New Yorkers have a love/hate relationship with tourists. On the one hand, we’re not unaware that our city is big and loud and fantastic (just ask us), and we don’t blame tourists for wanting to experience it. On the other hand, tourists often clog up the works and get in our way. To get anything done in a place this crowded and busy and full of tourist attractions, we have all had to adopt a very specific code of behavior which may be interpreted by visitors as rudeness. Trust me; while there are certainly plenty of rude New Yorkers, I don’t think the asshole quotient is much higher than it is in most of the world. What visitors interpret as rudeness, we prefer to think of as a single-minded focus on getting we’re going. We will try to go around you, under you, and over you, but if you don’t get out of our way right quick, we’re not above going through you when the need arises. Okay, so maybe we’re a little rude.

So to preserve visitors’ enjoyment of NYC (and New Yorkers’ enjoyment of said visitors), BuzzFeed staffer/Ohio transplant Nathan Pyle has developed a wonderful graphic guide to getting around our fair city without unduly annoying the natives. The animated GIFs are positively brilliant. He did, unfortunately, leave off one of my biggest pet peeves, which is that when riding an escalator anywhere in NYC, people who are standing still should keep to the right so those who want to walk up the escalator can get by on the left. It may sound like a small thing, but it’s one of those things that make New Yorkers’ blood boil.

You can buy the paperback or Kindle version of Nathan Pyle’s book, NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette, on Amazon, and you can get the animated eBook on iTunes. You can also follow Pyle on Instagram.

All images property of Nathan Pyle.