I do not think the New York accent is disappearing. Living only 10 miles west of New York City, I produce some similar sounds including "cawfee" and for lack of better spelling "cawf" (cough). If it is decaying, it is decaying very slowly. Also, it is somewhat unreliable to say there is simply one New York accent. People in the Bronx sound different than people from Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island, Queens, and Manhattan. I agree they are very similar, but what accent you have also depends on your ethnicity and in New York City people of the same ethnic background usually live near each other (Little Italy, Brighton Beach (Russians), Chinatown, etc. If the New York accent is decaying, don't expect it to be in our lifetime or even our grandchildren's lifetime!
I do not think the New York accent is disappearing. Living only 10 miles west of New York City, I produce some similar sounds including "cawfee" and for lack of better spelling "cawf" (cough). If it is decaying, it is decaying very slowly. Also, it is somewhat unreliable to say there is simply one New York accent. People in the Bronx sound different than people from Brooklyn, Staten Island, Long Island, Queens, and Manhattan. I agree they are very similar, but what accent you have also depends on your ethnicity and in New York City people of the same ethnic background usually live near each other (Little Italy, Brighton Beach (Russians), Chinatown, etc. If the New York accent is decaying, don't expect it to be in our lifetime or even our grandchildren's lifetime!
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