Guy: We came up on 6th Avenue so now we're on 49th!
Girl: Does anybody know where the friggin' tree is?
Woman: It's on the fucking left!
--49th & 6th
Overheard by: Emma
Little girl: I hate that tree.
--Rockefeller Center
Overheard by: melanie segal
Woman: The big Christmas tree is in Central Park, right?
Man: Yeah.
--1 train
Overheard by: Hilla
Old Jewess: Where are you from originally?
Preggers: China.
Old Jewess: Oh that's good, because you know everyone wants an Asian baby now.
--Filene's Basement, 79th & Broadway
Overheard by: Barth
Queer #1: I don't think I'm as self-destructive as everybody actually thinks I am.
Queer #2: Perpetually relying on substances tells me you can't handle things on your own.
Queer #1: I wouldn't say I rely on them. They're more like an accessory, like a handbag or a purse.
--82nd & 2nd
Overheard by: McCarton Ackerman
A guy runs down and holds the train doors open. Guy: Yo! Yo! ...Yo!
Conductor: Next stop West 4th, stand clear.
The doors close.
Conductor: ...I wanna know who "Yo" is.
--A train
Overheard by: p. vale
Girl #1: I've been eating really good foods.
Girl #2: What about all of that yogurt in your fridge? You have like six containers of it.
Girl #1: It's okay, they don't expire until January of '07.
Girl #2: That means January 7th, dumbass.
--L train
Overheard by: Glynnis O
Guy #1: I had sushi last week.
Guy #2: Isn't that like raw fish?
Guy #1: Man, it's so good you don't even taste the raw fish.
Guy #2: Then you should just take the raw fish out.
--Hunter College East-West bridge
Guy #1: I'm a gangsta. And gangsta people see gangsta movies. You go see that Hong Kong, King Kong or whatever.
Guy #2: What about In The Mix?
--AMC Empire 25, West 42nd Street
Overheard by: Nathaniel Taylor
Lady lawyer: You look like a lot of my cousins, you know.
Boy attorney #1: Are they models?
Boy attorney #2: Yeah, leg brace models!
--Office, 45th & 5th
Girl: Hey, do you have to read that for class?
Guy: Nope, just picked it up for fun.
Girl: If you like Vonnegut, you'd really like One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Next.
Guy: This is my stop.
--4 train
Overheard by: Yael
Guy: Stop being such a Debbie Downer.
Girl: Stop watching such shitty tv shows.
--Q train
Girl: I had four vibrators.
Guy: You had four vibrators?
Girl: Yeah, and I was using the blue one to massage his neck.
--64th & 3rd
Overheard by: peter
Guy #1: No, he's a draq queen not a trannie; he didn't get it cut off.
Guy #2: So then RuPaul must be the most famous drag queen ever, man...
Guy #1: Probably not.
Guy #2: Who, then? Like...Fu Manchu?
--52nd & 6th
Hobo: Hey buddy, can you spare a nickel?
Cabbie: Yeah, do you accept credit cards?
Hobo: Fuck you! I am here trying to live on the streets. Just take your customer wherever she's going...Don't you tip his sorry ass. He's a racist Iraqian.
--23rd & 2nd
Overheard by: Cat
Little girl #1: He took out everything after we bought the house. The refrigerator, the stove, the toilet...
Little girl #2: Was he Korean? I mean, I'm Korean but that sounds so Korean.
Little girl #1: Nah, he was Italian.
Little girl #2: Koreans, Italians, French...no difference.
--Flushing
White guy: Dude, I'm going to be the only non-Asian at this party.
Asian guy: No, man, there are going to be tons of Koreans there.
--6 train
Overheard by: Elisabeth
Lady: A lot of people came off this train. Why aren't you people moving in?
Guy: There's a baby stroller in the back.
Lady: Well, they should move it. Move it over to the side!
Guy: Move a tiny infant baby? Everybody, look! This lady right here is the Antichrist! Move the baby? You the Antichrist!
--6 train
Teen boy #1: Oh man, it was like an episode of I Love Lucy.
Teen boy #2: I love who?
Teen boy #1: Lucy. Oh man,you don't know what I Love Lucy is? Bam! I ain't your friend no more.
--Q train
Businessguy: Hi, small Earl Grey tea with milk, please.
Deli man: What kind of tea?
Businessguy: Earl Grey.
Deli man: How many sugars you say? Two?
--Deli, Wall & Water
Tourist woman #1: Where is 5th Avenue?
Tourist woman #2: Oh, we won't get there until we actually get a cab to New York.
--94th & Lexington
Overheard by: Joe Frankie
Guy: You should let her get a picture with the Naked Cowboy.
Dad: She's only six! She's not getting a picture with him.
Little girl: Daddy? I'm six?
--Times Square
Professor man: Can anyone tell me what's an entourage?
Guy: A posse.
Professor man: A what? A "posse"? Is that really a word?
--Silver Center, Washington Square East
Teen girl: What the fuck is a morning rubber? I've got to get a morning rubber.
Chick: God, you are such a virgin! You put a morning rubber on a morning glory, for God's sake.
--Times Square
Overheard by: Pi.
Girl: Well, as a lesbian, it's not something I understand...
