“Millenials of New York” Poke Fun at Yuccie Stereotypes

By now, most of you social media netizens are familiar with the art project “Humans of New York”. you also probably know that it’s not just captured the hearts of many followers, but also sparked a dozen or so other accounts following in its footsteps — TOKYO+MADE (Humans of Tokyo) and Humans of Istanbul are just a couple of the myriad offshoots of the movement.

And then, there are the parody sites, with “Orcs of New York” having just joined their ranks.

Oh, and now, there’s also “Millenials of New York”, yet another parody account on Instagram that highlights the struggles of Gen Y on their quest to have their cake and eat it, too. And as we say, the struggle is real.

Sorta. Kinda.

“People these days simply don’t cherish the wisdom of our elders like we should. In 1923, my grandfather arrived in New York after an eight week voyage from Ireland. He lived in the city his entire life, and even though he passed away when I was 10, he made sure to pass down some of the valuable lessons that he learned before he died– sage advice like ‘The hot dog stand on 54th Street sells loosies for a quarter’ and ‘Always tip your barkeep, even if he’s a Protestant.’ There’s a reason they’re called the Greatest Generation.”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Aug 3, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

“MONY” was created by Alec MacDonald and Connor Toole of Elite Daily (who we’re willing to bet our next artisanal foccaccia grilled cheese sandwich and craft beer are millennials themselves) who saw how ripe our generation was for the ribbing, and just went for it. While not entirely non-fiction, we can’t deny that the posts are super-relatable in an over-the-top way.

“I’m a professional talent scout. I spend my days walking around the city looking for a subject that I can turn into the next big meme. My primary focus used to be cute, exotic animals– your slow lorises, your three-toed sloths– but just being adorable doesn’t cut it anymore. Right now, disabilities are IN. Whether it’s Grumpy Cat’s malformed jawbones or Lil Bub’s total lack of teeth, people just can’t get enough of broken animals! This little guy has diabetes. Type 2. He’s gonna be huge.”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Aug 10, 2015 at 12:31pm PDT

“While I was a student at NYU, I was more pretentious than James Franco wearing a beret while reading a french newspaper and discussing the merits of acupuncture. But after a lot of soul searching, and some really humbling post-collegiate life experiences, now I’m only as pretentious as ‘Shia Labeouf explaining parkour.’”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Sep 9, 2015 at 1:14pm PDT

The captions are a brilliant blend of dead-pan snark, curated pretension, naivete, and all the nuances and lifestyle choices that make us Millenials want to seize Life and go for its throat. This parody account’s humor is a jab in the ribs as much as it is a mirror held up, because let’s face it, what kind of generation are we if can’t laugh at ourselves from time to time?

“This is my favorite shirt. I love Buddhism.”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Sep 11, 2015 at 10:56am PDT

“My girlfriend and I have been together for 3 years, and we couldn’t have done it without Netflix. A decade ago we would’ve definitely broken up by now, but with Netflix streaming, it’s amazing, we barely even have to think about how much we hate each other. She can say things like, ‘If you take a bite of my sandwich I’m going to set your fucking cat on fire,’ and I can throw that sandwich out the window and punch another hole in the wall. Then, all we’ll have to do is switch on ‘Pretty Little Liars’ for six hours to slowly bury all that misery back down inside our cold, loveless hearts, where it belongs. We can’t thank you enough, Netflix. We’re getting married in the fall.”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Aug 21, 2015 at 11:26am PDT

“For a while, I wanted to be a novelist — I even received an MFA in Fiction Writing from a prestigious graduate school. Now, I’m proud to say I work in an office doing ‘Business Stuff’ like my dad. The people here pay me according to how long I can handle being bored without losing concentration, or shouting. Also, I get to wear a tie. It’s just like ‘Mad Men.’ So, yes, I am very happy.”

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Aug 15, 2015 at 10:31am PDT

“I’m a devout foodie. I love everything about food and I’m constantly looking for the best and most interesting restaurants to try out. My friends are always like “Rachel, how do you not get fat when you eat so much?” The thing is, I have a really fast metabolism, which is lucky I guess. I also never eat the food. I just photograph it.

A photo posted by Millennials of New York (@millennials_of_newyork) on Aug 17, 2015 at 12:32pm PDT

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