It’s so good that they named it twice; but in the struggle for the title of the mighty metropolis, how does London, renown for its dynamic and diverse culture, compare to New York, its edgy and bold transatlantic cousin? David Woode hops across the Atlantic to find out.

Peering down from my window seat as the plane descended into New York’s Kennedy Airport, it was as if we were being transported into a steel-coated, glass-fronted, CGI-inspired kingdom. Exciting stuff, but I still had my reservations.

One iconic yellow taxi ride later and I arrive in Times Square, one of the most beguiling sights in New York’s landscape. There’s no escaping the Square’s infectious buzz and much like Piccadilly Circus, there’s a heavy presence of theatres and restaurants, sitting alongside well-known stores and tacky tourist shops. But that’s where the comparison ends.

Times Square is awash with brash advertising and gigantic fascias. Prepare to be dazzled by vivid colours from flickering and interchanging LED screens. Every brand you could ever think of bears a presence on this stretch of street and the neon glow from this eco-nightmare lights up the hazy night sky. Our little Tdk/Sanyo billboard looks considerably paltry in comparison. One-nil to New York.

Iconic rock venue, CBGB (Country, Blue Grass and Blues), originally played host to artists from these musical genres when it first opened its doors back in 1973. But CBGB became the birthplace of punk and new wave, where bands like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads cut their musical teeth. CBGB’s closure in 2006 left a huge void in New York’s musical scene and the nearby Bowery Ballroom is looking to recapture the lost magic. Discreetly situated on Delancey Street, in the hip Soho district, this relatively small venue holds up to 550 people and recent acts have included the Cribs and electro-pop mistress, Little Boots.

But London’s reputation for being a hot-bed for up-and-coming artistic talent has earned us plaudits from all over the world. From our art schools to art-house cinemas, the forward-thinking folk have left an indelible mark on our creative capital city. And with music, fashion and art being intrinsically linked, the capital’s music venues have welcomed some seminal bands and the most influential artists in music history; from Prince to Patti Smith, Nirvana to New Order and from Leonard Cohen to Led Zepplin.

London wins, just on nostalgia.

But when it comes to transport, New York wins hands down. While London boasts the Oyster card, the bendy bus and the Northern Line, New York is miles ahead in the transport lane. New Yorkers can just about forgive their grubby subway, but wouldn’t trade it for the London Underground, not for love nor money. Subway bosses introduced air conditioning on all trains and what’s evident is that New York’s subway system was well thought out. Local, stopping service lines run alongside an express service track, which means if you’ve got to go uptown in a hurry, just swipe your Metro Card and arrive at your destination within minutes. And it runs 24 hours a day, which is a major plus. There are no ghetto night buses here, no sir-ee.

Whilst wandering around Tribeca, Soho and Sunnyside, you get a real feel for New York’s cosmopolitan credentials; different races and ethnicities stand shoulder-to-shoulder and create the colourful patchwork that is New York’s diverse neighbourhoods. The history, the festivals, the food…it’s all thrown into one big cultural melting pot and everyone’s given a spoon. But soaring rents and microscopic apartment space has forced many New Yorkers uproot from Manhattan and settle in the outer boroughs. Over in Brooklyn, the Williamsburg neighbourhood has become the destination du jour for the artistic, hipster gang.

Taking the L train to Williamsburg, this former industrial area is reminiscent of our very ownLadbroke Grove. Affectionately known as ‘Billlyburg’, elegant brownstone buildings sit alongside vast warehouses which house artistic space and galleries. The main action happens along Bedford Avenue, where a cluster of chic cafés, off-beat thrift stores and trendy bars welcome the Mac-clutching, coffee-drinking, Nylon-reading crowd.

Stumbling into Vincent’s Pizzeria for a slice of chicken and broccoli pizza, cashier Pete tries to sell me the Williamsburg experience: “If you look at Brooklyn as a whole, the area is relatively safe. And as for Billyburg, it’s a real cool place to be. The young people balance the old and it’s so much more chilled than living in Manhattan.

“Why would you want to live anywhere else?”

Hmmm. There’s no denying Williamsburg’s allure, but it comes across as a little stuffy and pretentious whilst masquerading as one of Brooklyn’s most priciest postcodes. Much like Shoreditch, Williamsburg achingly cool status has earned them the dreaded ‘bohemian’ cliché. But London wins on its multi-ethnic make-up; the nearby Bangladeshi, Turkish and Afro Caribbean communities bear a prominent presence and contribute to the East End’s iconic identity.

London…we’re back in the game.

The Verdict?

Sure, New York’s got monumental skyscrapers, colourful communities and they’re the purveyors of possibly the finest pizza in the world but everything seems a little too polished. London, the diamond in the rough, is unashamedly different.

The night buses may be ghetto and Brick Lane will always be rammed, but London’s charm lies in the fact that it’s overt but not offensive, attractive but sometimes aggressive and so blatant yet so blasé …and that’s why we Londoners love it so much.