NuYork 2020

Daily Life

Weather Traffic Trains Taxis Buses Homeless Work Researchers Industrial Base Medicine Small Corps Mega Corps Media City Government Police Edgerunners Nomads Gangs Criminals Black Market Danger Complete list of Bars and Restaurants

Weather

Due to the heat island effect and global warming, the weather is a full five degrees celcius warmer all year round. The main effect of this is, that it rarely snows (Usually about one or two weeks in January). When it does snow, it is usually very light. With higher temperatures and humidity from the rivers and ocean, it rains almost all the time. The rain is always a little toixic (Enough to give you a rash if exposed for prolonged periods of time - thus homeless people are usually referred to as "Reds" in honor of their rashes). Usually, the weather service wil issue a "Toxic Rain Alert" if the level of toxins in the rain exceed "acceptable" levels.

Traffic

In areas of major commerce (Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn) the natural hussle and bustle fills the streets with traffic pretty much 24 hours a day. Queens is lucky to have a two block stretch of road that is not so badly littered with cars, bodies and trash that cars can even travel. And finally the Bronx and Upper Manhattan are busy when it counts, rush hour).

Trains

Bad news for all New Yorkers, All access to subways are controlled by corps and no access is granted to non-employees. The good news is that trains are clean and relatively safe.

Taxis

Taxis are still plentiful, but drivers may not stop for "undesirable" types...

Buses

Everyone else takes a bus. Most bus rides are relatively safe. You will pay $2 for a ticket and 1$ for a transfer.

Homeless

There is a large population of homeless in New York. The main concentration live in Queens while some can be found in Brooklyn. The only homeless in the Bronx are spoiled teens and the only homeless in Manhattan are "Actors"

Work

Most people who have jobs work in Brooklyn. Few people live there as it is over-industrialized and almost all factories and warehouses operate 24 hrs a day. Most workers will commute out of the major New York area. Generally they will be required to work seven six-hour shifts or three or four twelve-hour shifts. This way employers can easily ensure 24 hour operation.
Of course, there are people working for the Corps in Manhattan. The people who land these jobs live in the Bronx (or in the case of high-ranking execs, Upper Manhattan). They generally work the same types of shifts (seven sixes or four twelves), but they are paid better and usually live in better neighborhoods.
There is, of course, a dark underbelly to working in New York, the service industry. Wherever you go you can expect bad service, the people working at restaurants and malls are generally way too under/overqualified for such positions. Hiring practices in these fields follow one of three general models:

1) Cherry picking - Service industry employers know that unemployment is wretchedly horrible, so they hire people who are grossly overqualified and use the paycheck and wierd scheduling to keep the employees there
2) Slumming - Grab someone who will appreciate benefits like free food or clothes. They get people who may not even have enough sense/education to know they are working at a poor job doing the worst work (e.g., this may be their first job or even their first real responsibility). These people have no skills and generally get easily frustrated.
3) Forced labor - even for service industries these tactics may be used. Chipware behavior modification, cortex bombs and other "incentives" are not beyond even the lowliest of jobs. It should be noted that there have been some established cases where this information was given to an employee, but the device was never installed (sort of an anti-placebo).

The "service industry" is defined as stores, bars, restaurants (ever wonder how Fern Bars can stay so secure?), hotels, cabs, and the entertainment area of Lower Manhattan.

Researchers

Researchers have a special place in the corporate world. Typically they will be treated like stars. In other words, some corps treat researchers like valuable property. Others pamper their researchers. Still other corps treat researchers like any other employee. Ultimately, for certain types of corps, the researchers can make or break the company. Briliant research in a timely manner that is not being done by the competition is priceless. Shoddy, slow or research done by other corps is nearly useless.

Industrial Base

Techs form the foundation of today's society. This is little consolation to the poor techs that work slave hours for slave wages. Those who cannot land facrtory or Manhattan jobs, get by doing odd jobs for people in their neighborhoods. Technology pervades everyone's lives, Techs can make that life a little easier.

Medicine

Medical technology has made amazing advances. MedTechs have the power of life and death, when they have the right tools. Unfortunately, these tools are very expensive. Thus keeping those tools in the hands of only the most powerful, richest or cleverest individuals. Few MedTechs own these tools, but are hired to use them in the employ of those people or companies that do.

Small Corps

Most small corps still operate on someone else's land. Consequently, they pay taxes, have to worry about the appliable laws changing and still worry about edgerunners and megacorps.