Guy: You mean, she's a size queen?
Girl: I didn't say that...but I don't get it.
Guy: I don't get it either. I mean, I've slammed into someone's cervix, and it didn't look like that was too fun for her.
Girl: Well, I guess you have nothing to worry about.
--Under The Volcano, East 36th Street
Chick #1: I can't wear wool, it gives me a rash...My mom likes argyle.
Chick #2: Isn't that a kind of wool?
Chick #1: I don't know. I used to have an argyle cat, and it didn't make me itch, so maybe not.
--K-mart, East 8th Street
Hobo: Do you have the time?
Guy: Yeah, it's 2:30ish
Hobo: Can you spare some change?
Guy: I told you the time, and time is money.
--110th & Broadway
A chick been caught stealing by security. For some inexplicable reason, they let her yell at them.
Chick: This is not the United States of White-ass Bitches; this is the United States of America.
Chick: I'm owed this shirt because I'm black, bitches. I don't owe nothin' to you white folks. I'm owed this shirt because of slavery.
--Banana Republic, Broadway & Prince
Overheard by: helen r.
January 31st sees the release of Overheard in New York, the book. There are apparently people out there who have lives and don't read websites; now they can see for themselves what this site we all love so much is all about.
The book is perfect subway reading, and makes a great gift for Chicks, Dudes, Old ladies, Tourist moms and Crazy guys. And unlike
almost every other website turned into a book, we weren't censored. You get the best of the best--and the worst of the worst!--as well as a bunch of quotes we saved especially for the print edition.
We're very excited and hope to make this an annual tradition. It'll be
like Zagat's, but with hobos. You can order it here.
--Morgan & Michael (and 4 pages of contributors!)
Chick #1: Where's [Suzy]?
Chick #2: She's in Vegas.
Chick #1: She is? How'd she get there so fast?
Chick #2: I dunno. She's fat. She can fly.
--Starbucks, 53rd & Park
Asian guy: If I'da been white, they would have let me in. White people suck.
White guy: White people don't suck; clubs suck. I try to limit myself to venues that always let me in, but still encourage easy white women to come too. So far, I have yet to get an STD that can't be cured.
--F train
Lady lawyer: I think Christians are generally taller.
Boy attorney #1: So if a Korean was to convert to Christianity, he'd get taller?
Boy attorney #2: Sure, if he prayed hard enough.
--Office, 45th & 5th
Guy #1: I'm not a very social person.
Guy #2: Join the club.
--Office, 29th & 7th
Teacher lady: What a deep, deep black!
Girl #1: Black like my soul.
Teacher lady: Maybe you should try pencil.
Girl #2: Wait what did you say?
Girl #1: It's black like my soul.
Girl #2: You should get a kitty.
--Dominican Academy, East 68th Street
Overheard by: cemo
Guy: Did you hook up with anyone on New Year's?
Girl: Yeah, and he's like a prince of some country.
Guy: Heh, that's cool I guess. Did he take you to his palace?
Girl: No, but that would've been cool. I've always wanted to touch a prince's penis.
--6 train
Chick: So, I figured we'd ring in the new year with a three-way.
--34th & Park
Chick: There are 3 things I hate about the holidays. One, people who become assholes for no reason. Two, people who become more emotional for no reason. And three, people who are both of the above.
--86th & 2nd
Overheard by: Gwenn Levine
Guy: I thought you couldn't write diplomats tickets.
Cop: You can write 'em, they just don't have to pay 'em!
Guy: Oh.
Cop: Yeah. Fuck them!
--6th between B & C
Queer: You know what I completely forgot people worry about? Getting pregnant.
--The Slide, Bowery
Overheard by: professional hag
Guy: Dude, have you ever tried to jack off twice in 20 minutes?
--Columbia University
Guy: Dude, I'm not allergic to cats when I'm drunk.
--PATH train
Overheard by: Laura Tipaldo
Woman: That's the way New York is; it's a contact sport.
--Penn Station
Old woman: My mother kept saying that she wants to have carpet installed over her stone floors, but I don't think that's such a good idea. She's incontinent, and as I always say, "carpeting and
incontinence do not belong in the same sentence!"
--Office, 66th & York
Overheard by: Molly the Mole
Girl: I'll have an everything bagel, scooped out and toasted with five egg whites and extra cheese but not too much extra cheese that it's gooping out, just like one slice more than you normally would use. Oh, and make sure the eggs are well done.
--Pick a Bagel on Third, 3rd Avenue
Overheard by: Benjamin Steger
Woman: I always thought the Purple Pieman was Satan. Isn't that one of his many names?
--K-mart, West 34th Street
Overheard by: CC
Stewardess on intercom: Ladies and gentlemen, we know it's hot. We're hoping to have you underway as soon as we can. In the meantime, if you'll reach into the seat pocket in front of you and remove the safety information card, you'll find that it makes a nice fan.
--Airtran plane, LaGuardia
Overheard by: Seat 16A
JAP: I like, didn't even know I had a middle name until my bat-mitzvah.
--53rd & 8th
Overheard by: Phil
Chick on cell: I guess it's must be a cultural thing. I mean, maybe it doesn't smell to them.
--86th & Lexington
Overheard by: LeBrawn