Here we are with another city comparison from The Crew and the real life city. This will be the last city comparison from the eastern half of the in game map from The Crew. The next one in the series will have journey west with the most likely stop being Salt Lake City.

The last city that I had done comparisons with was Washington DC. I compared the city layout, the monuments, such as The White House, Lincoln Memorial, and The US Capitol building just to name a few. Overall I thought it was a fairly good representation of the nation’s capital though I thought some of the office buildings were just a little too tall.

Well now it is time to take a look at The Crew’s New York, the largest metropolis in the US! New York like Washington, is another east coast city that I’ve been to. New York was actually my very first venture to the east coast of the US and also one of the most memorable (my other two ventures to the east were memorable too!).

Now I’ve been to other major cities before and if you read some of my past city comparison posts, you’ll know that I’ve been to New Orleans and Dallas quite often. The largest city I had ever been to before my trip to NYC was Houston which is the 4th largest city in the country. I didn’t think I would get to visit any other city larger than Houston, but 1997 came around and got my chance to visit The Big Apple!

I remember flying into LaGuardia Airport and then getting on the bus that would take us into Manhattan and to our hotel which was just down the street from Times Square. I was in awe as we were driving on an elevated highway towards Manhattan and seeing the massive skyline of New York! Seeing the notable buildings rising into the sky such as The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, and the World Trade Center Towers (I went in 1997, 4 years before the terrorist attacks).

Since this game was created after 2001, the WTC towers are not in the game, but they don’t have the new Freedom Tower in there either. I must some day make a return to trip to New York to see the new tallest skyscraper in the US as well as other new towers that have been constructed.

How does the game’s version of New York fair compared to its real life counterpart? Well let’s first start with the bridges. New York is not only famous for its skyscrapers, nightlife and entertainment as well as food, but also the numerous bridges and tunnels the city and surrounding areas have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the game if you come up to New York from the south side like say from Washington DC or a little further east on the game’s version of I-95, you’ll notice the highway elevates and goes across a large and long bridge. In real life this bridge is known as the Verrazano-Narrows bridge and connects Staten Island with the borough of Brooklyn.

Now I-95 does not cross this bridge as it does in the game. In the New York area it is known as I-278 that crosses this bridge. You might be asking though what about a couple of other well known bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge? They are both there and are accurate representations of the true life bridges.

One thing I do like is that as you are traveling down the elevated highway in the borough of Brooklyn in the game, you can exit off onto another elevated highway that goes through Brooklyn and then onto the old and historic Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan. The architecture looks very authentic and can’t really tell a difference between the bridges.

Another thing that you might notice when crossing the bridge is an elevated highway underneath this bridge on the edge of the Manhattan Island/borough. This is known as The FDR highway and is one of the only highways/freeways in the game that matches its true life counterpart.

I have mentioned in past city comparison posts that while there are numerous highways and freeways in the game, when you reach the major cities on them, they are not as big as the actual versions of them. In most major cities, freeways are usually six lanes or wider, but in nearly all of them in the game, they are 4 lanes wide. The sole exceptions are Detroit and the FDR in New York which are both 6 lanes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do also want to mention that the tunnels are in this version of New York as well with the most well known being the Lincoln Tunnel that goes underneath the Hudson River.

You might be asking though some of New York’s other well known landmarks such as Times Square, Central Park, and even the Statue of Liberty. They are all there, but of course you can’t drive to the Statue of Liberty.

Other notable landmarks that are in The Crew’s version of New York are Madison Square Garden, which is where the NBA’s Knicks play and then there is also Yankee Stadium where of course Major League Baseball’s Yankees play.

There are also other things too that just make it seem like New York. You’ve got hot dog vendors, taxis everywhere, sometimes thick traffic, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Financial District and even what is considered New Jersey in real life which you can take the Lincoln Tunnel to get to.

Did I mention that the United Nations building is in there as well? It certainly is and you’ll see me drive past it in the video I’ll include below. All in all the developers have done a really good job of recreating NYC in the game.

The major boroughs are there, all the key buildings and skyscrapers, Central Park, etc. It just feels and looks like NYC even if the pedestrian and vehicular traffic isn’t as crowded as it is in real life. This to me is just another reason to pick up The Crew!

Let’s face it, a lot of us can’t take road trips anytime we want let alone to places such as New York and Chicago, but the fact that the developers have made a game that can kind of simulate that is really cool and for me it is just relaxing. I hope you liked this comparison! As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be moving onto cities out west so always check back for another update. In the meantime, enjoy my video below of a leisurely drive around the Big Apple! Don’t forget to read my review of The Crew!