Throughtout my life I've encountered the "X isn't Y" thought-terminating cliche anywhere I've ever tried to do any sort of activism or advocacy (When I was doing bike advocacy in NYC it was often "New York isn't Amsterdam" which was especially ironic considering that it once literally was). It's never once been a meaningful or persuasive point. Reality on the ground is always what we make it, and policy can be communicated through the right identity and strategies. New Yorkers really aren't at all that different from Americans anywhere else, the biggest differences are aesthetic.