Yeah, I had same feeling about New Yorker's accent. The language spoken by many New Yorkers is so distinct both because of the accent and certain phrases uniquely related to "New York." for instance, the "r" at the end of a word is almost never pronounced. The "g" at the end of a word isn't pronounced either. The "th" sounds something "d"... so, "here" sounds like "hea"..
haha.. Don't feel Bad. Your ears doesn't play tricks with you, The New Yorkers "play tricks" with us. :) :)