They just dropped their 2025 “Most Fun Cities” ranking. WalletHub ran 182 U.S. cities through 65 metrics — bars per capita, “cost of fun,” entertainment spots per capita.  Their verdict on New York City: #14. That’s right — the city that gave you late-night dumpling runs, basement salsa parties, subway-car magic at 2 a.m., and rooftop chaos — apparently just “– eh.”

Cost kills NYC’s fun score. WalletHub ranked New York worst among all 182 cities in the cost metric — and dinged us hard for “expensive fun.”  So by their logic, paying more for a craft cocktail or subway ride means you’re less fun.

Let me translate: data-guys love budget, convenience, predictability. They love per-capita bar counts over sweat-soaked dive bars. They love “accessible attractions” over thrown-together underground gigs. That’s Miami or Vegas. That’s not New York.

Here’s what their ranking misses: passion. Spontaneity. Grit. The kind of energy that comes from corners where the city scrapes your lungs with subway exhaust, where you pay $22 for a cocktail because the DJ told you to. Where your crew texts a link at midnight and two hours later you’re dancing in a warehouse with walls painted by unknown artists. That doesn’t go into “fun per 1,000 residents per dollar.”

Meanwhile, cities built to flatter spreadsheets — beaches, theme parks, standardized nightlife chains — climb higher. They check the boxes for “tourist-friendly fun.” But they don’t build legends. They don’t spawn content, culture, hustlers, or street-corner stories.

If WalletHub wants to hand out awards for cheap thrills and easy nights, fine. Let them crown the cities where fun comes with fluorescent lighting and fixed-menu pizza. Then let us keep running this city the way it was built: raw, loud, expensive, alive.

New York’s fun doesn’t measure. It demands. It hits. And it keeps hitting long after most cities have turned off the lights.

— By Marco Shalma