I don't like the hard accent either but I'm indifferent towards the NY accent.
I believe that east and west coasters with get the most love whether it's domestically or over-seas when it comes to the American accent. When people are trying to learn English these accents are the most mimicked. Midwesterners tend to have the most neutral accents. Southerners are the "Caribbean Spanish-Speaking" people of the English language.
It's also true that east coast dudes run through southern females like water, especially when they're from NY or NJ. I know because the military cats that get stationed down here always have a stable of females down here. In fact, as long as you don't have a southern accent, you can eat anywhere on planet earth.
Southern dudes eat in the midwest and oddly enough, Cali.