I have lived in the US all my life, but still have not been to New York City, the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world.
I went years ago and its an amazing experience, everyone should go at least once.
I'm from a rural area, so hearing that New York City has 23.7 million residents is kinda scary to me.
I am from a rural area and it was a culture shock to see so many people, so many varieties of food and people on the streets all hours of the night.
I guess I'd be in culture shock, because it would feel like a foreign environment.  I can't imagine how there's even room for that many people!