I am a NY'er by birth but a Southerner at heart. We were raised in a strict household where we used M'am and Sir and held doors for people. But I left NY for the South when I joined the military and it is definitely a bit friendlier; people are less prone to be stand offish and rude. In my neighborhood we have folks from NY, NJ, PA and they all wave when we see eachother. The native NYers here are all polite and I have found that they seem more friendly here than up in NY.