Mega Corps

Most megacorps have sovereignty over their land. Consequently, they can create their own tax rules and enforce their own laws. They will have their own military and paramilitary forces and, potentially, their own currency. Also, they will have their own extradition procedures and all other facilities due to a nation. The only recourse other countries have against megacorps that abuse this power are diplomatic. Economic embargoes, treaties and public opinion.

Media

The media is a struggling industry in New York. The ultra-poor have no access. The working class have no time and the rich are too bored to be bothered with such things. News media seems to be the most favored, followed closely by Music. Braindance is more of a habit than a media sensation. Generally, the producers have no real control over the content of Braindances (This is mostly driven by the "talent" in the market and what 'dances are selling).
This is further complicated by the fact that most news shows are assumed to be paid for by one megacorp or another. While most (not all) music is formulized pop designed by marketing departments (not artists), the result of these facts are that when Medias and Rockers try to send a message to the people it is lost in the noise and cynicism.

City Government

City government runs, generally, as it has in the past. The key difference is that city officials do not have to worry about Federal law as much, because they do not really receive any Federal funds anymore.

Police

The police of New York are a strange lot. You have a small number of individuals who honestly feel that they can effect society through their work. There is a larger group who are just doing their jobs. Then there is the undesirable element. The majority of this undesirable element are people who are too easily corrupted by their own limited power. But, there are bad police officers. Police who are just criminals with a badge. Police working on the inside for other organizations. And, finally, there are police that are just corrupt. They work for bribes and favors.

Edgerunners

Caught in between all this is the edgerunner. Edgerunners go unnoticed. They cannot eradicate small time problems like gangs and crime lords and cannot effect the slow erosion of mankind that the corps are creating. But, they keep on trying just the same. All to be an example of what it means to do the right thing.

Nomads

Nomads will move their camps often. Sometimes they will move from one Parkside town to another, Other times they will move to another area of the Parkside they are already camped at. Generally they will avoid New York. They will only enter the city to:

1) Scout for future forays
2) Make a trip into town to do some work
3) Have a little fun, see how statics live
4) Rescue a "Family" member

Gangs

Gangs form a real dangerous elemant of city life. They combine the ruthless aggression of a medieval warlord with the mindless aggression of a misguided youth. The situation is usually very unpredictable as you have multiple motivations:

1) Whim, the urge of the individual gang member
2) Peer pressure, the ganger will do things that he thinks the other gang members want him or her to do
3) Pride, gangers will ruthlessly attack all sources of perceived conflict
4) Agenda, the leader of the gang has made some portion of his agenda clear to the other gang members. They will work to acheive that goal.

Criminals

It can be said that, in some ways, criminals run this town. Between gang violence and organized crime the average citizen is lucky to make it through the day. Most people are so worried about gangs and crime bosses, tha t they could care less what any corp is up to. Criminals can change traffic patterns, control where the police are and what they are looking for. They even force their own economy in the areas they operate in (who do you think really pays for a store's protection?).

Black Market

Laws, Import/Export disputes, limited availability, exclusive provider contracts, supply shortages, delivery priorities, sabotage and industrial accidents can all occcur to create a situation where items can become hard, if not imppossibe, to find. That's when a black market is created. Items are provided through illegal sources. Sometimes these sources technically should not be illegal (in the case of exclusive provider contracts), but are made illegal due to the legal and political maeuvering of megacorps. Fixers exist to provide this commodity. Sometimes they are supplied by Organized crime, sometimes they recruit edgerunners to procure it, sometimes rival megacorps will supply it to the respectable fixer. Most people do not care where it comes from, as long as they can get it and the price is not too bad. Generally, black market prices are either very high or very low (Stolen or cloned blue jeans would be cheaper, Wolvers would be more expensive).

Danger

The police still have enough power to make an individual's life VERY difficult. So most people stay on the "good" side of the law. People in 2020 New York think of weapons violations and fighting (and most other non-felonious crimes) the way people today treat speed limit laws. They will try to follow them as long as they think they will get caught. Most people will not get mugged too often (once a year on average), but they will take measures to prevent that. Starting with avoiding areas where you are likely to be the victim of a crime. Followed by taking precautions, like arming themselves or getting some kevlar clothes. The result is that most people are a little more cautious around other people and a little more prepared for trouble. Arasaka dominates Manhattan. Their security servicers are used to keep the "undesirables" off of the island. Consequently, most people (especially those who don't live in Manhattan) harbor a real anti-Arasaka mentality. Many people in and out of Manhattan will go out of their way to hire a non-Arasaka guard or solo.