It sox to be Boston!
A snarky new New York City campaign takes aim at the Big Apple’s long-standing rival.
“We get more done by 8 a.m. than Boston does in a day,” reads the advertisement, seen in a now-viral photo posted on Twitter on Sunday.
The sassy billboard is part of a new “We ♥ NYC’’ marketing push after officials announced they had revamped the state’s iconic “I ♥ NY’’ slogan with a motto that directly touts the five boroughs.
Officials behind the “civic action campaign targeted for New Yorkers” told The Post the ad was on rotation on the city’s numerous LinkNYC 5G kiosks.
New Yorkers and tourists alike had strong opinions about the message as it played at a kiosk in the heart of Times Square at 7th Avenue and West 43rd Street Wednesday afternoon.
Calvin “Quick” Johnson, 40, a bail bondsman from Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a Heat fan who was in town to see the Knicks take on Miami.
When asked if he thinks New Yorkers get more done before Bostonians start their day, Johnson said “I believe it, I believe it.
“I think Boston deserves it. Boston is a city that sleeps all the damn time. Boston is very boring, aside from the Irish mafia and all that good stuff,” Johnson quipped.
“When you see Boston on [sic] the movies, it looks dead. New York never sleeps. It’s the Mecca. If you ain’t been to New York before, you ain’t seen life, get what I’m saying?”
Shayla Warner, 23, a South Bronx resident who bakes and sells marijuana edibles, said the slogan was “silly.”
“They’re trying to be funny. It’s a bit cringe,” she opined.
“I thought Boston was our friend — both east coast, old as dirt.”
Matt Thomas, 33, from West Harlem said he enjoyed the sports rivalry between the two cities.
“It’ll be good for the rivalry with baseball season coming up. It’ll give the Red Sox some ammunition,” said Thomas, who is a YouTuber and basketball player.
“I’m a New Yorker so I’m gonna rock with whatever New York rocks with.”
Thomas also said he could appreciate the new marketing campaign.
“I like WENYC. I feel like as a unit, it’s better us working together than being individuals. We never get anywhere in life by ourselves. If we get together and bridge societal, racial and economic issues, us together can work. I understand that, I like that.”
On social media, the gloves came off as word of the anti-Boston message spread.
“Truth stings,” one Big Apple devotee quipped about the cheeky advert.
“I’m here for the aggressive trolling of Boston… and everywhere else,” a diehard New Yorker also wisecracked.
“If this puts off Boston people from moving to NYC then all the better,” a third chimed in.
However, the blowback from Bostonians was swift and fierce.
“They get more done by 8 am than Boston? Yes maybe more homicides, more robberies, more rudeness!” a Beantown supporter hit back.
“If they’re name-checking Boston, we’re living rent-free in their heads just a wee bit,” another chided.
“You’ll always smell like piss NYC,” a third sprayed on Twitter.
The ad even prompted a reaction from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was happy as a clam to promote the chowder mecca of New England.
“If there is anything Bostonians are good at, it is not giving a care what New Yorkers think of us,” the Democrat teased Tuesday.
“I’m proud to be on this side of things, and, um, we do what we do. We win, we save lives, we save the planet, and we do that 24 hours a day,” she continued, according to WBZ-TV.
Even some New Yorkers were admittedly miffed by the ad, as they pointed out the joke could backfire.
“This negates the whole premise — that Boston is never even on our mind!” an NYC booster noted.
“Ride or die for New York but, this doesn’t sound like a good thing,” another said.
“Makes me want to move to Boston,” a seemingly tired New Yorker added.
Kathryn Wylde, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, defended the tongue-in-cheek campaign.
“Anything that keeps [the discussion] going,” Wylde told The Post.
“You could substitute any city for Boston in that poster. It’s really a statement, tongue in cheek, but it’s really a statement about the productivity of New York City said with humor and hyperbole,” she continued, adding that audience for the ad was New Yorkers and not New Englanders.
“Boston comes up because what’s tomorrow? Opening Day for the Yankees.
“So Boston is top of mind.”
