live here!! It sucks! A mere shadow of what it was under GIULIANI.” I will have to personally concur with these statements. Granted, SoHo, the Upper East Side, and Brooklyn Heights are typically pleasant.
New York is far from a safe place, with random acts of violence occurring regularly; matters in that regard seem even worse than statistics indicate. Subway pushings, slashings, and related crimes abound; while some New Yorkers assure you all is well with fake smiles, others claim an incident happens nearly every time they ride.
New York Was Named the World’s Best City for the Third Year Running.
Money can’t buy happiness, and it can’t even buy quality in New York: The restaurants, for example, are certainly not what they used to be. Returning to the housing issue, if you want a nicely sized property with a kitchen that doesn’t make you feel claustrophobic, you may have to move to an intolerably boring area like Westchester and deal with time-consuming commutes on the filthy Metro-North or the hassle of driving.
Oxford mentions that New York boasts “some of the world’s most exciting recreation and cultural sites.” The cultural institutions I find most worthy are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick Collection, and Neue Galerie New York. However, I don’t believe New York is the cultural haven it once was, and I stopped going to the ballet, opera, and other shows long ago because I knew I’d be disappointed. Not to mention, doors close early in the alleged City that Never Sleeps, and thus it feels like a giant snooze.
In 2024, New York made headlines when FetishFinder concluded that it was America’s worst city for dating. I explored this topic while researching for a filmmaker years ago— and I believe it reflects the low morals many New Yorkers exhibit. In my view, the sense of community in many parts of the city is weak. There are not only rats crawling on the pavement, but bipedal rodents, too. Although Good Samaritans can be found anywhere, as the heroes of 9/11 so nobly demonstrated, I don’t think many would agree that an atmosphere of kindness prevails in New York.
What I can add to the conversation is this: I spent a significant amount of time living in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and, for my daily needs, they far outshone New York. The overwhelming number of museums, awe-inspiring architecture, ability to pop into historic churches at basically any moment, more enticing fashion options in boutiques, cultural events, care with which culinary offerings were prepared, great conversations with well-read locals, and overall sense of community all contributed to making the experience as good as possible.
If that was my experience, I’m sure most of our readers will agree that they’ve spent time in cities that far outdid New York. This is a reminder to always take studies with a grain of salt and form your own opinions.
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